As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, many employers continue to encourage or require their employees to work from home (i.e., telework). These remote working arrangements have tax implications. Here’s how they could affect you.
Employer Tax Credit Extended for Payroll Workers
The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, enacted December 27, 2020, made several changes to employee retention tax credits. These tax credits were previously made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The most notable change was the modification of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). Several of the changes apply only to 2021, while others apply to both 2020 and 2021. As such, employers can take advantage of the newly-extended employee retention credit, designed to make it easier for businesses that choose to keep their employees on the payroll – despite challenges posed by COVID-19.
Beware of Gift Card Tax Scams
There’s never an off-season when it comes to scammers and thieves who want to trick people to scam them out of money, steal their personal information, or talk them into engaging in questionable behavior with their taxes. While scam attempts typically peak during tax season, taxpayers need to remain vigilant all year long.
For example, there are many reports of taxpayers being asked to pay a fake tax bill through the purchase of gift cards. While gift cards are a popular and convenient gift for all occasions, they are also a tool that scammers use to steal money from people.
Seasonal Workers and the Healthcare Law
Businesses often need to hire workers on a seasonal or part-time basis. For example, some businesses may need seasonal help for holidays, harvest seasons, commercial fishing, or sporting events. Whether you are getting paid or paying someone else, questions often arise over whether these seasonal workers affect employers with regard to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Six Tips for Starting Your Own Business
Starting your own business can be an exciting prospect, but there is more to it than simply writing a business plan. Also, if you expect to have employees, there are a variety of federal and state forms and applications that you need to complete to get your business up and running. That’s where a tax professional can help. With this in mind, let’s take a look at what you need to know before you start a new business.
Health Coverage Terms Employers Should Know
Under the Affordable Care Act, certain employers – known as applicable large employers – are subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions. You might be thinking about these topics as you make plans about 2021 health coverage for your employees.
Recordkeeping Tips for Individuals and Businesses
The key to avoiding headaches at tax time is keeping track of your receipts and other records throughout the year. Whether you use an excel spreadsheet, an app, an online system or keep your receipts organized in a folding file organized by month, good record-keeping will help you remember the various transactions you made during the year.
Tax Tips for Workers in the Gig Economy
The gig economy, also called sharing or access economy, is defined by activities where taxpayers earn income providing on-demand work, services, or goods. This type of work is often carried out via digital platforms such as an app or website. There are many types of sharing economy businesses including two of the most popular ones: ride-sharing, Uber and Lyft, for example, home rentals such as Airbnb, and TaskRabbit.
Exiting a Business: Which Option Is Right for You?
Selecting your business successor is a fundamental objective when planning your exit strategy and requires a careful assessment of what you want from the sale of your business and who can best give it to you.
There are only four ways to leave your business and the more you understand about each one, the better the chance is that you will leave your business on your terms and under the conditions you want. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about each option:
Protect Tax Records Before Disaster Strikes
As such, it’s always a good idea to plan for what to do in case of a disaster. Here are some simple steps you can take right now to prepare: