James Moore: Inside the Hospital Archives

An all-in-one guide to paying federal and state payroll taxes in the U.S.

As you’ve probably learned by now, taxes are an inevitable part of doing business in the United States. While most focus generally lies on federal and state income taxes, there’s also a third aspect—payroll taxes.

What are payroll taxes?

Payroll taxes are taxes on an employee’s gross salary. The revenues from payroll taxes are used to fund public programs; as such, the funds collected go directly to those programs instead of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Even if you’re self-employed with no additional employees, you’re still required to remit payroll taxes on your own salary.

There are 3 categories of federal payroll taxes:

• • Social Security. This tax funds the federal retirement program for U.S. citizens. The rate is currently 12.4% of gross wages up to $160,200/year (as of 2023).

• • Medicare. This program provides federal insurance for citizens aged 65 and over, as well as younger people with certain disabilities. This tax is currently taken out at 2.9% of gross wages (with no wage maximum). Note that there is an additional 0.9% tax for high-income earners—married taxpayers who make over $250,000 or single taxpayers making over $200,000. There is no employer match for this added tax.
  • Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). Revenues from this tax go toward federal and state unemployment funds to help workers who have lost their jobs. The rate is 6% of the first $7,000/year of gross wages. However, businesses that pay this tax fully and on time receive a 5.4% credit, which lowers their FUTA tax responsibility to 0.6%.

These taxes are listed on an employee’s pay stub, with the first two shown as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act).

As an employer, you’re responsible for half of the FICA tax amounts for each employee. The remaining half comes from the employees themselves.

If you’re self-employed, however, you’ll need to pay the full 15.3% of FICA taxes due on your salary. FUTA taxes are paid entirely by the employer; there is no employee payment.

How are federal payroll taxes paid?

How your federal payroll taxes are paid depends on the type of tax. Your company withholds FICA taxes (along with their federal income taxes) from your employees’ paychecks. You’ll then transfer these funds, along with your own contributions, via the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).

Your deposits must be made either on a monthly or semi-weekly schedule—an election you make before each calendar year.

• • Monthly payments. A monthly payment must be made by the 15th of the following month.
  • Semi-weekly payments. Every other week deposit dates depend on your pay schedule. If your payday falls on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, your deposit is due Wednesday of the following week. If you pay on any other day, it’s due the Friday of the following week.

FUTA taxes are handled differently. Your company pays these taxes entirely, so nothing is withheld from employee paychecks. This payment must be deposited quarterly to the EFTPS by the last day of the month after the end of each quarter.

However, if your quarterly total amount is less than $500, you can carry it forward to the next quarter. (This carryover can continue over multiple successive quarters if your total amount stays under this threshold. Once you exceed it, your payment must be made by the next applicable due date.)

Penalties for late payroll tax payments

Failure to remit payroll taxes on time can result in serious consequences. Financial penalty amounts depend on the circumstances:

• • 2% penalty assessed if your deposit is 1-5 days late
  • 5% penalty assessed if your deposit is 6-15 days late
  • 10% penalty assessed if you’re more than 15 days late but before 10 days after the date of your first IRS notice
  • 10% penalty assessed if deposits were instead paid directly to the IRS or with your tax return
  • 15% penalty assessed if any amount is unpaid more than 10 days after the date of your first IRS notice (or the day you receive a notice requiring immediate payment)

Note that you aren’t the only one affected by late payroll tax payments. Your employees could lose future Social Security, Medicare, or unemployment benefits if those funds aren’t paid. So take care of your obligations—and your employees—by making complete payroll tax payments on time.

Don’t forget reporting requirements

Collection and payment aren’t your only tax responsibilities. You’ll also have to report these amounts (and other information) regularly to the IRS.

For FICA tax (as well as federal income tax), you must complete and file Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. This form is due by the last day of the month following the end of each quarter, although some employers might be considered annual filers.

Note that depending on the type of business you run, you might file an alternate form. For example, a farm uses Form 943 instead of Form 941.

FUTA taxes are reported annually using Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return. Each year’s return is due by January 31 of the following year.

And now, a word from the states…

That’s right—payroll taxes aren’t solely the federal government’s domain. States have their own payroll taxes as well. Every state has its own unemployment tax (called SUTA or UI).

This tax rate can vary not only by state but within each state as well. This is because your company’s industry, years in business and unemployment history can all determine the percentage used to calculate the amount due.

There are several other types of non-federal payroll taxes out there. These can cover programs like short- and long-term disability, workers’ compensation, paid medical or family leave and more.

And while we discussed state income tax in a previous articleyou should also remember local income taxes. These are sometimes assessed in large urban areas (think New York City, San Francisco, etc.). There are 14 states that allow local governments to collect an income tax.

Finally, the collection, remittance and reporting of state and local-level taxes depend on the governments that levy the taxes. Each entity has its own rules and methods.

Get help from a tax professional

Clearly, the subject of payroll taxes involves plenty of moving parts and covers a wide range of accounting knowledge. A U.S.-based international CPA can draw on expertise in all of these areas when advising you on your unique business setup.

