Skip to content
logo Knowledgebase

Social Security wages and taxes are not calculating after installing PR 2.20

Created on  | Last modified on 

Description

Possible Workarounds:

Scenario #1: EXISTING PROFILES (not using Group Term Life Tax Rules)

This scenario only applies if you are NOT using the following Group Term Life Tax Rules in Earnings Code Maintenance:

  • -800019 (Group Term Life Wages Not Subject to WH)
  • -800113 (Group Term Life Wages Subject to Withholding)
  1. Verify Payroll Data Entry is not in process
  2. Payroll > Utilities > Payroll Status Check
  3. Setup > Run
  4. Highlight the line and click Fix button for any errors found in Tax Profiles (this will add the 4 new taxes to the Federal Tax Group)
  5. Existing Tax Profiles will not have these taxes selected by default. To verify, open Tax Profile and confirm these taxes are NOT checked.

Scenario #2: EXISTING PROFILES (using Group Term Life Tax Rules)

This scenario only applies if you ARE using either of the following Group Term Life Tax Rules in Earnings Code Maintenance:

  • -800019 (Group Term Life Wages Not Subject to WH)
  • -800113 (Group Term Life Wages Subject to Withholding)
  1. Verify Payroll Data Entry in not in process
  2. Payroll > Utilities > Payroll Status Check
  3. Setup > Run
  4. Highlight the line and click Fix button for any errors found in Tax Profiles (this will add the 4 new tax groups to Federal)
  5. Open Tax Profile Maintenance, select applicable Tax Profile(s) and select the following:
  • FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding
  • FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability
  • FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding
  • FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability

NEW TAX PROFILES

New tax profiles will have these new federal taxes selected by default. If you do not have Group Term Life earnings you will need to uncheck the following tax groups:

  • FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding
  • FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability
  • FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding
  • FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability

Cause

This issue has 2 parts to fix everything -
Part 1 issue is the new FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding, FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability, FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding and FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability taxes are selected by default in Tax Profile. Install pr6017 on v2.20.0 or go to v2.20.1 to prevent GTL boxes selected by default on new profiles.
Part 2 issue is when GTL boxes are selected in Tax Profile it doubles the YTD SS wages value, making the system think it has met the limits in some cases depending on the YTD value. Social Security limit for 2020 is 137,700 so if YTD wages were $68,850 or higher program thinks met the $137,700. This is targeted for Payroll Update 2.20.2.0 however a Pre-release of the program is available for Payroll v2.20.0 and v2.20.1 after document is signed.
If the taxes were incorrectly not calculated on prior payroll checks and updated, reconciliation of the Tax Summary Social Security Wages will need to be done to insure taxes are corrected. If YTD SS wages were => $68,850 (68,850 * 2 = $137,700-2020 limit) the SS tax would not have calculated. Employer will need to withhold additional Employee Social Security tax and edit Employer Social Security Tax if incorrect. If this happened in First quarter of 2020, the 941 for 1st quarter would have been incorrect if they were not fixed. This will also require that the SS Capped Wages are corrected in Tax Summary for those employees. If the tax deposit for the payroll(s) where the SS tax was incorrect has already been made, suggest calculating what YTD SS Capped Wages and Tax should be. Combine the current payroll SS tax & prior SS taxes using manual tax on the next payroll to get the taxes paid in the next deposit. After that payroll is updated, Edit Tax Summary for the SS Capped EE & ER wages for that last payroll to add all wages not updated prior. Do not add them to prior quarters or tax reports will have to be amended. If added to prior payroll runs, the tax deposits will be incorrect.

Resolution

Part 1 issue is the new FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding, FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability, FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding and FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability taxes are selected by default in Tax Profile.

Resolution: Download Sage 100 Payroll 2.20.0 Program Fix PR 6017T and Install pr6017 on v2.20.0 or go to v2.20.1 to prevent GTL boxes selected by default on new profiles. Existing tax profiles will need to be manually edited to uncheck those GTL boxes until Part 2 is fixed.

Part 2 issue is when adding GTL earnings to a check with other earnings and these codes are selected in the tax profile, it doubles the YTD value, making the system think it has met the limits in some cases depending on the YTD value. Social Security limit for 2020 is 137,700 so if YTD wages were $68,850 or higher program thinks met the $137,700.
Resolution: This program fix is targeted for Payroll Update 2.20.2.0 however a Pre-release of the program is available for Payroll v2.20.0 and v2.20.1 after pre-release document is signed by the customer.
If the taxes were incorrectly not calculated on prior payroll checks and updated, reconciliation of the Tax Summary Social Security Wages will need to be done to insure taxes are corrected. Only Employees with YTD SS wages => $68,850 (68,850 * 2 = $137,700) would have had SS tax not calculated. Employer will need to withhold additional Employee Social Security tax and edit Employer Social Security Tax if incorrect. If this happened in First quarter of 2020, the 941 for 1st quarter would have been incorrect if the Employees SS taxes were not fixed in Tax Summary.

