The Government Services Administration (GSA) has posted revisions to its schedule effective Oct. 1, 2024, the start of the federal 2025 fiscal year (October-September). The rate change applies to travel occuring Oct. 1 and after.

The federal standard CONUS per diem rate for lodging increased to $110 per day and the meals/incidentals rate increased to $68 per day. Some of the nonstandard areas with higher rates may have changed from covered to not covered and vice versa.

Furthermore, the Oklahoma City/Oklahoma County rate for lodging increased to $116 per day and the meals/incidentals rate increased to $80 per day.

These new rates can be viewed or downloaded at the GSA website.

The first three quarters of the 2024 tax year are now complete. It is time for all agencies to run the Miscellaneous 1099 Tax Information Report, which will include all transactions from Jan.1-Sept. 30, 2024. The path for this report in PeopleSoft Financials is Accounts Payable > Reports > Payments > Misc Tax Information Report.

Please review the following items in this report:

• The name and tax ID number (TIN) must match the information on the vendor’s W-9, which designates the name and TIN that the vendor uses to report their taxes to the IRS, State Tax Commission and/or Secretary of State.
• Pay attention to the 1099 Flag: ‘Y’ means the vendor should receive a 1099, and ‘N’ means the vendor should not receive a 1099. A vendor does not need a 1099 if it is registered as a corporation, nonprofit or government entity (exception is when the payment is for legal or medical services). State employees in most cases should have an ‘N’ 1099 flag. All other nonexempt vendors should have a ‘Y’ 1099 flag. If there are any questions about a vendor’s 1099 status, request an updated W-9 from the vendor. If the 1099 flag needs to be updated in PeopleSoft Financials, submit the updated W-9 from the vendor to update.request@omes.ok.gov. 
• Address 1 in the vendor file is the vendor’s official address reported to the IRS and the designated address for 1099 reporting. If the vendor’s 1099 Flag is ‘N’, any new addresses provided will be added as a different location, but Address 1 will not change. If Address 1 should be different, submit an OMES Vendor/Payee Form along with an updated W-9 from the vendor to update.request@omes.ok.gov.
• Review all warrants processed for each vendor to ensure that the correct amount is listed for the proper vendor. (Any warrant corrections will need to be made at the agency level.)

Agencies can run this report at any time during the reporting year. At a minimum, agencies should be reviewing this report on a quarterly basis.

Please send any corrections to OMES by Friday, Oct. 25. If you have any questions, please contact Alicia Reel at 405-522-1099 or at alicia.reel@omes.ok.gov.

NOTE: This does not apply to Higher Ed Institutions; these institutions will process their own 1099 reporting.

With the new age of social media, agencies may be using social media influencers as part of their overall marketing strategy.  This type of service creates an independent contractor relationship and as such any payments by cash or noncash methods are considered payments for services. Influencers often receive free gifts or services such as trips, accommodations, food, or swag, in exchange for their social media posts promoting the agency. Gifts or services related to this type of relationship are considered taxable income when the cumulative value to an individual influencer is $600 or more during a calendar year.

The agency will need to obtain the influencer’s taxpayer identification number using the IRS Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, for the income to be reported on Form 1099-NEC. For any noncash income to be reported for 2024, the 1099 Detail File Format spreadsheet must be completed and submitted no later than Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Alicia Reel at 405-522-1099 or alicia.reel@omes.ok.gov.

NOTE: This does not apply to Higher Ed Institutions; these institutions will process their own 1099 reporting.

In line with our goal of enhancing the quality of service and efficiency of OMES Central Purchasing, we are excited to announce the Oct. 21 launch of our service request platform in the state’s work management system, ServiceNow.

This means we will no longer be using shared email addresses. ServiceNow ensures our ability to track and address each request submitted to our office and offers a more customized experience that will reduce the number of contact instances required to resolve requests. Additionally, this platform includes metrics to help us improve our quality of service.

