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Simplified Tax & Wage Reporting System
Current Initiatives and Projects

[image: STAWRS logo (an American eagle in a triangle marked Employers, Federal and States at the apexes)]

Overview

Vision

To partner with stakeholders in developing, demonstrating, and transitioning concepts that simplify the employment tax and wage reporting process to improve customer service.

Mission

To reduce employer tax and wage reporting burden while improving the effectiveness and efficiency of government operations.

Goals

• Provide timely and accurate tax information to employers to strengthen customer service
• Decrease the number of tax- and wage-related forms that employers must file
• Provide employers more opportunities to file tax- and wage-related forms electronically
• Simplify Federal and state tax employment laws
• Provide employers the opportunity to file employment-related returns to one location
• Increase voluntary compliance
• Support Federal and state electronic tax strategies

Reducing Employers' Tax and Wage Reporting Burden

[image: overlay of people on IRS forms]

Single Point Filing Initiative

Enable employers to file employment-related tax and wage reports to one location in either paper or electronic media.

Projects

Electronic Filing Employers' Quarterly Returns (Market-Driven Approach)

Facilitate the development of combined single point electronic filing of tax and wage reports.

• Partner with states, employers, and commercial software development community to develop and demonstrate combined electronic single point filing concept
• Partner with employer community, states, and IRS to assess demonstration of multistate single point electronic filing
  quarterly tax data electronically to the IRS.

Paper Filing Employers' Quarterly Returns (Montana)

Facilitate the development of combined single point paper filing to the state, which transmits Federal

• Continue (employer —> state —> IRS) demonstration of combined paper form
• Conduct "operational" combined filing through the state to IRS

Electronic/Paper Filing Employers' Quarterly Returns (Iowa)

Demonstrate a process and develop required infrastructure for Iowa to receive employers' electronic/paper filing of wage and withholding tax reports.

• Make single point electronic filing beta software available to employers for evaluation
• Conduct customer survey and analyze results
• Conduct parallel filing demonstration through the state to IRS (employer —> state —> IRS)
• Analyze results of demonstration

Streamlined Customer Service Initiative

Reduce tax and wage reporting burden on the employer by improving customer service electronically (through the Internet), via the telephone, and person-to-person.

Projects

One-Stop Customer Service (Information Access)

Facilitate employer access to on-line employment tax and wage information.

• Enhance Simplified Employer Assistance Kit (SEAK)
• Partner with other government agencies to combine electronic and face-to-face streamlined customer service

One-Stop Customer Service (Operational Support)

Facilitate the issuance of Employer Identification Numbers (EINs).

• Partner with EIN process owners to facilitate electronic application
• Partner with employers, states, and IRS to develop proposal for combined EIN

Simplified Requirements Initiative

Federal and state employment tax and wage reporting laws are made more consistent across state and Federal boundaries (harmonization) so that regulations, instructions, procedures, forms, and filing schedules are simpler and more understandable.

Project

Harmonized Wage Code (HWC) and Filing Dates

Harmonize Federal and state employment tax and wage reporting laws.

• Complete and make available HWC database at STAWRS Web site
• Develop Targeted HWC geared toward small employers
• Promote targeted HWC with selected jurisdictions
• Continue development of HWC for all employers - large and small

Stakeholders

Federal

• Department of the Treasury
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Department of Labor
• Social Security Administration
• Office of Management and Budget
• Small Business Administration

State

• Taxing Authorities
• Unemployment Insurance (UI) Agencies

Employer Community

• Employers
• Professional Associations, e.g., American Payroll Association and American Society for Payroll Management
• Service Bureaus

Public

• Federation of Tax Administrators
• Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies

Contact Information

Midori Morgan-Gaide, Executive-In-Charge
(202) 874-0770

Rich Colombo, Technical Director and Project Manager
Electronic Filing Employers' Quarterly Returns
(202) 874-0744

Kevin Gill, Program Manager
(202) 874-0712

Jo Lynn Arnold, Project Manager
One-Stop Customer Service
(202) 874-0711

Philip Corn, Project Manager
Harmonized Wage Code and Filing Dates
(202) 874-0704

Donna Hockensmith, Project Manager
Paper Filing Employers' Quarterly Returns
(202) 622-8323

Susan Lehman
External Stakeholder Liaison/ Office Manager
(202) 874-0717

Fred Cronkhite
Senior Economist/DOL Stakeholder
(202) 874-0739

Toll Free Number
1-800-4STAWRS
(1-800-478-2977)

Web Site Address
www.treas.gov/STAWRS

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