Q Do I need to report an employee who worked for a couple of hours or days and then quit?
A “By law all wages earned are reportable,” said Skip Sullivan, a certified public accountant and member of the Maryland Society of Accountants. “The dilemma is the cost of reporting versus the actual cost or expense of the labor.”
Sullivan said to be fair to the employee and comply with the responsibilities of an employer, employers should do what is right.
“Report the wage and withhold the taxes,” he said, “and add the employee to your wages expense.”
He said employers should also pay federal and state unemployment taxes, and that may cause even more expense if the employee attempts to collect unemployment benefits.
The other option, if the employee was paid less than $600, is to write the payment in as casual labor.
“But remember, that employee may still go and attempt to collect unemployment benefits,” Sullivan said. “If the employer does not enter into the payroll tax system, the unemployment compliance board can be much worse to deal with.
