$3,000 limitation

(a) In general. (1) the term “wages” does not include that part of the remuneration paid within any calendar year by an employer to an employee which exceeds the first $3,000 of remuneration (exclusive of remuneration excepted from wages in accordance with paragraph (j) of § 31.3306(b)-1 or §§ 31.3306(b)(2)-1 to 31.3306(b)(8)-1, inclusive), paid within such calendar year by such employer to such employee for employment performed for him at any time after 1938.

(2) The $3,000 limitation applies only if the remuneration paid during any one calendar year by an employer to the same employee for employment performed after 1938 exceeds $3,000. The limitation in such case relates to the amount of remuneration paid during any one calendar year for employment after 1938 and not to the amount of remuneration for employment performed in any one calendar year.

Example.

Employer B, in 1955, pays employee A $2,500 on account of $3,000 due him for employment performed in 1955. In 1956 employer B pays employee A the balance of $500 due him for employment performed in the prior year (1955), and thereafter in 1956 also pays A $3,000 for employment performed in 1956. The $2,500 paid in 1955 is subject to tax in 1955. The balance of $500 paid in 1956 for employment during 1955 is subject to tax in 1956, as is also the first $2,500 paid of the $3,000 for employment during 1956 (this $500 for 1955 employment added to the first $2,500 paid for 1956 employment constitutes the maximum wages subject to the tax which could be paid in 1956 by B to A). The final $500 paid by B to A in 1956 is not included as wages and is not subject to the tax.

(3) If during a calendar year an employee is paid remuneration by more than one employer, the limitation of wages to the first $3,000 of remuneration paid applies, not to the aggregate remuneration paid by all employers with respect to employment performed after 1938, but instead to the remuneration paid during such calendar year by each employer with respect to employment performed after 1938. In such case the first $3,000 paid during the calendar year by each employer constitutes wages and is subject to the tax. In connection with the application of the $3,000 limitation, see also paragraph (b) of this section relating to the circumstances under which wages paid by a predecessor employer are deemed to be paid by his successor. In connection with the annual wage limitation in the case of remuneration after December 31, 1978 from two or more related corporations that compensate an employee through a common paymaster, see § 31.3306(p)-1.

Example 1.

During 1955 employer D pays to employee C a salary of $600 a month for employment performed for D during the first seven months of 1955, or total remuneration of $4,200. At the end of the fifth month C has been paid $3,000 by employer D, and only that part of his total remuneration from D constitutes wages subject to the tax. The $600 paid to employee C by employer D in the sixth month, and the like amount paid in the seventh month, are not included as wages and are not subject to the tax. At the end of the seventh month C leaves the employ of D and enters the employ of E. Employer E pays to C remuneration of $600 a month in each of the remaining five months of 1955, or total remuneration of $3,000. The entire $3,000 paid by E to employee C constitutes wages and is subject to the tax. Thus, the first $3,000 paid by employer D and the entire $3,000 paid by employer E constitute wages.

Example 2.

During the calendar year 1955 F is simultaneously an officer (an employee) of the X Corporation, the Y Corporation, and the Z Corporation, each such corporation being an employer for such year. During such year F is paid a salary of $3,000 by each Corporation. Each $3,000 paid to F by each of the corporations, X, Y, and Z (whether or not such corporations are related), constitutes wages and is subject to the tax.

(b) Wages paid by predecessor attributed to successor. (1) If an employer (hereinafter referred to as a successor) during any calendar year acquires substantially all the property used in a trade or business of another employer (hereinafter referred to as a predecessor), or used in a separate unit of a trade or business of a predecessor, and if immediately after the acquisition the successor employs in his trade or business an individual who immediately prior to the acquisition was employed in the trade or business of such predecessor, then, for purposes of the application of the $3,000 limitation set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, any remuneration (exclusive of remuneration excepted from wages in accordance with paragraph (j) of § 31.3306(b)-1 or §§ 31.3306(b)(2)-1 to 31.3306(b)(8)-1, inclusive), with respect to employment paid (or considered under this provision as having been paid to such individual by such predecessor during such calendar year and prior to such acquisition shall be considered as having been paid by such successor. Wages paid by a predecessor shall not be considered as having been paid by the successor unless both the predecessor and the successor are employers as defined in section 3306(a) for the calendar year in which the acquisition occurs (see § 31.3306(a)-1, relating to who are employers).

(2) The wages paid, or considered as having been paid, by a predecessor to an employee shall, for purposes of the $3,000 limitation, be treated as having been paid to such employee by a successor, if:

(ii) Such employee was employed in the trade or business of the predecessor immediately prior to the acquisition and is employed by the successor in his trade or business immediately after the acquisition; and

(iii) Such wages were paid during the calendar year in which the acquisition occurred and prior to such acquisition.

(3) The method of acquisition by an employer of the property of another employer is immaterial. The acquisition may occur as a consequence of the incorporation of a business by a sole proprietor of a partnership, the continuance without interruption of the business of a previously existing partnership by a new partnership or by a sole proprietor, or a purchase or any other transaction whereby substantially all the property used in a trade or business, or used in a separate unit of a trade or business, of one employer is acquired by another employer.

(4) Substantially all the property used in a separate unit of a trade or business may consist of substantially all the property used in the performance of an essential operation of the trade or business, or it may consist of substantially all the property used in a relatively self-sustaining entity which forms a part of the trade or business.

Example 1.

The M Corporation which is engaged in the manufacture of automobiles, including the manufacture of automobile engines, discontinues the manufacture of the engines and transfers all the property used in such manufacturing operations to the N Company. The N Company is considered to have acquired a separate unit of the trade or business of the M Corporation, namely, its engine manufacturing unit.

Example 2.

The R Corporation which is engaged in the operation of a chain of grocery stores transfers one of such stores to the S Company. The S Company is considered to have acquired a separate unit of the trade or business of the R Corporation.

(5) A successor may receive credit for wages paid to an employee by a predecessor only if immediately prior to the acquisition the employee was employed by the predecessor in his trade or business which was acquired by the successor and if immediately after the acquisition such employee is employed by the successor in his trade or business (whether or not in the same trade or business in which the acquired property is used). If the acquisition involves only a separate unit of a trade or business of the predecessor, the employee need not have been employed by the predecessor in that unit provided he was employed in the trade or business of which the acquired unit was a part.

Example.

The Y Corporation in 1955 acquires all the property of the X Manufacturing Company and immediately after the acquisition employs in its trade or business employee A, who, immediately prior to the acquisition, was employed by the X Company. Both the Y Corporation and the X Company are employers, as defined in the Act, for the calendar year 1955. The X Company has in 1955 (the calendar year in which the acquisition occurs) and prior to the acquisition paid $2,000 of wages to A. The Y Corporation in 1955 pays to A remuneration with respect to employment of $2,000. Only $1,000 of such remuneration is considered to be wages. For purposes of the $3,000 limitation, the Y Corporation is credited with the $2,000 paid to A by the X Company. If, in the same calendar year, the property is acquired from the Y Corporation by the Z Company, an employer for such year, and A immediately after the acquisition is employed by the Z Company in its trade or business, no part of the remuneration paid to A by the Z Company in the year of the acquisition will be considered to be wages. The Z Company will be credited with the remuneration paid to A by the Y Corporation and also with the wages paid to A by the X Company (considered for purposes of the application of the $3,000 limitation as having also been paid by the Y Corporation).