New Mileage Rates for 2024

The IRS has announced the 2024 standard mileage rates:

• 67¢ per mile driven for business;
• 21¢ per mile driven for medical or moving purposes or for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces;
• 14¢ per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

These rates apply to electric and hybrid-electric automobiles as well as gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.

The Importance of Keeping Terminated Employee Records Up to Date

When employees leave your organization, it’s important to update those termination dates in the HR system. There are numerous reasons why inactive employees on your rosters can increase your liability, but here are a few very concrete ways these employees are costing you money and risk:

• Since your employee turnover calculations are not accurate, you can’t identify which of your managers are poor leaders or hiring the wrong crew.

• Your state and federal government reporting is incorrect, potentially opening your business to both penalties and potential fraud:

• If your annual ACA Form 1095 filing is inaccurate, your organization could be assessed steep penalties of up to $280 per employee, with a maximum of $3.4M per organization.
• If terminated employees have child support and wage garnishments, they’re not sent to the state in a timely manner.

• Higher numbers of termed employees may mean you are not eligible for certain tax breaks and/or subject to additional local, state, and federal compliance programs.

• Your increased headcount can lead to much higher Mize payroll processing fees:

• Payroll software fees (a critical piece of the Mize monthly fee) are tied to headcount.
• Larger numbers of employees increase the payroll processing time, even if they’re inactive.
• Non-terminated employees increase the risk of errors with manual pay.

Given all these issues, Mize is working with your teams to minimize these risks. 

In 2023, we created a new report, called “Employees Not Paid," which was added with your payroll recap letter. Your team can use this report to terminate your employees, or you can send to your payroll processor and they will enter these approved terminations for you.

In 2024, Mize will take on this task for you at no additional cost. Once each quarter, your payroll processor will do an audit of “Active Without Earnings” employees and anyone who has not been paid in 90 days will be terminated.

If you have any questions about this enhanced process, please contact your payroll processor.

State By State News

Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Credit Reductions Apply to Three Jurisdictions

California, New York, and the Virgin Islands will be subject to a FUTA credit reduction for 2023 because they did not repay their FUTA loan balance by November 10, 2023. New York and California will pay a net FUTA rate of 1.2 percent, rather than the normal net FUTA rate of 0.6 percent. The additional FUTA tax will be shown on the 2023 Form 940 and the increase in FUTA tax will be due January 31, 2024.

This occurs when a jurisdiction has an outstanding FUTA loan balance on January 1 of the second consecutive year and the loan has not been paid in full by November 10 of that year. The reduction in the FUTA credit is applied at a rate of 0.3 percent for the first year and an additional 0.3 percent for each subsequent year until the loan balance has been paid off.

California



Food Handler Training is Compensable

Under the state health and safety code, a food handler is required to obtain a food handler card within 30 days of their date of hire. To get the card, the food handler must complete a training course and an examination meeting certain requirements.

CA Senate Bill 476, that was signed by CA Governor Gavin Newsom, requires employers to pay an employee for any cost associated with getting their food handler card. This goes into effect January 1, 2024.

• The time it takes to complete the food handler training and examination are considered hours worked and included in the employee’s pay.
• Employers must reimburse the employee for any necessary expenses related to getting their food handler card.
• The employer must relieve all other work duties while the employee is taking the training course and examination.
• The employer may not put a condition on employment that the applicant or employee has the food handler card prior to employment.

Minimum Wage Updates



There are a couple of corrections for California local minimum wages increases for January 1, 2024: 

• Hayward, CA - Small Employers (25 EEs & Under) - $16.00
• San Mateo County, CA - $17.06

And here are some additional minimum wage increases effective January 1, 2024:

• Connecticut - $15.69
• Cook County, IL - $14.00
• Richmond, CA - $17.20
• Long Beach, CA - Now Follows CA State - $16.00

Please find a detailed breakdown of the upcoming minimum wage adjustments to take effect in 2024 by following the link below. These updates have been incorporated into the document.

MizeCPAS.com