GOVERNMENT LIASION OFFICER REPORTS
October 2011 Monthly GLO Report
Social Security News
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (“the Council”) took a step forward to monitor and mitigate potential threats to U.S. financial stability and protect the American taxpayer by releasing details on the proposed process it will follow to determine whether a nonbank financial company should be subject to enhanced supervision, an important component of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“the Dodd-Frank Act”).. http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1321.aspx
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
FinCEN Proposes Reporting Requirement of International Transport of Certain Prepaid Access Products at U.S. Borders. The proposal would add devices such as general use prepaid cards, certain gift cards, and potentially cell phones to the list of other monetary instruments that must be aggregated to determine if they exceed more than $10,000 and included on the Currency and Monetary Instrument Report (CMIR). http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/nr/pdf/20111012.pdf
The Department of Homeland Security
DHS seems like they spent the last month testifying before every committee in Congress. http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/ President Obama signed a proclamation designating October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/cyber-education-workforce-development.shtm
Small Business Association
The President’s proposed American Jobs Act contained a number of provisions that would affect payroll. The SBA has a good summary… http://www.sba.gov/about-sba-services/199/23001 .
From the US Department of Labor
This month outflow definitely outpaced income for the DOL. Sure you had your fines – Tyson Fresh Meats settles for $2.25 million(sex discrimination); trailer manufacturers in Sumner, TX $950,000 (OSHA violations); and Bank of America $930,000 in violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for improperly firing an employee. http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20111351.html The outflow? 27 million for opportunities for workers with disabilities, 32.5 to combat exploitative child labor, and 500 million to community colleges for job training and workforce development. Oh yes, and 1.5 million to improve labor relations… in Vietnam. http://www.dol.gov/_sec/newsletter/
From USA.gov, the U.S. government’s official web portal http://www.usa.gov/
This month USA.gov is running a contest… faq.challenge.gov Create a video that helps people understand how to get the government benefits and services they need, and you could win $1,000. They also tell us that apple juice is safe to drink (according to the FDA), and celebrate October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. I have worked for a job placement company for workers with disabilities; they are incredible, capable people. Many employers don’t know how to attract, hire, and retain disabled workers. The free reference guide Diversifying Your Workforce explains the business advantages of hiring disabled people.
In Georgia
The deferred income received by a nonresident of Georgia, who regularly engaged in employment, trade, business, professional or other activity for financial gain or profit in a prior year within Georgia and whose deferred income exceeds the lesser of 5% of the income received from all places during the taxable year or $5,000, shall be subject to taxation in Georgia as provided in O.C.G.A. § 48-7-30. https://etax.dor.ga.gov/inctax/newregs/9-12-11_Adopted_Reg__560-7-4-_05_-_Deferred_Income_and_Stock_Options_of_Taxable_Nonresidents.pdf
The Georgia Supreme Court has approved Advisory Opinion No. 2010-1, which concludes that a non-lawyer, such as a clerical employee of a corporation, who answers for a garnishee other than himself in a legal proceeding pending with a Georgia court of record is engaged in the unlicensed practice of law. http://gabar.org/public/pdf/upl/upl_advisory_op_2010-1.pdf The Garnishment Subcommittee of the APA’s Government Affairs Task Force is working with lawmakers on legislation to change this.
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September 2011 Monthly GLO Report Social Security News
On August 2nd Social Security announced that payments would go out on time… and their press group has had nothing else to say!
From the IRS • The Internal Revenue Service is providing tax relief to individual and business taxpayers impacted by Hurricane Irene. Tax filing and payment deadlines are postponed to Oct. 31, 2011. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=245004,00.html The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement The (OCSE) newsletter this month had a story that caught my attention promoting the Insurance Match Program. Individuals owing past-due support are cross-referenced with information maintained by insurers (or their agents) concerning insurance claims, settlements, awards and payments. California gets 1million a month this way. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2011/csr/csr1108.pdf U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that Self Check, a free online service of E-Verify that allows workers to check their own employment eligibility status, is now available in Spanish and accessible to residents in 16 states. For more information visit www.uscis.gov/selfcheck. The U.S. Department of the Treasury The Treasury received more than $886 million in gross proceeds from TARP repayments and related sales, so we (the taxpayer) have recovered $314 billion (76 percent) compared to the $413 billion disbursed to date for the program. http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1282.aspx The Treasury also announced that an additional 50 community banks across the country received a total of $767 million as part of the next wave of funding provided through the Small Business Lending Fund, bringing the total up to $1.8 billion. http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1284.aspx Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FinCEN shows identity thieves prefer to use stolen account identifiers to take over existing legitimate accounts rather than to set up new unauthorized accounts. http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/nr/html/20110906.html The Department of Homeland Security At the direction of President Obama, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano reached out to officials from regions impacted by Hurricane Irene to discuss ongoing coordinated federal, state, and local response and recovery efforts. http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/20110829-napolitano-calls-governors-mayors-irene-efforts.shtm Next – preparations for 9/11. Small Business Association – I don’t remember signing up for this government site, but they are very active with email updates. I enjoyed the story on the SBA 100… 100 small businesses that created 100 jobs spotlighting a Dairy Queen franchise in Alaska. I want to talk to the person selling that much ice cream up there! http://www.sba.gov/sba-100/list They also had good disaster preparedness stories out – ahead of the hurricanes http://www.sba.gov/content/disaster-preparedness . From the US Department of Labor Well, of course the DOL is celebrating Labor Day with Secretary Solis’s “State of the American Worker”. This month injuries in Ohio at Anchor Hocking and Ohio Aluminum brought in a couple hundred thousand, a Florida Tree Service Company kicked in $150k more and they sued the United Employee Benefit Fund in Northbrook, Ill., and its trustees to recover 1 million+ in assets. The Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and its Wage and Hour Division began assisting individuals in 12 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia impacted by Hurricane Irene... And that smell at cheese producer Leprino Foods was hiring discrimination. http://www.dol.gov/_sec/newsletter/ From USA.gov, the U.S. government’s official web portal http://www.usa.gov/ In Georgia Ok… we had to vote again, but now the new License plate design is official! https://etax.dor.ga.gov/TagContest.aspx Also not really news on the website, but they have finally started processing W-2’s. I found out when my file was rejected! If you haven’t been there in a while you may want to check the Georgia Tax Center - http://gataxinfo.org/ .
• IRS is giving a one-week filing extension to taxpayers who’s Preparers were affected by Hurricane Irene.
• The Internal Revenue Service today released specifications for the competency test individuals must pass to become a Registered Tax Return Preparer.
This month USA.gov features the National Hurricane Center and Irene recovery, the Apps Against Abuse challenge encourages the development of applications that provide college students and young adults the tools to prevent violence and abuse, and celebrates Labor Day. Nothing about National Payroll Week?! I’ve become too big a fan to let them off the hook on this one!
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