The following email addresses will no longer be active after the launch on Oct. 21:

• supplier.registration@omes.ok.gov
• payee.registration@omes.ok.gov
• eft.registration@omes.ok.gov
• payee.update.request@omes.ok.gov

Instead, users will receive an autoreply email directing them to ServiceNow, though which state agencies should request services or submit inquiries.

Suppliers only: Suppliers and payees may email OKSuppliers@omes.ok.gov to submit inquiries or request assistance. Additionally, Supplier Registration may also be contacted by phone at 405-521-2930 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Thursday. State agency staff must submit a ServiceNow ticket. This allows our team the ability to provide timely customer service to our state suppliers and payees. The OMES Central Purchasing website, supplier and payee guides, and other relevant information sources will be updated concurrent with the launch to reflect the new contact information for suppliers to utilize.

In planning your work for November, Veterans Day will be observed on Monday, Nov. 11. The Thanksgiving holiday is recognized on Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29.

November biweekly payroll for state agencies will be paid on Friday, Nov. 1, Friday, Nov. 15 and Wednesday Nov. 27.

November monthly payrolls will be paid on the last working day of the month, Wednesday, Nov. 27.

With these dates in mind, agency staff should plan their work accordingly:

SUPPLEMENTAL: Workday supplemental payrolls are set to pay on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Agencies must have these payrolls processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by Monday, Nov. 4.

BIWEEKLY: Biweekly payrolls are set to pay on Friday, Nov. 1. Agencies must have these payrolls processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by Friday, Oct 25.

The next biweekly pay date will be Friday, Nov. 15. Agencies must have these payrolls processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by Thursday, Nov. 7.

For the Wednesday, Nov. 27, biweekly pay date, agencies must have these payrolls processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by Wednesday, Nov. 20.

MONTHLY/LEGISLATIVE MONTHLY: Monthly payrolls will be set to pay on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Agencies must have these payrolls processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by Wednesday, Nov. 20.

State agencies are required to have payroll documents to OMES by noon five business days prior to the pay date. All required documents must be submitted by the deadline to ensure adequate time for audit and processing. The following documents are required: 1) the final budget checking report showing no budget deficit and 2) the signed payroll claim document. Submit them to payrolltransprocess@omes.ok.gov with a read receipt.

On-cycle payrolls are completed based on the published schedules. Off-cycle payrolls are currently processed when the paperwork is received for all agencies in the same pay group with the same period being processed. If the paperwork is not received by noon, the payroll for agencies in the same pay group will be held until the paperwork for all agencies is submitted.

Institutions of higher education have different document requirements. The following is required from the institutions: 1) the Validate PFT Funding report showing no budget deficit and 2) the signed payroll claim document. Institutions are required to have payroll documents to OMES by 3 p.m. five business days prior to the pay date.

Effective Oct. 2, the maximum allowable months for retro processing was reduced from 24 to 12 months.

This decision to change the tenant setup was made through internal discussions and agency feedback. This will help:

• Agencies review retro transactions during payroll more effectively as the process does not look as far back, reducing the number of periods that could pull into the payroll results.
• Finance teams manage accounting transactions, as challenges often arise when retro transactions span multiple fiscal years and funding is no longer available or employees have changed positions. (Most retro transactions were found to be within the last three months and several within the last six months.)

Agencies must be mindful of entering transactions timely not only for payroll processing but for correct employee data in the system. Those responsible for entering prior period transactions should notify payroll of those changes so that payroll can expect to see them on the payroll results and verify what is processing is correct.

For any transactions not pulled into the payroll, action should be taken to ensure the accuracy of the payroll results. This could include adding pay inputs or reprocessing the transaction if found to be incorrect and requesting to run a new retro calculation.

Any prior period transactions that cannot be processed through payroll must be reviewed to determine if further action is required.

Workday@OK HR partners now have access to search by Social Security number (SSN) for employees to verify if they are already in the system. Searching by name or any other criteria can cause an agency to identify the wrong person. To search by SSN, go to the search bar and enter “ID:” and then the nine-digit SSN without dashes. (ID:123456789).

