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Employee health care

Helping employees understand their health care accounts

Many businesses now offer, as part of their health care benefits, various types of accounts that reimburse employees for medical expenses on a tax-advantaged basis. These include health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRAs) and Health Savings Account (HSAs, which are usually offered in conjunction with a high-deductible health plan).

Accounting software

5 common accounting software mistakes to avoid

No company can afford to operate without the right accounting software. When considering whether to buy a new product or upgrade their current solutions, however, business owners often fall prey to some common mistakes. Here are five gaffes to avoid:

Social Security tax

Will You Have to Pay Tax on Your Social Security Benefits?

If you’re getting close to retirement, you may wonder: Are my Social Security benefits going to be taxed? And if so, how much will you have to pay? It depends on your other income. If you’re taxed, between 50% and 85% of your benefits could be taxed. (This doesn’t mean you pay 85% of your benefits back to the government in taxes. It merely that you’d include 85% of them in your income subject to your regular tax rates.)

Education Tax Breaks

Back-to-school tax breaks on the books

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, students are going back to school this fall, either remotely, in-person or under a hybrid schedule. In any event, parents may be eligible for certain tax breaks to help defray the cost of education.

Here is a summary of some of the tax breaks available for education.

President signs 5-week PPP extension

President Trump has signed a five-week extension of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), after unanimous agreement by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, in an effort to continue providing relief for small businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

SBA reopens EIDL program to small businesses and nonprofits

Just last week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it has reopened the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance program to eligible applicants still struggling with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accounting for PPP Loans

On June 10, 2020, the AICPA released guidance, to address how borrowers of Payroll Protection Program (PPP) Loans should account for these loans in their GAAP financial statements. The legal form of the PPP loan is debt, however, some believe that the loan is, in substance, a government grant. These conflicting opinions have led the AICPA to provide PPP Loan borrowers with options to account for the PPP Loans. Borrowers can account for the PPP Loans as:

SBA issues update first PPP interim final rule following PPP Flexibility Act

On June 10, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an updated interim final rule for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in response to the PPP Flexibility Act passed on June 5, 2020. The updated guidance accounts for revisions made to the covered period, usage of funds changes, extended safe harbors, and more.

Here is a quick rundown of the changes made by the PPP Flexibility Act.

House passes bill to extend, expand provisions of PPP

On May 28, 2020, in a nearly unanimous vote, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend certain provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide small businesses with relief in the timeframe and use of their PPP loan funds. While President Trump has encouraged changes to PPP, and the Senate had been developing a plan of its own, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act is the first to pass its branch.

SBA issues interim final rule on PPP

On May 23, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that included the loan forgiveness application guidance released May 15, as well as other updated guidance.

PPP Forgiveness Form Released by SBA, Includes Changes

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has released its long-awaited Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness form for borrowers. The release on May 15 brought with it significant changes to the interpretation of some components of forgiveness that were not previously known.  

IRS Clarifies Payroll Tax Deferral Relief and Expands Relief for those Using the PPP

The CARES Act allows all employers to defer the deposit and payment of the employer’s share of social security (SS) taxes (6.2%) and self-employed individuals to defer payment of certain self-employment taxes.  The timing of the deferral will depend in whether or not the employer receives a loan under the Payroll Protection Program

There’s still time to make a deductible IRA contribution for 2019

Do you want to save more for retirement on a tax-favored basis? If so, and if you qualify, you can make a deductible traditional IRA contribution for the 2019 tax year between now and the extended tax filing deadline and claim the write-off on your 2019 return. Or you can contribute to a Roth IRA and avoid paying taxes on future withdrawals.