Category: Employee Benefits
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The sorry state of small business employee benefits
Why are small business employee benefit plans such a mess? This introductory explanation is offered by professional education provider CEU: “The vast majority of jobs in the United States are created by small companies that have fewer than two hundred employees. That market segment is the focus of this course, those small companies that are…
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Section 105 medical plan for self-employed’s spouse
Is anybody still marketing Section 105 medical reimbursement plans to self-employed people? IRS made it a point to highlight the restrictions in recent years and it seems that most self-employed people and their advisers got the message. But today I received a call from a guy who says that some reputable firms including an ex-IRS lawyer are…
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Ten easy and inexpensive employee benefit upgrades
Popular small business employee benefits that can be added within one day for less than $100 Small business owners often struggle to find affordable and manageable employee benefits for themselves and their employees. Here are 10 employee benefits that can be set up in a half hour at a cost less than $100. Health insurance…
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ERISA is still king per US Supreme Court
Comments on Vermont Green Mountain Care Board v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and what it means to small practitioners in the employee benefits field Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case involving conflicting state and federal law surrounding operation of an employee benefit plan administrator. In a relatively easy 6-2 decision the Court sided with Liberty…
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Health insurance for farm workers
National Public Radio ran a story this month that says that half of the U.S. farm work force is undocumented and that many cannot afford health insurance. My state of New Jersey officially puts the estimate at 70% but I suspect that it may actually be higher, at least in my region. The article says of the…
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Individual health insurance vs. group health insurance
Individual health insurance or group health insurance: which is better for your small business? Small business employers face a surprisingly difficult choice with the most basic of employee health insurance questions: Should the employer offer group health insurance or allow the employees find their own individual health insurance? This is no longer an inconsequential issue since we now…
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How to help employees pay for individual health insurance
Small business employers often help employees afford the cost of individual health insurance rather than enroll employees in the company’s own health insurance policy. This is often the least expensive way to ensure that employees find the best coverage at the lowest price. For employees this employer involvement is often the best way – sometimes the…
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A simple individual health insurance alternative for small contractors
Help is available to convert employer-paid individual health insurance to the new IRS-permitted payment plans Many small businesses do not offer employee health insurance but want to help employees afford their own individual health insurance. Small contracting businesses are among many who formerly paid for or reimbursed part of the cost of individual employee health insurance.…
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What to do if your W-2 includes taxable health benefits
Summary: Employer-paid health benefits included as W-2 taxable wages is an accounting error that appears to flourish this year due to misinterpretation of tax laws surrounding the Affordable Care Act by small business accountants. The error financially hurts employees by overstating tax liability and reducing eligibility for various tax credits. Fix the error by talking to…
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How to change the tax reporting of employer health insurance payments
There is a ‘wrong way’ and a ‘right way’ to report a change in employee health insurance payments to avoid payroll tax liability problems Case 1: The wrong way to change employer reporting of health insurance Tom works for ABC Inc. at a salary of $50,000. ABC has no health insurance plan but agreed to reimburse…