Agencies are encouraged to promote electronic only access to year-end forms. The following information is for distribution to employees:

To avoid waiting for your 2024 Form 1095-C or your 2024 W-2 to arrive by mail, you can opt to go paperless only. When you choose to go paperless only, you will receive an electronic copy of the documents that can be downloaded and printed earlier than if electing both paper and electronic. Once you select to receive an electronic only copy, you do not need to make the selection again in the future. A 1095-C user guide and a W-2 user guide have been created to assist you in opting out of receiving the documents by mail. Those who have elected to receive both electronic and paper copies for their year-end documents will have them mailed by the required deadlines. Electronic versions will also be available by the deadlines. W-2s are due to employees by Jan. 31, 2025. 1095-C forms are due by March 3, 2025.

Agencies continue to increase the number of state employees who work remotely and need to be cognizant of withholding and reporting requirements for these employees, along with other employment laws of the specific states. With employees working remotely outside of Oklahoma, the state, as the employer is required to withhold and submit income taxes to that state and report unemployment and other wages/taxes, as applicable. If an agency has employees working outside of Oklahoma, the work location must be updated to the state where the employee is physically working. The employee tax elections must be timely updated to reflect the new tax jurisdiction for income tax and unemployment withholding/reporting purposes.

Please help communicate these requirements to agency HR, recruiting and onboarding personnel as many tasks are performed or initiated by them. Although OMES HCM Central Payroll processes the actual payments and reports to the other states, agency personnel must be familiar with the requirements for any state in which employees are hired. Please contact payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov with any questions concerning employees working out of state.

When an employee reimburses a payroll overpayment, please complete and submit the OMES Form 94P as soon possible after the reimbursement is made. Timely submission helps ensure corrections are reflected in the quarter in which they occurred for proper reporting and helps in the full recovery of OPERS retirement amounts. If the retirement system is not aware of an overpayment and the pending overpayment refund request, payouts to former employees may be incorrect, resulting in a loss to the agency. In addition, retirement calculations may be incorrect if the overpayment is not reported timely.

Please do not provide copies of personal checks or copies of the pay slip. The form allows the agency to enter the amount reimbursed. Additional backup data is not required.  

The form requires the state employee ID (EmplID) be entered. For the privacy and security of the employee, do not submit with the SSN or any other number.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspends the tax-free exclusion of qualified moving expenses paid to or on behalf of an employee by an employer. The suspension period is for tax years beginning Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2025.

Authorized moving expenses paid directly or indirectly to or for an employee will be taxable as wages and must be processed through the payroll system. This includes payments made with the P-card and those processed through accounts payable.

If paying the employee directly (through accounts payable) or a third party for moving expenses, the agency must notify its payroll department of the amount paid. The amount must process through the payroll system as nonpaying, taxable earnings so the amount will be taxed and properly reported on the employee’s W-2. We recommend the amount be processed through payroll on the employee’s next paycheck. Delaying until the end of the year could cause a hardship for the employee by taking the taxes out during the holidays and could also cause issues with collecting the employee taxes if the employee has terminated employment.

For any amounts paid directly to the employee through the Workday@OK system, taxes will be withheld from the gross amount and the employee will receive the net payment.

When a payroll warrant is reversed in Workday, any payable time associated with that warrant will need to be paid using the on-demand process. Workday@OK does not change those hours from ‘paid’ back to ‘approved’ to be included in another payroll. Best practice is to not process another payroll before the reversal is complete, mitigating any wage and tax balance discrepancies. If processing a new payroll before the reversal is complete, agencies need to be mindful of any wage or tax limits and process the new payroll as a paper warrant in case the original EFT amount does not come back to the state. OMES HCM Central Payroll can confirm the funds have been returned and the paper warrant can then be distributed to the employee.

O.S. 47 § 156.1, as amended, prohibits the personal use of state-owned motor vehicles but permits the use of the vehicles for commuting in very specific situations. 2007 OK AG Opinion 18 also addresses this issue.

