The world of tax law and payroll regulations is a complicated one. Managing pay periods, calculating overtime, and staying current on the latest procedures is no easy task. One critical component of tax law regulation your business needs to comply to is the lookback period. The lookback period is a complicated affair, but in general terms, a lookback period is a determined length of time the IRS uses to make sure your previous tax filings are correct. The status of your business will determine the length and filing type of your particular lookback period. Let’s take a look at a few common examples to better understand this component of tax law.

First things first, compliance is everything in the back office. Whether you’re running the payroll, tracking employee hours, calculating who is eligible for ACA, or what have you, the key to success is making sure all your ducks are in a row. Issues with compliance can lead to hefty fines and working backward to correct what has been wronged. All-in-all, it should be avoided at all costs and with the help of a few tools, it can be for the most part. Even the most seasoned HR and payroll professionals can find themselves with a penalty due to error. 

Considering how relevant they are in our day to day lives, employment taxes can be awfully complicated to understand. As the employer, it’s your job to deposit and report employment taxes and prepare and file Form W-2. This is used report wages, tips and other compensation paid to your employees. 

When dealing with the world of taxation, it’s important to know the intricate details so you can avoid fees and penalties. In this blog, I want to specifically cover deductible taxes versus non-deductible taxes. A tax deduction is a reduction in the income that is able to be taxed, essentially lowering the amount of taxes paid.

If you work in payroll or HR, chances are at some point you will be approached by a fellow colleague inquiring about their paycheck. This conservation will vary from employee to employee depending on their hourly rate, benefit elections, tax localities and so on. While it is not your job to make sure the employee knows exactly how to read their paystub, it is in everyone’s best interest for you to be able to guide them as to why certain amounts are being withheld.