To Fix Current Quarter that is incorrect: ( MAKE A BACKUP!!!!!! - Copy of company code is okay.)
  • Run the 941 and the Quarterly Tax report for Federal for current quarter. They should match on Employee SS Tax withheld and Employer SS Tax.
  • Calculate the amount of SS tax that still needs to be withheld from future Employee check for the current quarter.
  • On future check after calculating taxes for that paycycle:
  • Go back to payroll data entry and select the employee
  • Click Manual Tax on Header tab
  • Then click on Taxes button to add the amount not previously withheld. NOTE: If this causes check to be negative or short, may need to withhold between several checks but suggest doing it before the quarter ends.
  • Proceed with check and update as normal.
  • Reconcile those Employee Tax Summary, Federal Tax for SS Wages to limit * .062.
  • Reconcile 941 for the current quarter to date.

To fix Prior Quarters that was incorrect: (MAKE A BACKUP!!!!!! - Copy of company code is okay.)

  • Need to know what values were submitted on the 941 for that quarter. If it was corrected to submit, then only the employee records & employer records need to be fixed. If the 941 was incorrect, an amended 941 will need to be submitted.
  • Run the 941 and the Quarterly Tax report for Federal for Prior quarter. They should match on Employee SS Tax withheld and Employer SS Tax.
  • Calculate the amount of SS tax that still needs to be withheld from future Employee check for the current quarter.
  • On future check enter an Advance deduction for the Amount of SS Tax that should have been taken in the prior quarter(s). NOTE: If this causes check to be negative or short, may need to withhold between several checks but suggest doing it before the quarter ends.
  • Proceed with check and update as normal.
  • Open Employee Maintenance, Select More Button and Tax Summary, Federal.
  • Drilldown to the lowest level (Employee Tax History Detail Drilldown screen), select the Hammer/Screwdriver fix icon and the Capped Wages button to expose those columns.
  • Edit the Employee and Employer SS Capped Wages and SS Tax amounts by check or by adding the full amount not withheld that quarter to one check in the same quarter.
    • NOTE: Modifying by each check will mean many more records to edit! Whichever method you choose follow that throughout the entire edit process. (This will update that quarter to the correct SS tax and should reconcile with 941 or amended 941.)
  • Reconcile those Employee Tax Summary for SS Wages to limit * .062.
  • Reconcile 941 for that quarter or amended 941.
  • If you desire your files to reconcile with the Pay History tab and Deduction tab for the Advance Deduction taken in Current Quarter, additional edits will be necessary. These edits will need to be done using the Data File Display and Maintenance Utility where raw files are modified.
    • If you edited by check or by adding the full amount not withheld that quarter to one check in the same quarter in Tax Summary above, suggest you do the same here.
    • You will need each employee # and check numbers for that quarter with the amount to edit for the Employee SS tax per check.
    • In Data File Display and Maintenance, File Name field select the PR_Employee.m4t table for that company code. (Located under ......\MAS90\MAS_XXX\PRXXX (XXX=CompanyCode)
    • At the bottom, in the Key No field select kEmployeeNo
    • In the Key field, enter the EmployeeNo portion only (not the department)
    • In the 001 record EmployeeKey$ field above is the encrypted Employee No (looks like 0284A1CB80A3424F9EEA7893799B9FF1). Right Click on it and Copy to Notepad as you will need this to edit other table.
    • At the top in the File Name field, now select PR_PayrollHistoryTaxDetail.m4t table.
    • Select the KeyScan icon (magnifying glass) at the botton at the key field to open up a search page.
    • Copy from Notepad the EmployeeKey$ value into theSearch field and hit Enter.
    • Locate the Check No wanting to correct and the Federal record (OR by check or by adding the full amount not withheld that quarter to one check in the same quarter same as done in Tax Summary above.)
    • Click on Edit Button and Ok to the message "This table contains encrypted or read-only columns that are locked. The encrypted columns are not available to be edited; check the box at the bottom of the
      panel to allow edit of the read-only columns."
    • Modify following fields as needed - "CappedWagesEmployeeSocSec", "CappedWagesEmployerSocSec", "EmployeeSocSecTax", "EmployerSocSecTax", then Click Update.
    • Repeat by check or by adding the full amount not withheld that quarter to one check in the same quarter same as done in Tax Summary and PR_TaxHistoryDetail.m4t above.
    • Go to Payroll, Main, Employee Maintenance, Select Employee, Deduction Tab.
    • Highlight Deduction Code for Advance or Enter new one to be used in Current Quarter to withhold taxes missed.
    • Click on Deductions Detail Icon and enter the Total Amount of the Employee Social Security Taxes that were under-calculated into the same quarter or by month if previously edited by check. Select Ok. (This will offset the deduction for Advances and Missed Taxes. This updates the PR_PayrollHistoryDetail.m4t table.)


Need more help?

Chat now

Defect ID

111512 Fix on this was only to default the GTL tax boxes to unselected on new Tax Profiles created. PR6017T 111514 is targeted for Payroll update v2.20.2 to fix the calculation of the GTL.

Steps to duplicate

In PR2, 1. Install PR 2.20.0 and the Payroll Tax Update deployed 2. Create a new Tax Profile 3. Make sure the 4 new taxes are selected under Federal Tax Group • FMEDGTLWH - FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding • FSOCGTLWH - FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Withholding • FMEDGTLLIAB - FMED Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability • FSOCGTLLIAB - FSOC Excess GTL Coverage Tax Employer Liability 4. In Employee Maintenance, select EE# 00-0000001 select the Tax Profile created in step #2. 5. In Payroll Data Entry, pay this employee $1,000.00 Regular Wages (0000001) 6. Run Tax Calc 7. Preview Audit Report Note: Social Security taxes are not calculated.