On Aug. 8, 2020, former President Trump signed a presidential executive order to suspend Old Age, Survivors, and Disabilities Insurance tax deductions because of COVID-19. This deferment was from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020. 

In these messages (Sept. 18, 2020, and Sept. 14, 2020) you can find additional information about the deferral of OASDI taxes, also known as Social Security tax.

Collection of deferred taxes

On Jan. 2, the National Finance Center, which is the Forest Service’s payroll service provider, started collecting the deferred taxes from employees who receive a normal paycheck every 2 weeks and have sufficient funds to pay the outstanding debt. Employees will continue to have the deferred taxes collected until the debt is paid in full. These employees will not receive a Demand for Notice Payment unless their pay status changes.

Demand for notice payments

On April 8, NFC started issuing Demand Notices of Payments to collect the deferred taxes to employees who separated, missed pay, had insufficient funds, or are in a non-pay status. In these notices are due dates for an employee to respond by.

The demand notices provide instructions and options for making repayments. The two most common repayment options are to pay the debt in full or set up a repayment agreement. 

Demand notices were sent to employees who are not on the payrolls, such as: seasonal, permanent employees, who are returning to work as rehires or being placed back into a pay status. Although an employee may be back on the payrolls, it is critical they read the demand notice carefully and follow the instructions to set up a repayment agreement or pay the deferred taxes in full.

If an employee does not respond by the due date in the demand notice to set up a repayment plan or pay in full, this outstanding balance will become delinquent and referred to the Treasury Offset Program and Bureau of Fiscal services for collection. If this debt becomes delinquent, it will impact an employee’s credit rating and additional administrative penalties will be assessed.  
 
To make payment in full to NFC

Employees who elect to pay the outstanding balance for the deferred taxes, please use these avenues: 

• Make a payment in full online: use Pay.gov 
• Make a payment in full by mailing a check along with a copy of the signed notice to the address below:  
  • USDA, National Finance Center, Administrative Collections
  • P.O. Box 790342
  • St. Louis MO 63179-0342 

To set up a repayment agreement with NFC

Employees need to fill out the Repayment Agreement that is provided in the Demand Notice by selecting the repayment option of your choice, signing the agreement and attaching it to an HRM case using this email address: hrm_contact_center@usda.gov.

For awareness, sending the repayment agreement directly to NFC may delay the processing of the agreement.

Help is available

Open an HR Help case:

• Call: 1-877-372-7248, Press 2
• Email: hrm_contact_center@usda.gov
• Self-Service: ConnectHR > HR Help link
• For detailed instructions, visit the HR Help How-to Add a Case Guide