Flexible Spending Accounts Rules Changing

Workers who have health flexible spending accounts will be getting some good news! The United States Treasury Department has announced that it will be relaxing the rule that says account holders must use up their funds by the end of the year, or the funds will be lost. Employers now have the option to allow employees who participate in these health flexible spending accounts to carry over up to $500 to the next year. Health flexible spending accounts, commonly known as FSAs or HSAs, are accounts that hold pre-tax dollars to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses. Roughly 14 million families use flexible spending accounts already, and these changes may encourage even more workers to sign up for these plans. Employers may implement these changes in their company as early as the 2013 plan year.

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

 Kernersville, NC 27284

 Ph: 336-996-3338

 www.cpamcdaniel.com

 

IRS to Delay Start of Tax Season

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the beginning of tax season could be delayed by up to two weeks, due to the government shutdown. Accounting Today notes that the "16-day government shutdown came during the peak period for preparing IRS systems for the upcoming tax season, which involves programming, testing and deployment of more than 50 systems" (Accounting Today). Considering that the government shutdown closed about 90% of the Internal Revenue Service's operations for 16 days, the delay is not a surprise. The Internal Revenue Service will announce the official start of the preparation for the upcoming tax season in December. This delay will not affect when tax returns are due. Taxpayers will still be required to file their returns by April 15th, and companies will still be required to send W-2 and other tax forms by January 31st.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

 

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

 Kernersville, NC 27284

 Ph: 336-996-3338

 www.cpamcdaniel.com

2013 Payroll Adjustments Required for Noncash Fringe Benefits

 It is now time to calculate noncash fringe benefits and other amounts which must be added to 2013 payroll prior to year end. This can be done now; you need not wait until the end of the year. We are available to help you with the computations, and can also assist you in getting the information into your payroll system or correctly reporting it to your third party payroll processing service.

 

Generally, noncash fringe benefits paid during the calendar year are added to the last payroll of the year. We understand how busy December is, and the difficulty of accumulating information through the end of the year in time to have us do the calculations and then get it into your last payroll run.  To alleviate this pressure, IRS rules allow you to cut off your calculation as early as October 31st. By acting now, you can gather the information, get it to us, have your computations back, and then decide in which of the remaining payrolls of the year you want to include noncash fringe benefits.

 

If you have questions or would like assistance with calculations or payroll processing related to fringe benefits, please call us now. At the latest, we must calculate your fringe benefits before your last payroll in December.

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

 Kernersville, NC 27284

 Ph: 336-996-3338

 www.cpamcdaniel.com

You May Be Richer Than You Think!

The North Carolina Cash Program, a service of the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, reports that there is roughly $334 million in the unclaimed property fund! Property that hasn't been claimed can be bank accounts, policy proceeds, stocks, bonds, safety deposit contents, etc. When companies lose track of their consumer, due to incorrect addresses or other missing information, the funds become unclaimed. There is no time limit for making a claim to your property, meaning unclaimed property from years ago could be sitting in the fund. If you are one of the North Carolinians who is owed money, it’s time to claim your cash! To find out if you have unclaimed property, check the North Carolina Treasurer website, and search your name in the database. Let us know if you find anything!

 

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

 Kernersville, NC 27284

 Ph: 336-996-3338

 www.cpamcdaniel.com

Furloughed Workers to Pay State Back for Unemployment

 

If furloughed employees received unemployment benefits during the government shutdown, they will have to pay the state back what they received. The Labor Department reports that 70,000 federal employees who were furloughed during the government shutdown filed for unemployment benefits the first week of the shutdown. But since the shutdown has come to an end, the states want those workers to pay back the benefits they received. CNN Money reports that "those who already used the benefits will have 60 days to repay the Department of Employment Services, without interest”. If the workers who received benefits are struggling financially, they may apply to be a part of a repayment plan. The article from CNN Money is linked here.

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

 Kernersville, NC 27284

 Ph: 336-996-3338

 www.cpamcdaniel.com

Government Shutdown Comes to a Close

The government shutdown, which began on October 1st, has come to an end. The President and Congress ended the 16-day shutdown on Thursday, October 17th. By coming to an agreement and authorizing more borrowing just before the deadline, Congress was able to avoid a disastrous default on the United States’ debts.  The plan that Congress and President Obama agreed upon will keep the government open until January 15th, with the new deadline for a default being extended to February 7th. The White House directed all federally-funded agencies to open back up Thursday, which allowed thousands of furloughed employees to return to work. National parks, federal agencies and museums will now resume business as usual, and funding for educational and supplemental programs will continue.

Linked below are websites with further information regarding the end of the government shutdown.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57607769/senate-announces-deal-to-end-government-shutdown-lift-debt-ceiling/

http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/17/us-government-shutdown-thousands-return-to-work-after-budget-deal-4150949/

 

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

 Kernersville, NC 27284

 Ph: 336-996-3338

 www.cpamcdaniel.com

How Your Credit Affects Your Company

Securing investors or loans can be a struggle for small businesses, especially if they are relying on their personal credit rather than relying on their business credit profile. Using a personal bank account as the funding for a business is risky. If your business struggles financially, then your personal finances will be tied up in the struggle, and you risk lowering your personal credit score. For this reason, experts tend to advise to keep business and personal accounts separate, and to focus on building up your business' credit profile on its own. Business and personal credit is different, but repairing a credit score tends to work the same way. Focus on keeping your business and personal credit strong, and keeping accounts separate. If you have any questions about credit, please contact us!

 

http://buildmybiz.com/business-credit-affects-company/

518 Arbor Hill Rd.

Kernersville, NC 27284

Ph: 336-996-3338

www.cpamcdaniel.com