Since the Health Care Act requires individuals to obtain health care insurance coverage, the new law does not contain an employer mandate. However, starting in 2014, the Act does levy an additional tax on those businesses that do not offer minimum essential coverage.
Under the new law, a full-time employee of a large or midsize business may be eligible to enroll in a subsidized plan using tax credit assistance or cost sharing measures. Should that same business not offer minimum essential coverage, then that business will be liable for an additional tax for each month in which it does not offer qualified coverage.
Last week, President Obama signed into law the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act (HR 2847). The law includes several major tax provisions designed to promote job creation as the nation’s economy continues to recover from recession.
The Act also extends enhanced Code Sec. 179 expensing threshold levels through December 31, 2010. This extension means that the previous limits of $125,000 with a $500,000 cap will remain increased to $250,000 with an $800,000 cap through the end of the calendar year. Code Sec. 179 expensing, unlike bonus depreciation, is available on both new and used property.
IRS Commissioner Shulman shocked most tax preparers and professionals last week at a New York State Bar Association Tax Section Meeting when he proposed that businesses should be required to provide detailed information in their tax returns regarding uncertain tax positions taken on their returns. Under the Commissioner’s proposal, taxpayers would be required to provide a “few sentences” of information explaining the nature of each uncertain tax position, and taxpayers who fail to disclose these “uncertain tax positions” would be subject to significant penalties.
If it sounds like the Commissioner is asking taxpayers to do the IRS’s job for them, you are at least partially right. The Commissioner is concerned that the IRS is spending too much time attempting to identify tax issues and believes that requiring the disclosure of uncertain positions will enable the IRS to resolve these issues much more quickly and efficiently than it is doing right now.
President Obama today signed a memorandum to restrict tax-delinquent companies from being awarded federal contracts.
“Studies by the Government Accountability Office have identified tens of thousands of such dead-beat companies that are being awarded government contracts,” Obama said. “One company owner who owed over $1 million in taxes was paid over $1 million as a defense contractor — and instead of using that money to pay his back taxes, he chose to buy a boat, some cars, and a home abroad with his earnings. The total amount owed in unpaid taxes by companies like that is estimated at more than $5 billion.”
According to a report issued earlier this month, millions of taxpayers may owe additional taxes for 2009 due to underwithholding caused by the Making Work Pay Tax Credit (MWPC). A key part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the MWPC is an individual tax credit in the amount of 6.2% of earned income not to exceed $400 for single returns and $800 for joint returns in 2009 and 2010.
The credit begins to phase out at adjusted gross income (AGI) in excess of $75,000 ($150,000 for married couples filing jointly), and phases out completely at modified AGI of $95,000 ($190,000 on a joint return).
As the end of the year approaches, now is the time to evaluate your business and your personal tax strategies. By taking the time to prepare now, using this checklist, you will be able to develop a clearer picture of what your tax picture will look like while there’s still time to maximize current-year savings.
Move Creates Unprecedented Combination of Tax Consulting and Compliance Resources for Businesses and Organizations in Local Market
Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P. (CB&H), one of the 30 largest CPA and consulting firms in the U.S., is proud to announce the expansion of the Firm’s specialty tax leadership in the Washington practice. The move enhances CB&H’s ability to deliver high quality tax compliance and consulting services designed to help clients achieve their growth goals and objectives.
CB&H’s National Specialty Tax Practice stands as an alternative to national accounting firms, offering the resources and specialized tax talent found at the national CPA firms without the related service complexities and restrictions that are inherent in those organizations.
As reported today in The New York Times, the Swiss bank UBS has reached an unprecedented agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to disclose names and account details for over 4,450 wealthy American individuals suspected of income tax evasion. UBS will be notifying clients in the coming weeks.
If you are thinking of surrendering or selling a life insurance policy, then you should consider doing so before August 26, 2009. Beginning on that date, Revenue Ruling 2009-13, which deals with the taxation of life settlement transactions, may dramatically affect the seller’s tax consequences. A companion ruling (Revenue Ruling 2009-14) addresses the tax consequences on the buyer of a life insurance policy that is part of a life settlement transaction.
Not surprisingly, the IRS has been inundated with requests from taxpayers who have unreported assets and/or income offshore and wish to take advantage of the IRS’s Voluntary Offshore Compliance program. For years, the IRS has identified offshore compliance as the greatest single element of the “tax gap” and has focused more attention and resources toward improving compliance in this area as a result. Although the IRS is reducing examiners and personnel in other areas, it announced earlier this year plans to add 800 new agents to enforce “offshore compliance” measures.
Last week, President Obama signed into law the 
As the end of the year approaches, now is the time to evaluate your business and your personal tax strategies. By taking the time to prepare now, using this checklist, you will be able to develop a clearer picture of what your tax picture will look like while there’s still time to maximize current-year savings.
