Tax Breaks Help Small and Medium-sized Employers Small and medium-sized employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing coronavirus-related leave to their employees. This relief to employees and small and midsize businesses is provided under the Families First…
CARES Act: Information for Individual Taxpayers The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the stimulus bill that was signed into law on March 27, 2020, contains legislation to stabilize the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. These measures include economic recovery checks for taxpayers, as well as several other tax provisions affecting individuals. Let’s…
Tax Returns & Estimated Taxes Now Due July 15 Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of…
What to Do If You Are Missing Important Tax Forms If you are ready to file your taxes but are missing important tax forms here’s what you should do: Form W-2 You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each of your employers for use in preparing your federal tax return. Employers…
Are Social Security Benefits Taxable? Social Security benefits include monthly retirement, survivor, and disability benefits; they do not include Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, which are not taxable. Generally, you pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits only if you have other substantial income in addition to your benefits such as wages, self-employment,…
Worker Classification: Employee vs. Contractor If you hire someone for a long-term, full-time project or a series of projects that are likely to last for an extended period, you must pay special attention to the difference between independent contractors and employees. Why It Matters The Internal Revenue Service and state regulators scrutinize the distinction between…
Various Types of IRAs Available At one time, there was relatively little confusion about IRAs because there was only one type available. Now, however, IRAs have proliferated—there’s the “traditional” IRA, which may be funded with deductible and/or nondeductible contributions, Roth IRA, SEP-IRA, and SIMPLE IRA. Some of these IRAs have similar features, but others have…
Tax Filing Season Begins January 27, 2020, marked the start of this year’s tax filing season. Complicating matters is a newly revised Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. With more than 150 million individual tax returns expected to be filed for the 2019 tax year, here’s what individual taxpayers can expect: Another New Design for…
Tax Extenders, Retirement Plan Changes, and Repeals The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, signed into law on December 20, 2019, extended a number of expired tax provisions for business and individuals through 2020. It also included several retirement plan changes and repealed three health care taxes. Here’s what you need to know: Individual Tax Extenders…
2020 Tax Withholding: the new Form W-4 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, has been redesigned for 2020. Previously, income tax withholding was based on an employee’s marital status and withholding allowances or tied to the value of the personal exemption. With the revised Form W-4, however, income tax withholding is generally based on the worker’s expected…