The “Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010” more commonly referred to as the HIRE Act, was passed by Congress and recently signed into law by the President.  The Act provides employers with incentives to hire unemployed individuals.  The provisions of this new legislation apply to workers hired after Feb. 3, 2010, but only for wages paid after March 18 (the date the legislation was signed into law). Also see - Can A Spouse Quality for Hire Act Benefits? (more…)

The following overview of the tax-related provisions of the new Health Care Legislation will affect virtually every individual and most businesses in one way or another and will significantly impact tax returns in the future. See how these changes will impact you and your finances and be prepared for them as they take effect. Click here to learn more and read the full newsletter.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides a tax credit for an eligible small employer (ESE) for nonelective contributions to purchase health insurance for its employees.  The term “nonelective contribution” means an employer contribution other than an employer contribution pursuant to a salary reduction arrangement. (more…)

June 15 – Employer’s Monthly Deposit Due

If you are an employer and the monthly deposit rules apply, June 15 is the due date for you to make your deposit of Social Security, Medicare and withheld income tax for May 2010. This is also the due date for the non-payroll withholding deposit for May 2010 if the monthly deposit rule applies. (more…)

June 10 – Report Tips to Employer

If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during May, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than June 10. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected withholding in box 12 of your W-2 for the year. You will be required to pay the uncollected withholding when your return for the year is filed. (more…)

As a result of changes made by the recently enacted Affordable Care Act, health coverage provided for an employee’s children under 27 years of age is now generally tax-free to the employee, effective March 30, 2010.  Generally, under pre-Act law, to be a qualifying child of a taxpayer for this purpose the child must have been the taxpayer’s dependent under age 19 (or under age 24 in the case of a full-time student).  (more…)

If you have been procrastinating about filing your 2009 tax return or have other prior year returns that have not been filed, you should consider the consequences.

Taxpayers should file all tax returns that are due, regardless of whether or not full payment can be made with the return.  Depending on an individual’s circumstances, a taxpayer filing late may qualify for a payment plan.  All payment plans require continued compliance with all filing and payment responsibilities after the plan is approved. (more…)

Under the recently enacted HIRE Act, the following benefits are derived from hiring previously unemployed workers:

• Payroll Tax Holiday – The law exempts any private-sector employer that hires a worker who had been unemployed for at least 60 days (can have worked 40 hours within the 60 days) from having to pay the employer’s 6.2% share of the Social Security payroll tax on that employee’s wages for the remainder of 2010. Thus, if the newly-hired and previously-unemployed worker earns $106,800 after March 18, 2010 and before the end of the year, the company could save a maximum of $6,621. This provides the employer with an immediate benefit by reducing the amount the employer must pay in employment taxes. (more…)

Background – A self-employed individual (or a partner or a more-than-2%-shareholder of an S corporation) can deduct as an above-the-line expense 100% of the amount paid during the tax year for medical insurance on behalf of himself, his spouse and his dependents subject to the following requirements (Code Sec. 162(l)(1)(B)): (more…)