You may not have caught the news that the rate used to calculate Social Security withholding taxes from your employees has been reduced for 2011. It goes back up on January 1, 2012. The rate is now 4.2% rather than 6.2%. So, in effect, your employees are getting a raise and you are not paying for it. The Medicare tax rate has not changed.

The rate that a company contributes for Social Security taxes has not changed. It is still 6.2%. You should take this into account when you calculate the payment of taxes each month. You should multiply the gross payroll by 13.3% to calculate the Social Security and Medicare payment that you make.

You don’t need to worry about this if you are using a payroll service. They should take care of it.

The IRS is also changing the rules for paying the taxes. Starting January 1, 2011 you are required to pay the taxes using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). See my blog posted on December 21, 2011 for more details. http://www.thomstaxtalk.com