Guidance on Reporting Qualified Sick and Family Leave Wages Issued by the Treasury Department and IRS

The US Treasury and IRS issued guidance to employers on July 8, 2020, requiring them to report the amount of qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act on Form W-2.

According to Notice 2020-54, employers will be required to report these amounts on Form W-2 , Box 14, or in a statement provided with the Form W-2 .

The guidance also provides employers with the following optional model language (which can be modified as necessary):

Included in Box 14, if applicable, are amounts paid to you as qualified sick leave wages or qualified family leave wages under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Specifically, up to three types of paid qualified sick leave wages or qualified family leave wages are reported in Box 14:

• Sick leave wages subject to the $511 per day limit because of care you required;
• Sick leave wages subject to the $200 per day limit because of care you provided to another; and
• Emergency family leave wages.

Self-Employed Individuals

The wage amount that employers are required to report on Form W-2 will provide self-employed individuals, who also are employees, with the information necessary to determine the amount of any sick and family leave equivalent credits they may claim in their self-employed capacities.

As always, if you have questions about this or other topics, please know we are available to speak by phone at 215-675-8364.

DISCLAIMER: The WM Daily Update COVID-19, COVID-19 Business Resources and COVID-19 Client News Alerts and other related communications are intended to provide general information on legislative COVID-19 relief measures as of the date of this communication and may reference information from reputable sources. Although our firm has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information provided is accurate, we make no warranties, expressed or implied, on the information provided. As legislative efforts are still ongoing, we expect that there may be additional guidance and clarification from regulators that may modify some of the provisions in this communication. Some of those modifications may be significant. As such, be aware that this is not a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide specific recommendations to you or your business with respect to the matters addressed.