Partnership | TaxConnections

21 Oct 2013

California Enterprise Zone Tax Credits End 12/31

Every business can benefit from hiring based tax credits. Here is something that you may not know …

Did you know that you have an opportunity to get an additional refund? Studies show that up to 60% of businesses did not take advantage of the Federal 2010 payroll tax credit called the HIRE Act. Employees that were hired between February 1, 2010, and January 1, 2011 and were unemployed for 60 days prior to hire can qualify for a refund of 6.2% of the employee wage for 2010. The deadline for this refund is January 10th, 2014 in order to receive the refund check. (HIRE Act Example: General contractor hired 32 qualified employees in 2010. They receive a refund for over $94,000.00.)

You are probably aware of Enterprise Zone HR Tax Credits for clients within California. However, recent legislation changed the existing statutes making it more difficult for businesses to take advantage of this program. The changes include changing the “look back” ability to limit businesses to review only 12 months from the employee’s date of hire. Some of the categories for eligibility are being amended as well to create additional hurdles for you. California Enterprise Zone ends December 31, 2013.

Businesses should also keep in mind the WOTC (Work Opportunity Tax Credit) program. Recent legislation expanded the qualifiers for this program to make it much more accessible. This program is very time sensitive. EDD requires new employee paperwork be submitted to them in less than 28 days from each employee’s respective date of hire. Businesses can receive up to $9,600 per qualified employee.

These are just a few instances of hiring based tax credits.

In accordance with Circular 230 Disclosure

Written by Eric Larson | Posted in Corporate • North America • Partnership • Specialty Tax Incentives • Tax Provision/Tax Reporting

18 Oct 2013

Self Employed And Worried About Retirement Plans? Read On…

You did it! You quit your job and started that small business that had always been your dream! Exciting times, thrilling ups & downs, you are your own boss–but wait, you do miss the paychecks that arrived regularly every other week. You also miss the medical benefits that the company paid for & that retirement plan you contributed to. What’s more, you also miss that extra oomph on your paycheck-the employer contribution to the company 401(k).

In this post on Employer Retirement Plans for Small Businesses, let’s closely examine the Individual 401(k). This is also known as the Solo 401(k). Unlike other retirement plans, a solo 401(k) is only for sole proprietors or S Corps who have no employees. A spouse can contribute if he or she earns income from the business.
It comes in both the Traditional & Roth version. Just like IRA’s, Traditional is money put away pretax & is taxable when withdrawn. The Roth 401(k) is funded with after-tax dollars & is tax free when withdrawn. One can also split the contributions between the two. Loans can also be taken against savings in 401(k)’s.

Why I like these plans?

•They are ideal to sock away large amounts of money in the good years.

•It helps you save both as an employer & an employee. Here’s how for 2013 – you can contribute a maximum of $33500 (Up from $33000 in 2012) as an employer AND $17500 (Up from $17000 in 2012) as an employee- not to exceed a maximum of $51000 (Up from $50000 in 2012) or 100% of the employee’s compensation, whichever is lesser. Read More

Written by Manasa Nadig | Posted in Individual • North America • Partnership • Small Business

09 Oct 2013

Independent Contractor Versus Employee?

Is it better to be an independent contractor or an employee? For a small business owner (SBO), the question mostly is, how to determine what business relationship exists between the person providing the services & the SBO; and if that relationship is that of an independent contractor or an employee.

So how is that determination made?

Common Law Rules fall into 3 categories. Behavioral: Does the company have the right to control what the worker does & how he does it?; Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer?; And the Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits?

•The general rule of thumb is that one is an independent contractor if the payer (of the fees) has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done.

•Hence you are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done & how it will be done). You may have freedom of action but the employer has the legal right to the details of how the services will be performed.

An independent contractor is considered self-employed and employee is not. Read More