It’s almost tax time! Tips to Streamline Your Year-End Processes.

It’s December already and we wanted to provide some helpful reminders in order to help you streamline your year-end and tax return processes for 2011.

S-Corp Owners Health Insurance Reportable on W-2 – From the IRS: “Heath and accident insurance premiums paid on behalf of the greater than two percent S corporation shareholder-employee are deductible and reportable by the S corporation as wages for income tax withholding purposes on the shareholder-employee’s Form W-2. These benefits are not subject to Social Security or Medicare (FICA) or Unemployment (FUTA) taxes. The additional compensation is included in Box 1 (Wages) of the Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, issued to the shareholder-employee, but would not be included in Boxes 3 and 5 of Form W-2.”

For more information, including information about sole shareholder/employee situations, please see: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=203100,00.html

NC County Business Property Tax Listings – “Any individual(s) or business(es) owning or possessing personal property used or connected with a business or other income producing purpose must file a county business property listing by January 31, 2012 unless an extension is filed.” For more information on registering for an account and to obtain forms for filing, please visit the following county Triangle, NC County websites as they apply to you.

Wake County – http://www.wakegov.com/tax/forms.htm
Durham County – http://www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/txad/Business_Personal_Property_Taxation.html
Orange County – http://www.co.orange.nc.us/assessor/BusinessPersonalProperty.asp

NC Employment Security Commission Notices – NC ESC will be sending out notices through the end of the year to address any changes in your unemployment insurance rate for 2012. Be sure to provide these to your payroll service provider to update their systems.

1099 Forms Due 01/31/12 – If you have paid or will pay subcontracted vendors more than $600 in non-employee compensation in tax year 2011, you will need to have a W-9 form on file for each of them in order to issue their 1099 form. The W-9 form will allow you to obtain the information needed to determine 1099 eligibility, their taxpayer ID number, and a current address for mailing. The deadline to submit 1099 forms to the taxpayer is January 31st and the deadline to submit to the IRS their copy is February 28th. Failure to file on time can result in penalties.

The W-9 form can be downloaded here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.

Please also see the following IRS Publication http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099msc.pdf.

IRS Virtual Tax Workshop – If you would to obtain more information about your tax requirements, the IRS offers a free virtual workshop for small business owners and self-employed individuals at http://www.irsvideos.gov/virtualworkshop/

Three Tips for Employers Outsourcing Their Payroll

Three Tips for Employers Outsourcing Their Payroll Special Edition Tax Tip 2011-05, September 2, 2011 via IRS.GOV

Outsourcing payroll duties to third-party service providers can streamline business operations, but the IRS reminds employers that they are ultimately responsible for paying federal tax liabilities. Recent prosecutions of individuals and companies who – acting under the guise of a payroll service provider – have stolen funds intended for payment of employment taxes makes it important that employers who outsource payroll are aware of the following three tips from the IRS:

Employer Responsibility – The employer is ultimately responsible for the deposit and payment of federal tax liabilities. Even though you forward the tax payments to the third party to make the tax deposits, you – the employer – are the responsible party.If the third party fails to make the federal tax payments, the IRS may assess penalties and interest. The employer is liable for all taxes, penalties and interest due. The IRS can also hold you personally liable for certain unpaid federal taxes.

Correspondence – If there are any issues with an account, the IRS will send correspondence to the address of record. The IRS strongly suggests you do not change the address of record to that of the payroll service provider. That could limit your ability to stay informed of tax matters involving your business.

EFTPS  – Choose a payroll service provider that uses the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. You can register on the EFTPS system to get your own PIN to verify the payments.The IRS web site – http://www.irs.gov has more information on the responsibilities of employers outsourcing payroll, payroll service providers and EFTPS.

via Three Tips for Employers Outsourcing Their Payroll.

for more information about online payroll services: www.netWorthPayroll.com

President Obama Signs 1099 Repeal

via President Obama Signs 1099 Repeal | PropertyCasualty360

President Obama late Thursday signed into law legislation repealing the 1099 reporting provision enacted as part of the healthcare reform bill.

Several insurance industry trade groups issued statements lauding the president’s decision.

The bill is H.R. 4, the “Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011.”

The repealed provision would have required all business entities to file a 1099 form with the Internal Revenue Service for each vendor for whom they have cumulative transactions of $600 or more. It would have gone into effect in January 2012.

The legislation also repeals an additional Form 1099 reporting requirement imposed on owners of rental real estate.

The 1099 provision was expected to contribute $19 billion toward paying for healthcare reform. The repeal legislation makes up the shortfall by making consumers repay all of their insurance subsidies under the healthcare law once their income rises beyond 400 percent of the federal poverty line.

House Democrats called that a tax increase on the middle class.

In signing the bill, President Obama said he looks forward to continuing to work with Congress to improve the tax credit policy in the legislation and is “eager to work with anyone with ideas about how we can make healthcare better or more affordable.”

Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), says, “With the repeal of this provision, small businesses can now worry a little less about Washington red tape and continue to focus on creating jobs and rebuilding our economy.

He adds that NAMIC hopes Congress and the president “will continue to look for ways to improve government regulation by removing needless burdens on American businesses.”

Robert Rusbuldt, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents  Brokers of America (IIABA), says, “In a strong show of bipartisan cooperation, the president and Congress have done the right thing by standing up for small businesses and repealing the 1099 reporting mandate.

“Our thousands of small business members and their clients will breathe easier knowing this ill-advised provision will not take effect.”

IRS Urges Nonprofits to Continue to File e-Postcards

IRS Urges Nonprofits to Continue to File e-Postcards

Beginning in 2010, nonprofits that don’t file Form 990, Form 990-EZ, or Form 990-N with the IRS for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status. These filings are due 5 ½ months after the end of nonprofits’ fiscal years (for example, May 17, 2010 for nonprofits with fiscal years ending December 31 and November 15, 2010 for those whose fiscal years end June 30). The IRS Commissioner issued a statement this week encouraging small nonprofits that missed the May 17 deadline to still file a Form 990-N (e-Postcard) as soon as possible. The IRS will try to work with nonprofits that file their e-Postcards late.

via N.C. Center for Nonprofits | Homepage.