LODI
FICA REFUND
The
Office of Payroll Administration requests that the following be
carefully reviewed by all uniformed employees:
This has been changed to the end of February
LoDI
Refund Claim
The City has reached a
settlement with the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) involving FICA (i.e. Social Security & Medicare) tax refunds to both the City
and eligible uniformed members of
the City’s Correction, Fire, Police and Sanitation Departments. The
years
covered by this settlement are 1989 through 2005. Eligible uniformed members
of these departments who were on authorized Line of Duty Injury (LoDI)
leave at
some point during the years
1989
through 2005 will likely be eligible for a refund of the FICA taxes
paid on
LoDI payments received for a
period of six
months or less. Correction, Fire and Police Department members are
eligible
from 1989 while Department of Sanitation members are eligible from 1992.
Please note that LoDI
payments received for a period of
greater than six months have previously been deemed to be exempt under a separate statutory
provision and thus are not part of
this refund.
In
order to collect a refund in
connection with this settlement, eligible uniformed members must submit
a
signed consent form to the City allowing the City to collect the refund
on the
employees’ behalf. Once the IRS refunds the monies to the City, the
City will
then remit the money to the employee. In the absence of a signed
consent form
from an employee, that employee
will not be able to participate in this settlement. Moreover, that
employee may be forever barred
from collecting a refund of
these amounts since his/her time for filing an individual refund claim
will
likely have expired.
Deadlines
The
Office of Payroll Administration
(OPA) is in the process of gathering the data it needs to reach out to
every
affected employee. OPA anticipates that letters explaining the refund
process
and the years for which that employee may be entitled
to a FICA refund will be mailed out to each
employee by the end of the year. Enclosed with
this letter will be the consent form employees will be required to sign
and
return to the City in order to collect their
refund. This consent form must be returned within sixty (60) days from
the date
of the letter or that individual
will be
precluded from obtaining a refund. The deadline date will be printed in
the
letter. Thus time will be of the essence. We urge all employees who
believe
that they may be eligible for a refund and whose address has changed to
update
their address.
How
to change your address
OPA
has obtained mailing addresses from
the City’s Payroll Management System as well as other sources. If you
believe
that your address must be changed complete the Change of Employee
Address for
LoDI FICA Refund Claim form. The form can be found at OPA’s website:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/opa/html/home/home.shtml After completing it should be sent to:
The City of New York
Office of Payroll Administration
FICA Refund Claim Unit
One
Centre Street Room 200N
New
York, NY 10007
It
can be faxed to 212 669-3377.
Please
note:
Completing this form will not change the City’s Payroll Management
System
address. Should you choose to change the City's Payroll Management
System
address, you must contact Uniformed Personnel and forward a CD-6.
Contact
Information
For inquiries regarding
the FICA Refund Claim you can use
any of the following options. By
mail:
The
City of
FICA
Refund Claim Unit
Online:
The Fire Department notes that members should be aware that LoDI FICA
refunds may have a minor impact on your future social security
benefits. More
information will be shared as it becomes available.
OPA
has also compiled some frequently asked questions on this topic.
What is
What is
the
The
City has filed refund claims for
both the employer’s and employees’ share of the FICA taxes paid on LoDI
payments received by eligible uniformed members of the City’s
Correction, Fire,
Police and Sanitation departments for a period of six months or less
for the
years 1989 through 2005.
What is FICA?
FICA
is the acronym for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. FICA
consists of both Social Security and Medicare taxes.
Every
employee entitled to a refund must
submit a consent form to the City permitting the City to collect the
refund on
that employee’s behalf. The IRS will not refund an employee’s share
unless a
consent form has been signed and timely returned. The City will mail to
each
eligible employee a letter explaining the steps they will need to take
in order
to obtain their refund and a consent form for them to sign and return
to the
City. The employee
will
have 60 days from the date of the letter to return the consent form to
the
City. Once the letters are mailed,
we will
update this website and provide the date on which all consent forms
must be
postmarked by the United States Post Office in order to collect a
refund. We
anticipate mailing out these forms to each eligible employee by the end
of the
year.
When will I receive a
consent form from the City?
OPA
expects
to mail the consent forms and explanatory letters by the end of the
year. We
will put a notice on this website
when the
forms are mailed so please check back.
When will I get my FICA
refund?
Those
individuals who return the signed
consent form to the FICA Refund Claim Unit by the deadline date will
receive
their refund from the City once the IRS refunds the money to the City.
Because
the IRS will have to review the claims prior to paying out the refund,
we
cannot provide an estimate of when these payments will be received by
the City.
We believe that it will take at least six months from the time the City
remits
the signed employee consents to the IRS before the IRS refunds the
money to the
City. The City will then require time to generate payments and forward
the
refund to each individual employee.
How do I contact OPA with
my questions?
The
Office of Payroll Administration can be reached through email at Lodi_FICARefund@payroll.nyc.gov. You
can call us at 212 669-2333.
You can fax inquiries, but not signed consent forms to 212 669-3377. CONSENT FORMS WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED
BY FAX. Consent
forms must be mailed or hand delivered to: Office of Payroll
Administration
FICA
Refund Claim Unit
When will the IRS send
the
We
anticipate that it will take at least six months from the time the City
submits
the employee consents form to the
IRS until
the IRS pays the money to the City.
Yes.
Your
refund check will include the amount of FICA taxes withheld from your
paycheck
that are attributable to LoDI pay
received
for a period of six months or less AND statutory interest from the date
of
payment.
Is the FICA refund
taxable?
Only
the interest received with your
FICA refund is taxable. You will receive a 1099-int form with your FICA
refund.
