State Agencies Bulletin No. 863

Subject
New York City (NYC) Reportable Wages
Date Issued
December 2, 2008

Purpose

To inform agencies of a new process implemented by OSC to ensure that NYC wages are properly reported on the 2008 Form W-2 for all employees with a NYC residence. Control-D Report NTAX702 (NYC Reportable Wages), identifying employees who may need adjustments to their NYC reportable wages, is now available.

NYS Tax and Finance Rules and Regulations

In accordance with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Publication NYS – 50, compensation that is regarded as wages for Federal income tax purposes is generally regarded as wages for New York State income tax purposes. Individuals who have a NYC residence are subject to NYC tax, regardless of where the individual works.

Background

To comply with NYS Tax and Finance Rules and Regulations, employers must report wages for all employees who are residents of NYC. In PayServ, employee tax withholdings are calculated based on the information in the employee’s Local Tax Data page. If an employee’s Tax Data page is not populated properly, the wage information in PayServ may be inaccurate. As a result, OSC must take action to ensure correct wages are reported for the year.

OSC will verify, and update if necessary, the NYC reportable wage amount based on the employee’s home address in PayServ.

Affected Employees

All employees with a NYC residence, for all or part of the calendar year, whose NYC reportable wages in PayServ require an adjustment in order to be correct for the employee’s 2008 Form W-2

Effective Date

Immediately

OSC Actions

OSC will determine whether NYC wages should be reported based on the employee’s address in effect for each pay period during 2008 provided the home address is in one of the following zip codes designated as NYC:

112XX, 104XX, 110XX, 111XX, 113XX, 114XX, 116XX, 100XX, 101XX, 102XX, 103XX (Exclusions: 11003, 11010, 11020, 11021, 11022, 11023, 11024, 11030, 11050,11096)

OSC will take necessary action to update NYC reportable wages accordingly for the employee’s Form W-2. No changes will be made to the employee’s withholdings.

OSC has created a Control-D report identifying employees with a discrepancy between the NYC reportable wages in PayServ and the amount determined by OSC.

Agency Actions

Agencies must review Control-D report NTaX702 and confirm that the current home address, including zip code, is correct for all employees listed on the report.

  • If the current home address and zip code information is accurate and is within the NYC limits, the agency must verify that the employee’s Local Tax data page is set up correctly. If incorrect, the agency must correct the Tax Data page.

Instructions to update the Tax Data page :

Home > Compensate Employees > Maintain Payroll Data (US) > Use>Employee Tax Data > Local Tax Data Locality: P0001 Resident Box: checked

  • If the current home address and zip code information is not accurate, the agency must update the employee’s home address with the correct address and zip code. When the corrections are completed, agencies must notify OSC by email to the Payroll Deductions mailbox or by fax to 518-486-3099. The deadline for changes and OSC notification is December 15, 2008.

Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 819 for instructions to update home address.

  • If the employee’s address changed during the Year, the agency must verify the previous home addresses for 2008. If any of the addresses were within the NYC limits, the agency must notify OSC.

Failure to notify OSC of corrections and/or updates by December 15, 2008 will result in the reporting of Local wages for these employees to the NYS Department of Tax and Finance.

Questions

Payroll-related questions may be directed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.