UPDATE: President Trump signed the bill into law on Friday afternoon.

Earlier this afternoon, the House passed by voice vote the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, the third Coronavirus-related piece of legislation, which was passed by the Senate on Wednesday with a 96-0 vote.  At $2 trillion, the CARES Act is the largest stimulus package in U.S. history and is headed to the White House for President Trump’s signature later today.

In our previous article, we provided a Client Alert summarizing the tax-related provisions in the CARES Act.  Our next two articles will highlight two provisions available to qualifying employers as they navigate this challenging time.  Today, we focus on Section 2302, which permits employers to defer deposits of the employer share of social security taxes. Given that it is a near certainty that the President will sign the Act before Monday, employers may seek to cancel payroll tax deposits initiated for wages paid today and initiate a same-day wire transfer deposit on Monday of the payroll deposits less employer social security tax. The deferral provision applies only to the employer’s share of social security tax.  It does not apply to the employer’s Medicare taxes nor to the employee’s share of social security or Medicare taxes.
Continue Reading CARES Act Enacted; Employers May Defer Some Payroll Tax Deposits Due on Monday