Take the Confusion Out of S-corp Salary Rules
You're in business to make money to feed your family, send the kids to college or drive the sports car of your dreams. But when you're a shareholder in an S corporation, how and how much you get paid can be controversial and a red flag for the IRS. What is...
A Tax Essential: the Percentage-Withholding Method
Employers are required to withhold federal income tax from all employees' wages unless the employee is exempt from the tax. The withholding amount is based on the employee's taxable wages, marital status and number of allowances stated on his or her W-4...
Making a Decision About Health Savings Accounts
We all need health insurance and we all would like to save money and reduce taxes. Health Savings Accounts can help with all of those objectives. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax advantaged personal savings accounts to be used for medical expenses...
When Do You Have to Pay for Employee Breaks?
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter earlier this year in response to the following issue: Should nonexempt employees who require 15-minute employee breaks every hour, because of an illness that qualifies as a serious health condition...
How to Convince Employees to Take Time Off
A 2017 survey by Glassdoor concluded that 91 percent of employees took some vacation in the previous 12 months, increasing from 85 percent in 2014. Despite this upswing, the average employee has taken only around half of his or her available paid time off...
4 Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll
Outsourcing payroll functions to a firm that specializes in payroll may sound like just another expense your business should try to do without—but hiring a payroll firm will actually save you both time and money. Whether you’re a small-business owner or an...
Should You Offer 529 Savings Plans?
In a MetLife study, 74 percent of employees said their employer's financial benefits program helped them achieve peace of mind. For many employees, this peace of mind is obtained through employer-sponsored life insurance and retirement plan. However, a...
Should You Honor All W-4 Requests?
Form W-4 helps employers determine how much federal income tax to take out of their employees' wages. On the form, employees state their withholding conditions, such as filing status, number of allowances and any additional amount they want to be withheld....
Is ‘Selective’ Health Coverage Permissible?
Group health insurance can be expensive for employers, which is why cost savings is often the primary reason employers seek to offer health coverage only to particular employees. Generally speaking, this is permissible. But, there are several legalities to...
Supreme Court Ruling on Online Sales Tax Sows More Confusion
It has long been the rule that a state cannot collect online sales tax from a vendor that is selling products in that state, unless that vendor has a physical presence, called a nexus. However, on June 21, 2018, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court swept...