Feds Hold off on Imposing SocSec Tax
on Mo Educators
By Jo Mannies
Special to the Post-Dispatch
January 09, 2009
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U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s office just announced that there’s at least a temporary reprieve of the federal plans to require some Missouri public-education workers to pay Social Security taxes, even though they are already covered by the state pension plan for educators.
According to McCaskill’s release:
The federal government this week said they will forego the July 1, 2009 deadline for enforcement actions that would impact the retirement of some Missouri public school professionals.
The change came after members of the Missouri Congressional delegation asked the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service to consider eliminating the current deadline. In addition, the federal government agreed to eliminate the possibility that impacted educators will be required to pay back tax penalties or interest. The delegation will receive an update on the issue from the agencies in February.
As the release explains, a bipartisan cadre of Missouri’s members of Congress got involved a few months ago, at the behest of state educators fuming over the Social Security administration and IRS’ planned action to tax Missouri education employees for benefits that they wouldn’t receive.
(Click here to read a December post detailing the issue.)
The release goes on: "After a meeting in which agency officials could not answer all the members’ questions, the delegation requested that the July 1 deadline be dropped and that educators would not be required to pay back tax penalties or interest."
In a spirit of bipartisanship, McCaskill’s staff noted that the newest GOP member of Congress from Missouri - U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer - "has joined the rest of the group in working to see a fair resolution on this issue."
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