New Jersey challenges its residents (and their employers) by diverging in significant and meaningful ways from Federal definitions of income.  In these ways, New Jersey shares much in common  although not all in common) with its western neighbor, Pennsylvania. Fortunately, New Jersey has entered into a reciprocal agreement with its neighbor Pennsylvania so that a resident of one  state who works in the other pays state income tax generally only to his or her state of residence and avoids double taxation on his or her income.  There was no such luck for one Michelle G. Darcey, a resident of New Jersey who had the bad luck of being required to pay state income tax to both New Jersey and Pennsylvania on income from her employer’s nonqualified deferred compensation plan.   My recent article in Corporate Taxation provides an in-depth look at New Jersey’s approach to taxing nonqualified deferred compensation.  Employers may be surprised that the state’s approach to nonqualified deferred compensation may not follow Federal tax principles.

Read the full article.

Photo of S. Michael Chittenden S. Michael Chittenden

Michael Chittenden practices in the areas of tax and employee benefits with a focus on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), information reporting (e.g., Forms 1095, 1096, 1098, 1099, W-2, 1042, and 1042-S) and withholding, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits. Mr. Chittenden…

Michael Chittenden practices in the areas of tax and employee benefits with a focus on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), information reporting (e.g., Forms 1095, 1096, 1098, 1099, W-2, 1042, and 1042-S) and withholding, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits. Mr. Chittenden advises companies on their obligations under FATCA and assists in the development of comprehensive FATCA and Chapter 3 (nonresident alien reporting and withholding) compliance programs.

Mr. Chittenden advises large employers on their employment tax obligations, including the special FICA and FUTA rules for nonqualified deferred compensation, the successor employer rules, the voluntary correction of employment tax mistakes, and the abatement of late deposit and information reporting penalties. In addition, he has also advised large insurance companies and employers on the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements in Sections 6055 and 6056, and advised clients on the application of section 6050W (Form 1099-K reporting), including its application to third-party payment networks.

Mr. Chittenden counsels clients on mobile workforce issues including state income tax withholding for mobile employees and expatriate and inpatriate taxation and reporting.

Mr. Chittenden is a frequent commentator on information withholding, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits and regularly gives presentations on the compliance burdens for companies.