Trump’s Payroll Tax Deferral Leaves Big Questions for Treasury (1)

Treasury will have to fill in many gaps as it attempts to draft guidance implementing President Donald Trump’s order to delay the collection of some payroll taxes.

Trump issued a memorandum Saturday to defer collection of the tax normally withheld from employees’ paychecks to fund Social Security. The benefit lasts from Sept. 1 through the end of the year.

The memo directs the Treasury Department to issue guidance on the deferral—a not-so-easy lift given the lack of details provided, according to tax professionals. Employers don’t know whether the order is mandatory, what the process will be for eventually ...