The City of
When can I expect to
receive the letter and consent form
from the City?
By
the end of year, OPA will be sending
out consent forms and letters to all eligible uniformed employees
explaining
the refund process and the years for which they may be entitled to a
FICA
refund. Once we have a fixed date we will post it on this website so
please
check back.
Yes. You are eligible to
receive a refund of the FICA taxes
paid in connection with that authorized
I filed for a FICA refund
with the IRS on my own. What do I
do now?
If you filed a FICA
refund claim with the IRS seeking a
refund of FICA taxes paid on LoDI payments received for a period of six months or less
and received
the refund, circle N for No for each year you received the refund on the consent form. You are not
entitled to
have this money refunded twice.
If
you filed for a FICA refund
pertaining to
I filed for a FICA refund
with the IRS on my own and my case
is still pending. What do I do now?
If
you filed for a FICA refund pertaining to
Yes.
You are eligible to receive a
refund. In order to obtain your refund, you must complete the consent
form by
circling Y for Yes or N or No for each year. Failure to return the
signed
consent form to the City by the deadline date will prevent you from
being able
to obtain your FICA refund.
When will I receive a
consent form from the City?
OPA
expects
to mail the consent forms and explanatory letters by the end of the
year. We
will put a notice on this website
when the
forms are mailed so please check back.
When will I get my FICA
refund?
Those
individuals who return the signed
consent form to the FICA Refund Claim Unit by the deadline date will
receive
their refund from the City once the IRS refunds the money to the City.
Because
the IRS will have to review the claims prior to paying out the refund,
we
cannot provide an estimate of when these payments will be received by
the City.
We believe that it will take at least six months from the time the City
remits
the signed employee consents to the IRS before the IRS refunds the
money to the
City. The City will then require time to generate payments and forward
the
refund to each individual employee.
How do I contact OPA with
my questions?
The
Office of Payroll Administration can be reached through email at Lodi_FICARefund@payroll.nyc.gov. You
can call us at 212 669-2333.
You can fax inquiries, but not signed consent forms to 212 669-3377. CONSENT FORMS WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED
BY FAX. Consent
forms must be mailed or hand delivered to: Office of Payroll
Administration
FICA
Refund Claim Unit
When will the IRS send
the
We
anticipate that it will take at least six months from the time the City
submits
the employee consents form to the
IRS until
the IRS pays the money to the City.
Yes.
Your
refund check will include the amount of FICA taxes withheld from your
paycheck
that are attributable to LoDI pay
received
for a period of six months or less AND statutory interest from the date
of
payment.
Is the FICA refund
taxable?
Only
the interest received with your
FICA refund is taxable. You will receive a 1099-int form with your FICA
refund.
The City of
When can I expect to
receive the letter and consent form
from the City?
By
the end of year, OPA will be sending
out consent forms and letters to all eligible uniformed employees
explaining
the refund process and the years for which they may be entitled to a
FICA
refund. Once we have a fixed date we will post it on this website so
please
check back.
Yes. You are eligible to
receive a refund of the FICA taxes
paid in connection with that authorized
I filed for a FICA refund
with the IRS on my own. What do I
do now?
If you filed a FICA
refund claim with the IRS seeking a
refund of FICA taxes paid on LoDI payments received for a period of six months or less
and received
the refund, circle N for No for each year you received the refund on the consent form. You are not
entitled to
have this money refunded twice.
If
you filed for a FICA refund
pertaining to
I filed for a FICA refund
with the IRS on my own and my case
is still pending. What do I do now?
If
you filed for a FICA refund pertaining to
Yes.
You are eligible to receive a
refund. In order to obtain your refund, you must complete the consent
form by
circling Y for Yes or N or No for each year. Failure to return the
signed
consent form to the City by the deadline date will prevent you from
being able
to obtain your FICA refund.
How
do I determine if I am an eligible
uniformed member of the City’s Correction, Fire, Police, or Sanitation
Department?
In
order to determine whether you are an eligible member you must contact
your agency and ask whether you were eligible to, and in fact did,
receive LoDI
pay during any period between 1989 and 2005.
I received
Why
does the City have to claim my FICA refund?
Because FICA is paid both
by the employer and the employee,
and because the City remits the employees’ share to the IRS on behalf of the
employee, when requesting a refund,
federal law requires that the employer also seek refunds on behalf of its employees.
Please note, this statutory
requirement does not prevent employees from seeking refunds themselves.
This is
why the IRS requires that consent forms be completed by all employees,
swearing
under penalties of perjury that they did not file their own refund
claim and
obtain a refund of these amounts, before the IRS will pay over that
employee's
share of the refund to the City.
You
will need to send the FICA Refund Claim Unit an original death
certificate along with the signed consent.
The
City has filed refund claims for the years 1989-2005 for the
employer’s share of Social Security/Medicare (FICA) taxes paid with
respect to
How
do I get a copy of my W-2 forms?
You
can
request a duplicate W-2 from your agency payroll office or from OPA.
For tax
year 2003, most agencies can print
replacement W-2s for their employees. OPA will continue to provide
duplicate
W-2s for prior years.
Download
the W-2 Duplicate Request form
below, or call OPA at (212) 669-8555 to have it faxed to you. You may
mail or
fax your request to OPA as noted on the form.
A
fee of $5 will be charged for each W-2
duplicate more than three years old. Payments may be made by:
·
Certified
Check
·
Money
Order
·
Payroll
Deduction (for active employees only)
Will my pension benefits
be affected? No.
By
Order of: Nicholas
Scoppetta, Fire
Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano, Chief
of
Department