When a state employee is allowed to commute in accordance with the statute or the attorney general opinion, the agency must notify the governor, the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives. In addition, when an employee is using a vehicle from OMES Fleet Management, the agency must complete the OMES CAM Fleet Management Form 022 (Authorization to Commute in State Vehicle).

The IRS considers commuting to be a noncash taxable benefit to the employee even when the use of the vehicle is for the benefit of the employer. There are very few exceptions to the taxability of commuting. Exceptions are for certain vehicles that are not likely to be used for personal use because of their design. These vehicles are listed in IRS Publication 15-B.

• The method of calculating the taxable fringe benefit is dependent on the employee’s status.
• Commuting Rule: Most state employees may use the Commuting Rule. Under this rule, the value of a vehicle provided to an employee for commuting is computed by multiplying each one-way commute by $1.50. If more than one employee commutes in the vehicle, this value applies to each employee. This amount must be included in the employee’s wages or reimbursed by the employee.
• Cents per Mile: A cents-per-mile method may also be used by most state employees.
• Automobile Lease Valuation Rule: Elected officials or employees whose compensation is at least as great as a federal government employee at Executive Level V (for 2024; $180,000) are not allowed to compute taxable income under the Commuting Rule. These officials and employees must use the Automobile Lease Valuation Rule to compute taxable income.
• All valuation methods are described in detail in IRS Publication 15-B.

The employee may choose to have the value included as taxable income or pay the employer for personal use rather than having it treated as wages. When treating the value as wages, the imputed income is subject to FICA and income tax withholding. The taxable amount, if not paid by the employee, must be processed through payroll so that taxes are calculated, and amounts are reported on the employees’ W-2.

The taxable amount will need to be processed through Workday@OK as a One-Time Payment, a pay input or entered on the timesheet, depending on the agency’s processing policy. The amount will be included as taxable income and will be taxed on the paycheck.

We recommend the vehicle usage be included in the employee’s payroll each pay period to prevent a large sum being included in the employee’s last pay of the calendar year, resulting in a higher-than-normal amount of taxes withheld. Additionally, up-to-date reporting of vehicle usage will benefit the agency should the employee terminate during the year.

For more information, email payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov.

If, for any reason, an agency receives a payroll warrant issued in error, the warrant should be returned as soon as possible to OMES for cancellation. Payroll warrants must be accompanied by an OMES Form PWC.

Warrants issued by the state treasurer, which, for any cause, remain outstanding or unpaid for a period of 90 days shall be revoked and canceled under the provisions of O.S. 62 § 34.80. For warrants canceled by statute, the cash is transferred to the canceled warrant fund. Agencies will not be refunded the value of the statutorily canceled warrants.

Agencies should be reviewing the PS Financials Payroll 36-Month Statutory Cancellation Report on a regular basis.

If there is a payroll warrant listed and the employee is entitled to the funds, complete OMES Form 20R and email to OMES CAR Transaction Processing. This will allow a replacement warrant to be issued to provide the employees their due pay.

Agencies should be reviewing the PS Financials Payroll 36-Month Statutory Cancellation Report on a regular basis.

If there is a payroll warrant listed and the employee is not entitled to the funds, the issuing agency must notify OMES (O.S. 62 § 34.80). Notification should include the warrant number, warrant date and must be signed by an agency approving authority. Please email to OMES CAR Transaction Processing, stating that the warrant should not be reissued. In addition, the amounts must be removed from the employee’s earning record. Please contact Jean Hayes at 405-522-6300 or payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov.

Please verify the correct agency address is being used in Workday@OK. The agency address can be found on the Employee’s Earnings Statement. If the address is not correct for the agency, this should be updated. Please call the OMES Service Desk at 405-521-2444 to have the agency’s address updated in PeopleSoft Financials, which will flow over to Workday@OK.

n planning your work for November, it is important to remember Veterans Day will be observed on Monday, Nov. 11. The Thanksgiving holiday is recognized on Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29. With these dates in mind, please adjust your payroll processing schedules as needed. All payroll documents must be received five business days prior to the actual pay date to ensure adequate time for audit and processing.