Programmer’s Dream or Nightmare?

It’s probably a good chance (closer to certainty) there will be some kind of change to the Social Security system–how will that affect computerized payroll systems?

If Congress simply expands the FICA cap then no harm, no foul, at least for programmers (maybe not for taxpayers!) But, it’s this next scenario that makes things interesting! What if FICA gets split into different pieces, say a FICA deduction and a deduction into a private savings plan?

That doesn’t sound too complicated, but consider that each person might have the option of ‘contributing’ a different percentage into their private savings plan. That could mean each person has a DIFFERENT FICA deduction rate and limit. And, each person could have a DIFFERENT deduction rate and limit for their private savings plan.

Oh boy, can’t wait to see the new reporting requirements that will accompany this!

What will be the cost to modify computer programs and databases to handle these kinds of changes?

The moral of the story–don’t wait to the last day before considering what changes you need to correctly handle any new requirements.