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Marianna Dyson practices in the areas of payroll tax, fringe benefits, and information reporting, with a specific focus on perquisites provided to employees and directors, worker classification, tip reporting, cross-border compensation, backup withholding, information reporting, and penalty abatement.
Ms. Dyson advises large employers on the application of employment taxes, the special FICA tax timing rules for nonqualified deferred compensation, the voluntary correction of employment tax errors, and the abatement of late deposit and information reporting penalties for reasonable cause. On behalf of the restaurant industry, her practice provides extensive experience with tip reporting, service charges, tip agreements, and Section 45B tax credits.
She is a frequent speaker at Tax Executives Institute (TEI), the Southern Federal Tax Institute, and the National Restaurant Association.
- Assisted a large technology company before IRS Appeals with its successful resolution of an IRS employment tax dispute over the employer's fringe benefit treatment of certain food and beverage benefits.
- On behalf of a global energy company, successfully resolved a lengthy employment tax dispute with IRS Appeals a covering six calendar years; issues included fringe benefits, cross-border compensation, business expense reimbursements, relocation expenses, settlement payments, information reporting and related penalties, including the abatement of intentional disregard penalties.
- Launched a successful coalition of large companies from a wide range of industries for the purpose of urging IRS and Treasury to develop simpler rules applicable to substantiating the business use of cellular telephones, BlackBerry smartphones, and similar telecommunications. This initiative was ultimately instrumental in raising awareness of ongoing payroll tax controversies with the IRS, resulting in proposed legislation to remove cell phones from the category of "listed property" under IRS rules.
Pro Bono
- Internal Revenue Service
- Special Assistant for Fringe Benefits (Field Coordination), Office of IRS Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations) (1993-1994)
- Office of IRS Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations), Senior Attorney (1990-1992)
Memberships and Affiliations
- IRS Commissioner’s Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee, Former Member
- American Bar Association, Member
March 11, 2021, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
Almost a year after the employee retention credit was adopted as part of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), and nearly a month after the final Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, claiming the credit for 2020 was due, the IRS issued Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”). This is the final...… Continue Reading
March 10, 2021, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
Almost a year after the employee retention credit was adopted as part of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), and nearly a month after the final Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, claiming the credit for 2020 was due, the IRS issued Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”), providing guidance on the...… Continue Reading
March 9, 2021, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
Recently released IRS Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”) provides guidance on the interaction between the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and the employee retention credit. Unfortunately, the Notice may limit the ability of many PPP borrowers to claim an employee retention credit that employers may have believed they would be entitled to claim. Under the ...
March 9, 2021, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
Almost a year after the employee retention credit was adopted as part of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), and nearly a month after the final Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, claiming the credit for 2020 was due, the IRS issued Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”). This is the first...… Continue Reading
February 8, 2021, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
Recently released IRS Notice 2021-11, implements the extension of the period for collecting from employees and depositing employee Social Security tax that was deferred in the last four months of 2020. IRS Notice 2020-65 (see earlier coverage) had specified that the employer “must withhold and pay the total [deferred 2020 taxes] . . . ratably...… Continue ...
January 8, 2021, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
On January 4, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2021-7 pertaining to the valuation of the personal use of employer-provided vehicles. The Notice permits employers who rely on the special valuation rule of Treasury Regulation § 1.61-21(d), known as the Automobile Lease Valuation (ALV) method, to retroactively apply the vehicle cents-per-mile ...
December 15, 2020, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
For employers who decided to defer the employee share of Social Security taxes on wages paid from September 1 to December 31, 2020, pursuant to President Trump’s August 8 presidential memorandum, the employer’s obligation to collect those deferred amounts from employees’ paychecks is fast approaching. Included among our previous posts discussing the deferral, ...
December 10, 2020, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
Yesterday, December 9, the IRS released final regulations implementing the Section 274(a)(4) and 274(l) deduction disallowances, adopted as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Section 274(a)(4) disallows employer deductions for the cost of providing qualified transportation fringe (“QTF”) benefits provided to employees. Section 274(l) provides a broader ...
December 4, 2020, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
As previewed by the recent final Form W-4 regulations published in October (see earlier coverage), the IRS released a draft of Publication 15-T (Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods) on November 17. The publication provides a new computational method for employers who must continue to rely on pre-2020 Forms W-4 to determine the amount of federal...… Continue ...
December 2020, LexisNexis Practical Guidance
November 2, 2020, Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog
On October 6, the IRS published final regulations addressing changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) to how an employee instructs an employer to withhold income taxes based on the employee’s Form W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Certificate). These final regulations were issued only 8 months after the proposed regulations were...… Continue ...
March 6, 2020, Covington Alert
Businesses are rapidly developing strategies to continue functioning and protect their workforces in the face of the growing Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. For obvious reasons, businesses may want to deploy health screening, testing, and professional medical advice services—including telemedicine—to their employees and dependents. It is critical that ...
Season Tickets? Steak Dinners? Small Firms Rethink Client Events After Losing Tax Break
May 17, 2018, The Wall Street Journal
Marianna Dyson is quoted by The Wall Street Journal in an article regarding changes in the tax law that reduce limits on deductions for entertainment and meals. Among the uncertainties is whether companies will still be able to claim a 50% deduction for business meals with customers or business associates, or whether those expenses will be considered ...
2016-present, Thomson Reuters' Critical Issues Series
2004, National Association of College and University Business Officers
- Chambers USA, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (2008-2020)
- The Best Lawyers in America, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and Litigation & Controversy - Tax (2010-2020)
- International Tax Review, Women in Tax Leaders (2016-2018)
- Legal 500, Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (2010-2017); Leading Lawyer, (2011-2017); Hall of Fame (2017)
- Legal 500, Labor & Employment: Employee Health and Retirement Plans (2017)
- Named to The National Law Journal’s list of Washington’s Most Influential Women Lawyers (2010).