Category: Small Business
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Common errors with small business health plans
I often read adviser comments online that reflect a common tax error about small business health plans and especially employer payments or reimbursements for individual health insurance. In some cases the same errant thinking even extends to tax treatment of uninsured health benefits. Some advisers think that it is appropriate to account for employer-provided health…
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2016 tax deadlines for small business owners
February 2 – W2s to employees and 1099s to contractors February 29 – Form 1095-B for uninsured health plans, W2s and 1099s to IRS March 15 – due date for corporation tax returns April 15 – regular individual tax filing deadline and deadline for filing extensions September 15 – extended tax filing deadline for corporate…
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Watchlist for tax preparers: 2015 small business health plans
2015 brought dramatic changes to the way that small business health benefits are handled for wage and income tax reporting purposes. Harsh new penalties now apply to small businesses who may still be unaware of the new rules. Until recently many accountants believed that we would see relief provisions to these laws since so many small employers…
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Small business ACA compliance toolkit available for 2015
My firm Freedom Benefits offers a 2015 compliance toolkit to help small business employers who find themselves on the wrong side of 2015 ACA requirements. The tax penalties can be significant for the tens of thousands of firms affected. Equally important, IMO, is the need to effectively communicate the required changes to employees who are…
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Tax extenders bill good for small businesses
The so -called “tax extender bill” for 2015 contains two provisions that are of particular interest to small businesses. Both are welcome developments.: Make permanent the Section 179 election to expense rather than capitalize and depreciate business assets. This is an important tax planning strategy and a useful accounting simplification tool for many businesses. Delay the…
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Small business tax changes for 2015 (for tax preparers)
A summary of changes for small business tax return preparers Tax return preparers and small business owners filing federal tax returns for 2015 need to be aware that the instructions for several IRS tax forms have changed as a result of the phased-in implementation of the Affordable Care Act. (Perhaps it is just coincidental but it…
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Small business tax changes for 2015 (for owners)
Tax laws change every year and so we are forced to learn and adapt. The good news for 2015 is that most of the tax changes affecting small businesses are minimal and involve only adjustments for inflation. The four most significant changes affecting small business taxes for 2015 all relate to health care and ongoing implementation…
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The proper way for S corporations to report health benefits of shareholders
U.S. federal tax law differentiates the tax accounting methods for employee health benefits from the treatment of self-employed individuals. Operators of small businesses organized as S corporations under state law are considered to the self-employed for income tax reporting but are typically also employees of the S corporation. Employer paid health benefits are most commonly…
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Plan ahead to avoid tax penalties on W2 health benefits
We are only weeks away from the first required reporting of employee health benefits on employee W2 forms. I suspect that payroll companies that serve small businesses are still working on communications and procedures for this. The fact is that the payroll companies don’t have access to the data to complete this requirement and their…
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Surprising lawmaker response to small business tax relief effort
Today a representative from the Washington DC office of the National Federation of Independent Businesses met with a staff member at NJ Senator Menendez’ office in a last minute attempt to gain support for small business tax relief from the Affordable Care Act. See yesterday’s blog post for background on this story. Up to 100,000 small…