An Employee Receives an Hourly Rate of $45, with Time

Essay

An employee receives an hourly rate of $45, with time and a half for all hours worked in excess of 40 during the week. Payroll data for the current week are as follows: hours worked, 48; federal income tax withheld, $950; social security tax rate, 6.0%; and Medicare tax rate, 1.5%; state unemployment compensation tax, 5.4% on the first $7,000; federal unemployment compensation tax, 0.8% on the first $7,000.
Calculate the employer's payroll tax expense if:
(a) this is the first payroll of the year and the employee has no cumulative earnings for the year to date.
(b) the employee's cumulative earnings for the year prior to this week equal $6,200.