Today we will take a brief look at the old question: Are they an employee or an independent contractor? This question continues to be a priority for the IRS. There is a form (SS-8) that an employer or employee can fill out and file with the IRS to determine the status of a worker for purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding. There is no fee for requesting a Form SS-8 determination letter. The IRS recently released new draft instructions for this form.

Beginning in 2015, applicable large employers may be subject to the employer shared responsibility penalties under the Affordable Care Act if they do not offer full-time employees (and their dependents) health insurance coverage that meets certain criteria. In order to avoid penalties, any applicable large employer has to determine which of its current employees must be offered affordable health insurance. They must offer affordable health insurance coverage to full-time empl

Today we are going to talk about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — specifically penalties for not offering health care coverage to employees. The employer mandate will be effective on January 1, 2015. You can find more information about this in our previous blog, Health Care Reform Part 3. Although the new law imposes penalties on certain businesses for not providing coverage to their employees, also known as the so-called “pay or play,” most small businesses

Today we are continuing our installment on issues covering health care reform legislation and related tax changes. Specifically, we are going to take a detailed look at the required employer notice on health care coverage options. Beginning January 1, 2014, individuals and employees of small businesses will have access to affordable health care coverage through a new competitive private health insurance market called the Health Insurance Marketplace. Certain employers must pr

We talked about this in previous editions of this video blog. But many people have overlooked this topic. I have talked with both employers and employees over the last couple of weeks who failed to consider this change. On January 1, 2013, the 2% temporary reduction in the payroll tax that was in effect in 2011 and 2012 expired. The social security tax reverted back to 6.2%. This was never intended to be a permanent change. But rather a short-term method to put additional mo