[ATempleton]

Hello,
We are using Bi-weekly payroll. The first pay period of 2008 started on Dec 30th 2007 and ended on Jan 12th 2008. it ran ok. When I ran the next payroll, where all the dates are within 2008, the gross amount was the same, but the taxes deducted were not the same. Is this because of the 2 days in the first pay period that were in the previous year. Did it use 2 different calculations for the income tax, for that pay period?
Thanks,
Alec Templeton

[BHalpin]

No, payroll does not (and should not) use two different years calculations.

Tax (etc.) calculations used are based on the cheque date – it doesn’t matter when the pay-period begins or ends. So, if the cheque date is in 2007, 2007 rates are used. And if the cheque date is in 2008 then 2008 rates are used.

So, that’s not the reason.

Now, probably one of two things happened to cause the difference:

– The 1st cheque you mentioned was dated in ’07 and the 2nd in ’08 (therefor two different tax year calculations were used.) Unlikely, but a possibility.

– Something in the employee’s setup was changed – like a TD1 amount.

If that doesn’t explain it, then you really need to get into the ‘guts’ of the payroll calculations and it should be fairly easy to discover exactly what happened. Here is what to do:

On the Payrun table, click on the payrun that contains the 1st cheque you mentioned. In the pane below, click on Notes. Now you’ll see a text listing of the payroll processing for all the cheques in that Payrun. Scroll down and find the employee in question. Then look for — Federal Tax Calculation. There you will see the gory details of the tax calculations.

You should copy the text of the calculations into Notepad to make the next comparison step easier – just left-click and sweep down with he mouse to hilight the text you want, then do Edit Copy in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Open Notepad and Edit Paste. (I would copy the entire block for that employee – not just the tax calculations.)

Now, in the Payrun list, click on the Payrun that contains the 2nd cheque. Look through the Notes for the employee in question and examine the tax calculations there. Compare this to what you copied into Notepad and you will have your answer.

Bob

[ATempleton]

Hello Bob,
Thanks for the info. Having the tax calculations in the notes view is a GREAT help.
I found out what the difference is. In the first payrun the PPIP was calculated after the Federal tax and was not included in the K2 calculation. On subsequent payruns the PPIP was calculated before Fed tax and was included in the K2 Calculation. Is there a specific order that the accounts have to be in for the calculations to work properly?
If so, I may have had them in the wrong order for the first payrun.
Thanks,
Alec Templeton

[MSchappler]

Make sure the EI, PPIP, and QPP deduction accounts are above the Federal Tax calculation (TAX). The last deduction would be the Quebec Tax line (QTX).

You can check the calculation with WinRAS which can be obtained at:

http://www.revenu.gouv.qc.ca/eng/services/sgp_winras/index.asp

Regards,

Martin

[ATempleton]

Thanks Martin,
I will place the accounts in the proper order.
Alec Templeton

[Author]

Posts