Returning Value Blog

The Research Credit Is Back for Good

Like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in The Terminator, the research credit is back. This valuable tax break, which had officially expired and been restored more than a dozen times in the past, was extended again by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, retroactive to the beginning of 2015. What’s more, the credit has been made permanent, with certain modifications, by the new PATH Act.

Popular fringe benefit for employees

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) can be a low-cost addition to your company’s benefits package. You can provide FSAs for your employees to cover health care expenses, dependent care expenses—or both—within certain tax law limits.

The Affordable Care Act has the potential to affect all businesses.  Failure to comply with the ACA can result in substantial penalties.

Every business owner should address how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will impact their business. There are reporting requirements in effect for the 2015 calendar year as well as potential employer health insurance coverage offering requirements, both having substantial fines for noncompliance. To be prepared you need to know the following:

Millennials – those born roughly between 1980 and 2000 – are changing the face of retail.

They have a combined purchasing power of $2.45 trillion worldwide – $600 billion in the U.S. – and they account for almost a third of all retail sales.

Their influence is only going to grow – by 2025, they will comprise 75 percent of the workforce.

On February 19, 2015, the IRS issued Notice 2015-17, which provides some interim relief for small employers from the excise taxes that could be imposed for non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

1. Employer reimbursement plans for small employers will be allowed through June 30, 2015 without imposition of the excise tax. Prior to the ruling, the IRS’ position was that programs that reimbursed employees for their individual purchases of health insurance constituted a ‘plan’ for purposes of the ACA,and would therefore be subject to its provisions, regardless of the size of the employer. The Notice provides that programs offered by employers who are not otherwise subject to the ACA (employers with less than 50 full time equivalent employees) can offer reimbursement programs during the first six months of 2015. These programs can include reimbursement for individual policies, group policies and policies that provide Medicare Part B and D coverage.