IRS Launches Voluntary Classification Settlement Program
If you have independent contractors in your office, you need to pay attention to an employment tax settlement program launched by the IRS—the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP). This program allows employers to reclassify as employees those workers they have erroneously treated as independent contractors. The program has generous payment terms, and participants get relief from employment tax audits for previous years.
CHANGED HIPAA RULES APPLICABLE TO GROUP HEALTH PLANS AFTER 2013 UNDER THE ACA
As a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act) as it relates to requirements imposed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and other related acts, there are changed requirements for your group health plan. These HIPAA requirements include HIPAA’s “portability” rules that restrict a health plan’s ability to exclude individuals based on pre-existing conditions, and “access” rules prohibiting plans from excluding individuals based on their health status. These rules have largely been eliminated by the Affordable Care Act, except for individual health plans that retain “grandfathered“ status (that is, those plans in existence on September 23, 2010, that have not been modified or renewed). HIPAA’s rules regarding privacy and security of “private health information” continue and remain unaltered by the Affordable Care Act.
Tax Planning for College
As a parent with college-bound children, you are likely concerned with setting up a financial plan to fund future college costs. If your children are already college age, your goal is to pay for current or imminent college bills. This alert addresses both of these concerns by suggesting several approaches that seek to take maximum advantage of tax benefits to minimize your expenses. (Please note that the following suggestions are strictly related to tax benefits. You may have non-tax-related concerns that make the suggestions inappropriate.)
Tax Aspects of a Parent Entering a Nursing Home
When a parent enters a nursing home, are amounts paid for long-term medical care, including amounts paid to the nursing home, deductible? What about insurance premiums covering the cost of long-term care including nursing home expenses (for the part of the year before your parent enters the nursing home)? Also to be considered is if the gain on the sale of a parent’s home will qualify for the $250,000 exclusion. These questions and other considerations are addressed in detail below.
IRS Announces Tax Season Begins and Details Forms Still Subject to Delayed Filing
The IRS has announced that the 2013 filing season has opened on January 30, and on its website detailed the forms that cannot be filed until a later date.
NORTH CAROLINA TAX CHANGES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2014
Throughout 2013, several tax bulletins and updates were released that communicate changes effective in the 2014 tax year. Changes include reduction in the corporate and personal income tax rates, the elimination of the NC Estate Tax, a cap on the state gas tax, and tax added to the sales price of a service contract. We’ve done our best to summarize and highlight the changes that may affect you or your business.
NCDOR ANNOUNCES EMPLOYEES MUST COLLECT NEW EMPLOYEE WITHHOLDING FORMS
The North Carolina Department of Revenue has announced that beginning in 2014, employers must collect a new employee’s withholding allowance certificate, also known as the NC-4 form.
2013 YEAR-END CORPORATE/BUSINESS INCOME TAX PLANNING
It’s once again time to begin thinking of year-end tax planning strategies to reduce the tax burden of your business. Year-end planning is particularly challenging this year given the rapid pace of recent tax law changes and the extensive list of business tax breaks scheduled to expire at the end of 2013.
2013 YEAR-END INCOME TAX PLANNING FOR INDIVIDUALS
As the end of 2013 approaches, it’s time to consider planning moves that could reduce your 2013 taxes. Year-end planning is particularly important given the rapid pace of tax law changes and the extensive list of current tax breaks scheduled to expire at the end of 2013. In addition, there are several 2013 law changes providing new tax saving opportunities as well as the many “time-tested” tax saving techniques that continue to apply.
FINAL SECTION 263(a) TANGIBLE PROPERTY “REPAIR” REGULATIONS: OVERVIEW AND ACTION ITEMS
On September 13, 2013, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service filed with the Federal Register the final tangible property regulations (T.D. 9636). The final regulations provide guidance for taxpayers in determining whether a taxpayer must capitalize costs incurred in acquiring, maintaining, or improving tangible property under sections 162(a) and 263(a).
