Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement: Updates and Processing for Year End 2024

MEMORANDUM

DATE: November 22, 2024
TO: Federal Personnel and Payroll System (FPPS) User Group Representatives and Client Accounting Offices
FROM: Lisa Puente, Deputy Chief, Payroll Operations Division
SUBJECT: Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement: Updates and Processing for Year End 2024

As part of a combined effort to provide quality service to your employees, the Interior Business Center (IBC) wants to ensure that each employee’s pay record is accurate and complete prior to the close of the pay year 2024. The instructions for the Form W-2 will provide information related to some taxable and non-taxable income and/or fringe benefits for employees. Please use the additional information found in this memo to assist in supplementing that information.

To ensure proper processing for the current wage and tax year, all documents, that have not previously been submitted, should be provided as soon as possible, but no later than November 29, 2024, which this date was shared at the September 2024 FPPS User Group Meeting. Any documents received after November 29, 2024, will require a 2024 Form W-2C, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement. For tax purposes, income is reported in the year in which the payment is made. When forwarding documents to the IBC, please use the POD-27 Transmittal to Payroll Operations Division and applicable fillable forms outlined below by following the submission instructions outlined later in the memo.

As an alternative to using the POD-27 Transmittal sheet, please consider using the entitlement interface file. This eliminates the need for manual input of mass entries of certain taxable and fringe benefit pay codes to be loaded directly into FPPS. For more information on using the Entitlements Interface File IFIL0284, please use the following link under the title of ‘Reports’ from the IBC Customer Central Webpage: FPPS User Group Representatives (UGR). Please note: The only pay codes that can be used on the file are listed in the table below:

To ensure an accurate Form W-2, please pay attention to the following areas:

1. Other Taxable Income – If not previously submitted, reporting of other taxable income may be accomplished by completing and forwarding the POD-16 Other Income Summary Sheet by following the submission instructions below. This type of income includes the following, but not limited to:
   • All change of station allowances, including home marketing incentive payments.
   • Indefinite travel payments.
2. Fringe Benefits – If not previously submitted, reporting of other fringe benefits income may be accomplished by completing and forwarding the POD-18 Report of Taxable Fringe Benefits, or on a spreadsheet to report Child Care Subsidy*, by following the submission instructions outlined below. This type of income includes the following, but not limited to:
   • Child Care Subsidy* – Subsidy exceeding $5,000.00 is taxable.
   • Fitness/Wellness – Employees reimbursed for a fitness program must report this as taxable income.
   • Qualified Transportation Benefits (including parking and transit) - Amounts reimbursed in excess of $315 per month are taxable.
   • Transportation (taxable) – Use of government vehicles or leased vehicles for commuting or the use of limo services is considered taxable fringe benefits.
   • Taxable non-monetary awards –
     • The “fair market” value of any significant non-monetary award presented to an employee as recognition must be included in the employee’s Form W-2 as taxable earnings.
     • Items that could be considered significant for this purpose would be pen-and-pencil sets, clocks, jackets, watches, gift certificates, tickets to events, or similar items.
     • Follow your agency policy regarding non-monetary awards that must be considered taxable earnings as fringe benefits.
3. Paid Bills for Collection – Repayment of Salary Debts – Submit a copy of any bill paid to your office covering salary overpayment, indicating “Salary Indebtedness Paid”. Please include the debt identification number, which was used when the debt was transferred, the date paid, and an authorized signature. For more information, refer to our user group communication dated August 30, 2024, with the subject: Repayment of 2024 Salary Debts for Former Employees.
4. Undelivered Salary Checks – Salary checks that cannot be delivered to employees by December 31, 2024, should be submitted for cancellation and sent to the Review and Analysis Branch (RAB), D-2613, as soon as possible.
   • Salary checks returned to RAB by December 6, 2024, can be processed as an adjustment in the pay period (PP) 2024-26.
   • If received after December 6, 2024, this will require a manual year-end adjustment.
   • Salary checks received after December 27, 2024, will require a Form W-2C.

Please submit any current year taxable corrections or adjustments listed above that occur in late November and December to your payroll processing section as quickly as possible.

• Any adjustments that cannot be accomplished through the payroll processing cycle of December 14, 2024 (PP 2024-26), will require a manual year-end adjustment.
• Any adjustments received after December 27, 2024, will require a Form W-2C.

Submission Instructions for POD-27 and Associated POD-16 and/or POD-18

Below are the acceptable ways to submit documents to your Payroll Processing Sections using one of the following options:

• For documents that contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
  • Secure Transport or
  • Secure fax transmission to (303) 236-1011
• For documents submission(s) that do NOT contain PII, should be emailed to the Payroll Operations Branch POD_POB_WIP@ibc.doi.gov.

You may view and download additional information (including the fillable PDF documents for payroll clients) from the Client Interface Guide at: Payroll Manuals.

If you have any questions, please contact the IBC CSC at Payroll_Helpdesk@ios.doi.gov or by phone at 1-866-367-1272.