New Hire Retention Credit – FAQs

What is the new hire retention credit and what does it apply to?
This is a general business credit to encourage retention of new hires (retained workers). The employer may claim the credit for each retained worker. A retained worker is a qualified employee (as defined for purposes of the payroll tax exemption) who remains an employee for at least 52 consecutive weeks, and whose wages (as defined for income tax withholding purposes) for the last 26 weeks equal at least 80% of the wages for the first 26 weeks. The amount of the credit is the lesser of $1,000 or 6.2% of wages (as defined for income tax withholding purposes) paid by the employer to the retained worker during the 52 consecutive week period.  Here is a worksheet to aid you in providing information to us.

If an employer chooses to claim the WOTC for a qualified employee, can the employer still claim the new hire retention credit for that qualified employee?
Yes, an employer may claim the retention credit for a qualified employee even if the employer has also claimed the WOTC for the same employee. (more…)

Recent Developments – That May Affect Your Tax Situation

The following is a summary of the most important tax developments that have occurred in the past three months that may affect you, your family, your investments, and your livelihood. Please call us for more information about any of these developments and what steps you should implement to take advantage of favorable developments and to minimize the impact of those that are unfavorable. (more…)

Payroll Tax Cut – Temporarily Extended into 2012

President Obama today signed into law a two month extension of the payroll tax cut, which means that 160 million American workers will not see their paychecks shrink starting Jan 1, 2012. The President thanked Congress for ending the stalemate and urged them to keep working to reach an agreement (more…)

Christmas Tree Tax??

There’s been a bit of hub-bub over the last day or two about taxes on Christmas Trees…(well, there’s been lots of hub-bub about lots of stuff over the last few days, but I’m going to stick with taxes).

 

The story happened like this: (more…)