(1) The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on taxable income, as provided. Under existing law, every employer who pays wages to a resident employee for services performed either within or without this state, or to a nonresident employee for services performed in this state, is required to deduct and withhold from those wages, except as provided, for each payroll, a tax computed in an amount substantially equivalent to the amount reasonably estimated to be due under the Personal Income Tax Law. Under existing law, every employer required to withhold those taxes is required to, for each calendar quarter, file a withholding report, a quarterly return, and a report of wages in a form prescribed by the Employment Development Department, and pay over the taxes required to be withheld.

This bill would authorize an employer to claim a credit in an amount equal to the amount of overtime wages, as defined, paid during that quarter to specified agricultural employees covered by a certain wage order. The bill would require the credit to be claimed on the employer’s report of contributions, quarterly return, and report of wages, or in an electronic funds transfer, as specified. The bill would specify a refund of any credit amounts exceeding the amount that would have been remitted for that quarter to the Employment Development Department for employee withholdings. The bill would make implementation of the above-described refund contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature.

(2) Existing law requires farm labor contractors to be licensed by the Labor Commissioner and to comply with specified employment laws applicable to farm labor contractors. Existing law requires a person acting in the capacity of a farm labor contractor to provide a grower with whom the contractor has contracted to supply farmworkers a payroll record for each farmworker providing labor under the contract. Existing law requires the above-described payroll record to include certain disclosures, including the net and gross wages earned by each farmworker. Under existing law, a person who violates farm labor contractor requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor.