A company’s payroll for the week ended May 15 included earned salaries of $20,000. All of
that week’s pay is subject to FICA social security taxes of 6.2% on the first $118,500 of
earnings each calendar year and Medicare taxes of 1.45% on all earnings. In addition, the
company withholds the following amounts for this weekly pay period: $900 for medical
insurance, $3,400 for federal income taxes, and $180 for union dues.
a. Prepare the general journal entry to accrue the payroll.
b. The company is subject to state unemployment taxes at the rate of 2% and federal
unemployment taxes at the rate of 0.6%. By May 15, some employees had earned over
$7,000, so only $11,000 of the $20,000 weekly gross pay was subject to unemployment tax.
No employees had earned over $118,500. Prepare the general journal entry to accrue the
employer’s payroll tax expense.