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Beware of Traps with Independent Contractor Business Models
Companies are increasingly moving away from the traditional employee model and implementing independent contractor models for some aspects of their business to reduce their direct labor costs without...
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Your Federal Government is Here to Help—Anatomy of a DOL Audit
Under the Obama administration, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has become re-energized and is the most active it has been for many years. While the WHD still...
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Regulatory Storm Cloud Brewing On Full-Time Employee Status
Beginning on January 1, 2014, it will be crucial for an employer to know the full-time or part-time status of every employee. That is when the employer mandate becomes effective under Internal Revenue...
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Sixth Circuit Decision Offers FICA Tax Refund Opportunities for Severance Pay
Any employer that implemented reductions in force or layoffs after 2008 should consider filing refund claims for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes paid on severance benefits based on...
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December 31 Section 409A Correction Deadline for Severance Pay Approaching
The Internal Revenue Service(IRS) has given employers until December 31, 2012 to correct a problem frequently found in severance agreements and other similar arrangements. If the problem is not...
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IRS Announces COLA Increases for Dollar Limitations on Benefits and...
On October 18, 2012 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) impacting tax-qualified pension plans for 2013. Similar to 2012, there are increases in most of...
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IRS Provides Additional Relief for Victims of Hurricane Sandy
As people and employers continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued guidance to assist victims of the hurricane. In this post, we’ll talk about...
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For Employers, Pay-or-Play Proposals Could Be Worse, Much Worse
Could employee benefits regulatory activity under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Act) be taking a turn toward common sense? Based on the new proposed rules on the “pay-or-play”...
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IRS Guidance to Implement Retroactive Increase in 2012 Mass Transit Benefit...
On January 16 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance on the application of the retroactive increase in excludible transit benefits, as enacted under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012...
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EBSA Updates Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program
On January 28, 2013, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), announced updates to its Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance (DFVC)...
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Wellness Programs—Money and Trinkets for Healthy Habits May Be Taxable
More and more employers and insurance companies are providing incentives and rewards to employees and their covered dependents to encourage participation in wellness programs. These programs are...
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June 30 Deadline to Apply for Temporary Employment Tax Settlement Program
Is your company considering reclassifying certain workers, but hesitant because it is worried about triggering a federal employment tax audit or not having consistently filed Form 1099s for those...
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Reporting and Filing for the PCORI Fee
As you may know the Affordable Care Act imposed a new fee on issuers of individual and group health insurance policies and plan sponsors of self-funded plans. As previously noted in our blog, on...
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A Check-Up for Wellness Programs–Final Wellness Regulations Issued
Since 2006, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has prohibited health plans from discriminating based upon an individual’s health status. Since many modern wellness programs...
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Supreme Court DOMA Decision—Part I: Fringe Benefits and Other Tax Implications
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its highly anticipated decision in United States v. Windsor, ruling that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is...
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Supreme Court DOMA Decision—Part II: Wage Overstatements and Tax Refunds
In part one of this two-part series, “Supreme Court DOMA Decision—Part I: Fringe Benefits and Other Tax Implications,” I reviewed the fringe benefit and tax implications of the United States v. Windsor...
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The Advantages of Offering Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Instead of...
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), severance is subject to Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) tax and certain supplemental unemployment benefits are not. That’s right . . ....
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The Advantages of Offering Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Instead of...
In part one of this two-part series, “The Advantages of Offering Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Instead of Severance, Part I: FICA Taxes and More,” I reviewed the advantages of offering...
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Early Guidance Sheds Light on Impact of United States v. Windsor on Employee...
For many years, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defined marriage under federal law as a legal union between one man and one woman. In June 2013, however, in the case of United States v. Windsor, the...
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Is the Severance that Your Company Pays to Fired Workers Taxable? The Supreme...
On October 1, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear a case concerning whether employees’ severance payments are taxable. The case, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., came out...
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