If you are a small employer. . .               With fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees?               That pays an average wage of less than $50,000 a year?                And pays at least half of employee health insurance premiums?                                . . .then there is a tax credit that may put money in your pocket. What You Need to Know about the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit How will the credit make a difference for you? For tax years 2010 through 2013, the maximum credit is 35 percent for small business employers and 25 percent for small tax-exempt employers [...]

IR-2012-23, Feb. 16, 2012 WASHINGTON –– The Internal Revenue Service today issued its annual “Dirty Dozen” ranking of tax scams, reminding taxpayers to use caution during tax season to protect themselves against a wide range of schemes ranging from identity theft to return preparer fraud. The Dirty Dozen listing, compiled by the IRS each year, lists a variety of common scams taxpayers can encounter at any point during the year. But many of these schemes peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns. “Taxpayers should be careful and avoid falling into a trap with the Dirty Dozen,” said [...]

Congress Passes Full Year Extension of 2% Payroll Tax Cut On February 17, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Tax Relief Act of 2012). The bill now goes to President Obama for his signature, and he has indicated he is in favor of the legislation. The Tax Relief Act of 2012 extends until the end of 2012 the reduction in the social security tax rate paid by employees from 6.2% to 4.2% that was first implemented for 2011 by the Tax Relief Act of 2010 [...]

Expanded Work Opportunity Tax Credit Available for Hiring Qualified Veterans The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 made changes to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). The Act added two new categories to the existing qualified veteran targeted group and made the WOTC available to certain tax-exempt employers as a credit against the employer’s share of social security tax. The Act allows employers to claim the WOTC for veterans certified as qualified veterans and who begin work before January 1, 2013. The credit can be as high as $9,600 per qualified veteran for for-profit employers or up to $6,240 [...]

Winter 2012 Edition - February 13, 2012 Print Version of Newsletter (PDF) Plan Issues 401(k) Questionnaire Interim Report – comments and highlights Use an employee’s entire calendar-year compensation for determining employer contributions to SIMPLE IRA plans April 30 deadline for employers to adopt and submit determination letter applications for pre-approved defined benefit plans Plan Loans What’s a reasonable interest rate for participant loans? Before you take a loan from your retirement plan, there are a few rules you need to know Forms Tips for Form 5558 requests for extension to file Form 5500-series returns Using old forms may cause errors [...]

Times are tough. As a business owner, would eliminating a large down payment for your workers' compensation insurance interest you? You know how important it is to manage cash flow on a day-to-day basis and that's not always easy when you have to come up with a down payment that may be as much as 25% of the premium for your workers compensation policy. Good News, DirectPay Payroll Services AND The Hartford have a solution! XactPAY® allows you to pay your Hartford Workers' Compensation premium based on actual payrolls and one payroll period at a time. Your cash flow won't [...]