The U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday asked the Treasury Department to answer “significant questions” raised by President Trump’s executive order allowing a deferral of payroll taxes, The Hill reported. In a letter yesterday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the largest lobbying group for U.S. businesses asked the department to clear up uncertainty about how Trump’s order could be implemented by firms, their employees and payroll processors. “While the recently issued Executive Order (EO) on payroll tax deferral is well-intended to provide relief, it has raised serious concerns for both employers and employees,” wrote Caroline Harris, the Chamber’s vice president of tax policy and economic development. Trump this week signed an order directing the Treasury Department to defer payment of Social Security payroll taxes collected from employee paychecks through the end of the year for those making under roughly $100,000. The start date for the planned deferral period is listed as Sept. 1. While Trump’s executive order may be a backdoor way of securing the payroll tax deferral, the lack of clear guidance as to how it would be implemented, who would be responsible for doing so and what would happen to deferred payments has raised major concerns among lawmakers and tax policy experts. The order also raises a slew of questions about how to handle bonuses, the pay of seasonal workers and employees who leave before the deferral period, Harris wrote.
