Category: Taxes
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Year-end tax Scrooge on auto purchase and charitable contributions
We hear plenty of auto sales ads touting the benefits of increased depreciation as a great reason to buy a new car this week. Likewise, charities make a big year-end push this week promoting the tax benefits of charitable contributions. I don’t want to be a spoil-sport and discourage anyone from buying a car or…
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More on Section 105 plans
A reader commented on my vague discussion in an earlier post about the difference between an employee benefit plan and a payroll accommodation plan. The first type is regulated and subject to ACA market reforms and the second type is not. Describing the distinctions is not something that I feel could be usefully summarized in a…
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Where are the checklists for 2015 small business tax changes?
Accountants handling difficult tax and audit issues typically work from checklists. Checklists are a well-proven tool in many other work activities outside of tax and financial statement preparation. This year all of the significant federal tax law changes affecting small businesses pertain directly to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Accounting organizations like AICPA…
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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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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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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…
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Last minute tax relief efforts in NJ and PA
I was honored tonight to have been asked by the health care policy lobbyist Keven Kuhlman for NFIB to help prepare a last minute lobbying campaign to appeal for tax relief to the harsh 2015 small business penalties under IRC 4980D. I prepared six letters for Pennsylvania and New Jersey lawmakers. Kuhlman has a morning…
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Bad tax advice and gobblygook
It has always been tough for small business owners to get basic straightforward information they need to avoid tax problems. But this year I notice the problem is magnified many times by a flood of misinformation and gobblygook published on blogs and promoted in social media, This is especially true for issues surrounding the Affordable…