2009 End of Year
Answers for Benefits, Payroll and Taxes
Verification of Information
All employees should review their paycheck deposit advice to confirm the following information is correct.
If any information is not correct, notify us of any changes prior to Friday, December 18, 2009:
The Social Security Administration requires that the name on your Social Security card and your Form W-2 must match in the following manner: first name, middle initial, last name.
If you are currently using a name that does not match your social security card due to marriage, divorce, citizenship change or for any other reason, you need to obtain a new card with your correct name from the Social Security Administration.
To correct your name in payroll records, please provide a copy of your social security card with your correct name on it and fax it to 504-862-8945.
We mail all W2s to the address shown on your deposit advice.
If you have had an address change during the year and haven’t informed us of the change, update your home address at https://wfmo.tulane.edu/contactinfo or submit a PPI form. To login, use the same user id and password as your Tulane email account.
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2009 W-2 Wage and Tax Information
- 2009 W-2s will be mailed to all employees by February 1, 2010.
- It is important that we have your correct address on file in order to avoid unnecessary delays.
If you need to correct your address, please follow the instructions from the Verification of Information section.
- Requests for duplicate Form W-2 will be available after February 28, 2010 in order to allow the Post Office sufficient time to deliver W-2s to the designated address.
The request form is available in a PDF format at http://tulane.edu/wfmo/payroll/w2.cfm.
Fill out the form and fax it to 504-862-8945.
All requests will be processed as soon as possible after receipt. You should plan to allow 72 hours for the request to be processed.
The duplicate W-2 forms will be mailed to your address of record or picked up at the Workforce Management Office.
The W-2 forms cannot be emailed or faxed or overnighted and cannot be sent to a third party such as the employee's accountant.
As a reminder, confidential information including employee earnings and tax information is never released by phone, fax or email.
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2010 Information
Payroll:
- Form W-4: Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate:
- If you claimed exempt or more than 10 exemptions from federal withholding on your 2009 Form W-4, this election will expire on January 1, 2010.
You do have a grace period until February 16, 2010 to submit a new 2010 W-4 form in order to continue your exempt status.
If a new form is not received by the WFMO by this date, your filing status will be automatically converted to single and zero exemptions on your March 5, 2010 (biweekly) or February 26, 2010 (monthly) paycheck.
New 2010 Federal Withholding Form may be obtained on WFMO website http://www.tulane.edu/~wfmo/forms/forms.html.
Please discard all 2009 form W-4s as they are no longer valid after January 1, 2010.
- If your filing status, exemption allowance, or exempt status has changed since your last filing of your W-4 form, you must file an amended W-4.
- Form W-5: Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate – EIC:
- If you filed Form W-5 in 2009, this certificate expires on December 21, 2009. If you wish to continue receiving advance payment of Earned Income Credit, you must complete a new 2010 W-5 form and fax it to WFMO no later than January 1, 2010.
- If you have:
- a qualifying child and your expected income for 2010 is less than $35,463 or $40,463 (if married filed jointly);
- 2 qualifying children and your expected income for 2010 is less than $40,295 or $45,295 (if married filed jointly); or
- 3 qualifying children or more and your expected income for 2010 is less than $43,279 or $48,279 (if married filed jointly)
and if you are a U.S. citizen, you may be entitled to receive Earned Income Credit (EIC) payments with your pay during the year.
To receive these payments, you must complete a Form W-5, Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate.
If you do not have a qualifying child, you may be able to claim the EIC on their tax return but cannot receive advance EIC payments.
Form W-5 remains in effect until the end of the calendar year unless you revoke the certificate or file another one.
You must file a new certificate each year in order to continue receiving such credit.
If you believe you are eligible to take the credit and would like to receive the EIC in 2010 in advance payments with your pay, you must complete the 2010 W-5 form.
- The FICA tax rate, which is the combined Social Security tax rate of 6.2% and the Medicare tax rate of 1.45%, remains at 7.65% for 2010.
- 2010 social security wage base will be the same as 2009: $106,800.
The maximum Social Security tax employees and employers will each pay in 2010 is the same as 2009: % or $6,621.60.
- For benefit eligible employees who have a graduate-level tuition waiver for the calendar year (spring, summer, and fall) exceeding $5,250.00, the waiver is considered taxable income. This excess amount is subject to all federal and state income taxes including FICA.
To assist you with this additional income, it is strongly recommended that you submit a form to notify us of your plan of study in the beginning of the year so that the Workforce Management may allocate this additional income throughout the year in order and eliminate a large tax withholding at the end of the year. If necessary, an employee may adjust his/her withholdings (Federal Withholding W-4 Form and Louisiana L-4 Form) and fax them to Workforce Management at 504-862-8945.
- It is also important to review your first pay check of year 2010 to ensure that all benefit deductions reflect your elections during the Open Enrollment period.
You should contact Workforce Management immediately at (504) 865-5280 if you find any discrepancies.
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Benefits:
- At the beginning of each year, it is important to check your benefit deductions to ensure that we are taking deductions for benefits you have enrolled in during the 2009-2010 Open Enrollment. This is not the opportunity to make changes but rather to confirm elections are in place.
- Your Medical and Vision insurance plan deductions will change only if you have switched from one Medical plan to another or changed your level of coverage. There was no cost increase for 2010 for any of these plans.
- Your Dental insurance plan deductions will increase slightly due to a 3.4% rate increase.
- Your deduction for Supplemental Life insurance may change due to a change in your age and/or base compensation.
- Your deduction for Long-Term Disability insurance may change due to a change in your base compensation. Your deduction may also be slightly less this year due to a rate decrease.
- Regarding your 403(b) contributions, the IRS maximum employee contribution for 2010 will remain the same as 2009. You can contribute a maximum of $16,500 in 2010, which is $1,375 per month based on a January through December deduction period. The special catch-up limit for employee age 50 and above also remains the same at $5,500, which is $458.33 based on a January through December deduction period. If you are already having deductions taken, you do not need to complete a new salary reduction agreement. If you wish to have deductions started in January or make adjustments, contact Workforce Management immediately at (504) 865-5280
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