Benefits

The new health insurance laws still have many individuals and small business owners scratching their heads. In an effort to help those in North Carolina, Tim Robinson, CPA, tax director at the CPA Firm of Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP, in the Raleigh-Durham area, recently spoke to financial executives on compliance with the Affordable Care Act. He discussed several tax penalties that will affect Triangle businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees.

Most U.S. taxpayers must secure health insurance coverage this year whether they want to or not. But the IRS and Treasury Department have clarified several exceptions to the rules in new proposed regulations relating to the health insurance mandate for individuals.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few years, you’re well-aware that the massive health care legislation known informally as “Obamacare” by both its detractors and proponents remains the law of the land.

Starting this year, the credit goes up to 50 percent for for-profit entities, and 35 percent for tax-exempt ones.

I visited Arizona last summer, where the temperatures hit 119 degrees in the afternoon and didn’t much cool at night. They call it “dry heat.” I called it Apache Territory.

You’ve heard the mantra a thousand times: It’s never too early to start saving and planning for retirement. Whether you’ve heeded that advice closely or have let time slip by, it’s also not usually too late to have a positive effect on your retirement finances.

Self-employed workers, contractors and entrepreneurs often cite their independence as one of the biggest advantages to not having a traditional job, but being self-employed also means that individuals must exercise greater control over their retirement planning, since they usually do not have access to 401(k) pre-tax savings plans and automatic contributions.

Active duty and some reserve members of the U. S. Armed Forces deserve our nation's greatest respect and honor, and one of the minor things our country offers in return for their service are a few benefits when it comes to income taxes.