Archive for IRS

New IRS Ruling Gives Employers and Employees More Benefits Flexibility

A recent IRS private letter ruling will potentially allow employees more flexibility to determine how employer 401K contributions are paid out to them.

New IRS Mileage Rates for 2017

Beginning January 1, 2017, the new standard IRS mileage rates are: (a) $0.535/mile for business miles driven; (b) $0.17/mile for medical or moving purposes; and (c) $0.14/mile for service to charitable organizations. Employers that use the standard IRS rates for employee reimbursement purposes should review and adjust their…

IRS Announces New Mileage Rates for 2016

Beginning January 1, 2016, the new standard IRS mileage rates are: $0.54/mile for business miles driven; $0.19/mile for medical or moving purposes; and $0.14/mile for service to charitable organizations. Employers that use the standard IRS rates for employee reimbursement purposes should review and adjust their expense reimbursement policies…

New IRS Mileage Rates for 2015

Beginning January 1, 2015, the new standard IRS mileage rates are: $0.575/mile for business miles driven; $0.23/mile for medical or moving purposes; and $0.14/mile for service to charitable organizations. Employers that use the standard IRS rates for employee reimbursement purposes should review and adjust their expense reimbursement policies…

Obama Extends Family Leave Benefits to Married Gay Couples

Yesterday, the federal government announced several regulatory changes that extend marriage benefits to same-sex couples.  This announcement — and the legal changes that come with it — are the result of last year’s historic Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor striking down Section 3 of the Defense…

I.R.S. Bars Employers From Dumping Employees into Health Exchanges

The Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health coverage for their employees or face stiff fines.  To comply with the new law, many employers were canceling their group health plans, dumping their employees into the health exchange (which is Covered California in…

New IRS Mileage Rates for 2014

Beginning January 1, 2014, the new standard IRS mileage rates are: $0.56/mile for business miles driven; $0.235/mile for medical or moving purposes; and $0.14/mile for service to charitable organizations. Employers that use the standard IRS rates for employee reimbursement purposes should review and adjust their expense reimbursement policies…

New IRS Tip Rule Says Mandatory “Service Charges” are Wages

If you are a restaurant that charges a mandatory 18% service charge on large parties…or if you charge a mandatory $15 corkage fee for opening a customer’s bottle of wine…or a $3 per slice fee for cutting a customer’s birthday cake…you may want to reconsider this practice. Why?…

ROBS — How to Convert a 401(k) Into Startup Funding

Entrepreneurs often ask me questions about startup funding — how and where they go about finding all the money they need to launch their ventures.  These questions always lead to a conversation about friends-and-family, angel investors, seed funding firms (or “incubators”), venture capital firms, commercial  banks, the SBA,…

IRS Announces Guidance on Withholding of Tips

The IRS today released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2012-26 providing guidance on how taxes are imposed on tips under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).  The bulletin is in question-and-answer format and includes an explanation of both the employer’s and employee’s obligations.  The bulletin also addresses the following issues:…