At James Mooreour international tax advisors pride themselves on providing comprehensive accounting, tax and consulting services for multinational companies, individuals and businesses entering the U.S.

Contact us to help you with your foreign tax needs today, and watch your business grow.

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The Legacy of James Moore in Medical Archiving

• Key roles: chief Archivist at Massachusetts General Hospital (1992‑2015) and founding director of the National Health Archive Consortium (2001‑2010).
• Major achievements:
1. Oversaw the digitization of 2.3 million patient charts and surgical logs, reducing physical storage by 78 %.
2. Implemented the “Moore Metadata Framework”, a standardized schema now adopted by 30+ U.S. teaching hospitals.
3. Published the seminal paper “Preserving Clinical Evidence: Strategies for hospital Archives” (JAMA, 2006), cited over 1,200 times.

Core Contributions to Hospital Archive Management

1. Digitization and Data Migration

• Hybrid workflow: Combined high‑resolution scanning with OCR (optical character recognition) to enable full‑text search across historic records.
• Preservation stack: Used LTO‑9 tapes for long‑term storage, complemented by cloud‑based redundancy (AWS Glacier Deep Archive).

2. Metadata Standardization

• Introduced controlled vocabularies (e.g., SNOMED CT, ICD‑10) for clinical terminology.
• Established persistent identifiers (PID) using DOI‑style handles for each patient dossier.

3.Access Policies & Patient Privacy

• Developed a tiered access model complying with HIPAA and GDPR:
• Level 1 – Public research abstracts (de‑identified).
• Level 2 – Authenticated clinicians (partial identifiers).
• Level 3 – Authorized archivists (full record view).

Practical Tips for Modern Hospital Archivists (Inspired by Moore)

Tip	Description	Benefit
1. Conduct a Records Inventory	Use barcode scanning to catalog all physical files before digitization.	Reduces duplication and uncovers orphaned records.
2. Apply the Moore metadata Framework	Map each document to standardized fields: Date, Department, Procedure Code, Patient ID (hashed).	Improves retrieval speed by up to 45 %.
3. Implement Dual‑Storage Redundancy	Store primary copies on on‑site NAS, secondary copies on off‑site cold storage.	Guarantees disaster recovery within 24 h.
4. train Clinical Staff on “archive‑First” Documentation	Embed archive identifiers in EMR (Electronic Medical Record) notes.	Facilitates seamless linkage between current care and historic data.
5. schedule Annual Privacy Audits	Review access logs, validate HIPAA compliance, and re‑encrypt outdated files.	Prevents data breaches and maintains accreditation.

Case Studies Demonstrating Moore’s Impact

Case Study 1: Tracing the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

• Objective: Identify mortality trends across three Boston hospitals.
• Method: Leveraged Moore’s digitized death certificates and ward logs (1917‑1919).
• Outcome: Discovered a 12 % higher fatality rate in patients with pre‑existing tuberculosis,informing modern pandemic modeling.

Case Study 2: Surgical Innovation Timeline at MGH

• Objective: Map the adoption curve of minimally invasive cardiac surgery (1995‑2005).
• Method: Queried the archive’s procedure‑code metadata and cross‑referenced with peer‑reviewed outcomes.
• outcome: Published a timeline now used in Harvard Medical School curricula to illustrate technology diffusion.

Case Study 3: Reducing Readmission Rates Through Historical Data

• Objective: Use past discharge summaries to predict readmission risk.
• Method: Applied machine‑learning models on Moore’s structured discharge datasets (1990‑2010).
• Outcome: Improved readmission prediction accuracy from 68 % to 82 %, saving an estimated $4.3 M annually.

Benefits of an Integrated Hospital Archive System

• Clinical Decision Support: Real‑time access to historic lab trends can flag atypical patterns earlier.
• Research Efficiency: Standardized metadata eliminates time‑consuming manual chart reviews.
• Regulatory Compliance: Automated retention schedules ensure legal hold periods are met.
• Cost Savings: Digitization reduces physical storage costs and minimizes chart retrieval labor.

Emerging Trends in Hospital Archiving (Post‑Moore Era)

1. AI‑Driven Record Summarization – Natural language processing creates concise abstracts of decades‑long patient histories.
2. Blockchain for Provenance – Immutable audit trails verify every document’s edit history, enhancing trust.
3. Inter‑Hospital Data Coalitions – Shared archive platforms enable multi‑institution epidemiological studies while preserving privacy.

Actionable Steps to Implement Moore‑Inspired Practices

1. audit Current Archive – Identify gaps in digitization, metadata, and security.
2. Adopt the Moore Metadata Framework – Customize fields to align with your institution’s specialties.
3. Pilot a Hybrid Storage Model – Start with a single department (e.g., Oncology) to test redundancy workflows.
4. Create an Access Governance Board – Include clinicians,legal counsel,and IT to define tiered permissions.
5. Measure ROI Quarterly – Track metrics such as retrieval time, storage cost, and compliance incidents.

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