I did send payroll an email and so far I'm just hearing crickets... they either blew the question off or it's confounded them beyond the ability to respond.
I am assuming that it will be dated 1/1/21 based on the company's past practice in this scenario, but they may do it differently because of the tax ramifications involved.
My hope is that it will be considered 2020 income because I determined in mid-October that I had withheld well in excess of what I will need to pay in taxes for 2020 and went exempt for the remainder of the year; if it's 2020 income the taxes are covered, if it's 2021 income I need to change my withholding before the first of the year.
If I don't hear anything in a week I'll probably just change the withholding and see what happens, that way if it's 2020 income I'll get the money back in February as a refund and if it's 2021 income the taxes will be covered. I would really prefer that it be considered 2020 income for the obvious reason.
