Tag: employer

  • Businesses Can Show Appreciation — and Gain Tax Breaks — with Holiday Gifts and Parties

    Businesses Can Show Appreciation — and Gain Tax Breaks — with Holiday Gifts and Parties

    With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the holiday season will soon be here. At this time of year, your business may want to show its gratitude to employees and customers by giving them gifts or hosting holiday parties again after a year of forgoing them due to the pandemic. It’s a good time to brush…

  • Providing Education Assistance to Employees?  Follow These Rules

    Providing Education Assistance to Employees? Follow These Rules

    Many businesses provide education fringe benefits so their employees can improve their skills and gain additional knowledge. An employee can receive, on a tax-free basis, up to $5,250 each year from his or her employer for educational assistance under a “qualified educational assistance program.” For this purpose, “education” means any form of instruction or training…

  • Changes to Premium Tax Credit Could Increase Penalty Risk for Some Businesses

    Changes to Premium Tax Credit Could Increase Penalty Risk for Some Businesses

    The premium tax credit (PTC) is a refundable credit that helps individuals and families pay for insurance obtained from a Health Insurance Marketplace (commonly known as an “Exchange”). A provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the credit. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law in March 2021, made several significant enhancements…

  • New COVID-19 Relief Law Extends Employee Retention Credit

    New COVID-19 Relief Law Extends Employee Retention Credit

    Many businesses have retained employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and enjoyed tax relief with the help of the employee retention credit (ERC). The recent signing of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) brings good news: the ERC has been extended yet again. The original credit As originally introduced under last year’s CARES Act, the ERC…

  • Employers Have Questions and Concerns About Deferring Employees’ Social Security Taxes

    Employers Have Questions and Concerns About Deferring Employees’ Social Security Taxes

    The IRS has provided guidance to employers regarding the recent presidential action to allow employers to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of certain payroll tax obligations. The three-page guidance in Notice 2020-65 was issued to implement President Trump’s executive memorandum signed on August 8. Private employers still have questions and concerns about whether, and…

  • Tax Implications of Employer-Provided Life Insurance

    Tax Implications of Employer-Provided Life Insurance

    Does your employer provide you with group term life insurance? If so, and if the coverage is higher than $50,000, this employee benefit may create undesirable income tax consequences for you. “Phantom income” The first $50,000 of group term life insurance coverage that your employer provides is excluded from taxable income and doesn’t add anything…

  • Re-evaluate Your Company’s Competitiveness in a Changed Economy

    Re-evaluate Your Company’s Competitiveness in a Changed Economy

    Just about every business owner’s strategic plans for 2020 look far different now compared to how they looked heading into the year. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the economy in profound ways, forcing many companies to recalibrate suddenly and severely. As your business moves forward in this uncertain environment, it’s important to re-evaluate competitiveness. You…

  • The New COVID-19 Law Provides Businesses with More Relief

    The New COVID-19 Law Provides Businesses with More Relief

    On March 27, President Trump signed into law another coronavirus (COVID-19) law, which provides extensive relief for businesses and employers. Here are some of the tax-related provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Employee retention credit The new law provides a refundable payroll tax credit for 50% of wages paid…