Q. We have several employees that have been laid off and are receiving unemployment benefits. They have asked whether they are required to pay taxes on their unemployment benefits.
Small Business Tax
Section 179 vehicles should be a key part of your small business tax deduction strategies. Can Section 179 property fit in with your business tax strategies?
Let Business Management Daily help you get each and every rental property depreciation credit and business tax deduction you’re entitled to.
Q. We have salespeople who work on a straight commission basis. Do we need to track their hours?
The tax law permits you to deduct a casualty loss, within certain limits, for damage caused by an event that is “sudden, unexpected or unusual.” This often results from natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes, but you may also deduct losses from more mundane occurrences, such as traffic accidents. But if you caused the accident, can you still deduct a casualty loss for damage to your vehicle? It depends.
The U. S. Department of Labor, in conjunction with the IRS, has announced a “misclassification initiative” aimed at employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors. A 2009 Government Accountability Office report labeled misclassification a “significant problem” with “adverse consequences” for the government.
President Obama’s signing of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, marked the finish of a yearlong partisan battle. But for HR professionals, March 23 was a starting line—the beginning of big changes in the way they handle employer-provided health benefits. While many provisions won’t kick in until as late as 2014, some take effect this year. Here's a brief summary of the changes ....
The IRS is launching a massive new effort to regulate paid tax return preparers. The centerpiece is a registration program designed to weed out subpar unenrolled tax return preparers. One immediate impact: The IRS has started to send letters to 10,000 return preparers who’ve filed a significant number of incorrect returns.
Q. I left property at a charity’s unattended drop site last year. Can I deduct the value without a receipt?
The federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has postponed implementation of new regs that would have required employers to report any medical benefits payments to employees who are eligible for Medicare. Despite the delay, you need to know about this new requirement if you're self-insured or pay deductibles on Employment Practices Liability Insurance.
Q. We’re renting out our principal residence as we try to sell it. Will this reduce the home sale gain exclusion?
With just a few short weeks before the due date for filing personal returns, you may be starting to panic. But you can buy extra time by filing Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, by April 15. This automatically entitles you to file your federal tax return as late as Oct. 15, 2010—no questions asked!
