Today, December 28th, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2016-4, which extends the due dates for 2015 Information Reporting under I.R.C. sec 6055 and 6056, which includes the 1095-B and C forms and the 1095-B and C forms. This is great news for the many employers faced with the new filing requirements of these forms, and provides them with additional time to get their information together. The extended due date to issue the 1095-B or 1095-C forms to full-time employees has been extended from February 1st, 2016 to March 31st, 2016, as well as an extension of filing the forms to the…
Posts published in December 2015
This time of the year is a popular time to give gift cards to your employees as a way of showing appreciation, but you need to be sure it is reported as wages, and they pay tax on the value. Whether it is a $5 Starbucks card to a $50 gift card at a brand store, or even just a Visa gift card for $X amount, you need to include the full value of the gift in the employee’s taxable wages. The IRS considers gift cards as a cash equivalent, no matter what the value, and it does not fall under their…
On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed the Omnibus Spending Bill H.R. 2029 and the PATH Act (Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015) into law, which among other provisions, provides a five-year extension to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program, as well as expands its scope of eligible groups. The WOTC is basically a tax incentive for employers to hire and retain individuals from specific target groups. The groups include certain Veterans, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, Food Stamp recipients, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Referred Individuals, Ex-Felons, and Summer Youth employees.…
I have a client with a very interesting scenario in regards to Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance and their desire to abide by the law. This client is defined as an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) by having greater than 50 Full-time Equivalent employees, therefore is bound by the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions under 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code. If they do not offer affordable health coverage to their full-time employees, they may be subject to a penalty of $2,000 per employee. In this case, the company, not wanting to be penalized, sought a health insurance agent to obtain a…