New Standard Mileage Rate begins July 1, 2011

We recently received the following correspondence from the Internal Revenue Service.  As a result of this change all businesses using the mileage rates will need to make sure to track the miles for the period 1/1 to 6/30 and 7/1 to 12/31.  Just what we all need, more paperwork.

The Internal Revenue Service is revising the optional standard mileage rates
for computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business,
medical, or moving expense purposes and for determining the reimbursed amount
of these expenses that is deemed substantiated.  This modification results
from recent increases in the price of fuel.  The revised standard mileage
rates are 55.5 cents per mile for business use of an automobile and 23.5 cents
for use of an automobile as a medical or moving expense.  The mileage rate
for use of an automobile as a charitable contribution is fixed by statute and
remains 14 cents.  The revised standard mileage rates apply to deductible
transportation expenses paid or incurred for business, medical, or moving
expense purposes on or after July 1, 2011, and to mileage allowances that are
paid both (1) to an employee on or after July 1, 2011, and (2) for
transportation expenses an employee pays or incurs on or after July 1,
2011.

Announcement 2011-40 will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2011-29
on July 18, 2011.

 

Overview of the tax provisions in the 2010 Small Business Jobs Act

The recently enacted 2010 Small Business Jobs Act includes a wide-ranging assortment of tax breaks and incentives for small business, paid for with various revenue raisers. Here’s a brief overview of the tax changes in the new law.

Tax breaks and incentives

Enhanced small business expensing (Section 179 expensing). In order to help small businesses quickly recover the cost of certain capital expenses, small business taxpayers can elect to write off the cost of these expenses in the year of acquisition in lieu of recovering these costs over time through depreciation. Under pre-2010 Small Business Jobs Act law, taxpayers could expense up to $250,000 of qualifying property—generally, machinery, equipment and certain software—placed in service in tax years beginning in 2010. This annual expensing limit was reduced (but not below zero) by the amount by which the cost of qualifying property placed in service in tax years beginning in 2010 exceeded $800,000 (the investment ceiling). Under the new law, for tax years beginning in 2010 and 2011, the $250,000 limit is increased to $500,000 and the investment ceiling to $2,000,000.

The new law also makes certain real property eligible for expensing. For property placed in service in any tax year beginning in 2010 or 2011, the up-to-$500,000 of property expensed can include up to $250,000 of qualified real property (qualified leasehold improvement property, qualified restaurant property, and qualified retail improvement property).

100% exclusion of gain from the sale of small business stock for qualifying stock acquired after date of enactment and before Jan. 1, 2011. Before the 2009 Recovery Act, individuals could exclude 50% of their gain on the sale of qualified small business stock (QSBS) held for at least five years (60% for certain empowerment zone businesses). To qualify, QSBS must meet a number of conditions (e.g., it must be stock of a corporation that has gross assets that don’t exceed $50 million, and the corporation must meet active business requirements). Under the 2009 Recovery Act, the percentage exclusion for gain on QSBS sold by an individual was increased to 75% for stock acquired after Feb. 17, 2009 and before Jan. 1, 2011. Under the new law, the amount of the exclusion is temporarily increased yet again, to 100% of the gain from the sale of qualifying small business stock that is acquired in 2010 after date of enactment and held for more than five years. In addition, the new law eliminates the alternative minimum tax (AMT) preference item attributable for that sale.

General business credits of eligible small businesses for 2010 allowed to be carried back five years. Generally, a business’s unused general business credits can be carried back to offset taxes paid in the previous year, and the remaining amount can be carried forward for 20 years to offset future tax liabilities. Under the new law, for the first tax year of the taxpayer beginning in 2010, eligible small businesses can carry back unused general business credits for five years. Eligible small businesses consist of sole proprietorships, partnerships and non-publicly traded corporations with $50 million or less in average annual gross receipts for the prior three years.

General business credits of eligible small businesses in 2010 aren’t subject to AMT. Under the AMT, taxpayers can generally only claim allowable general business credits against their regular tax liability, and only to the extent that their regular tax liability exceeds their AMT liability. A few credits, such as the credit for small business employee health insurance expenses, can be used to offset AMT liability. The new law allows eligible small businesses, as defined above, to use all types of general business credits to offset their AMT in tax years beginning in 2010.

S corporation holding period. Generally, a C corporation converting to an S corporation must hold onto any appreciated assets for 10 years following its conversion or face a business-level tax imposed on the built-in gain at the highest corporate rate of 35%. This holding period is reduced where the 7th tax year in the holding period preceded the tax year beginning in 2009 or 2010. The 2010 Small Business Jobs Act temporarily shortens the holding period of assets subject to the built-in gains tax to 5 years if the 5th tax year in the holding period precedes the tax year beginning in 2011.

Extension of 50% bonus first-year depreciation. Businesses are allowed to deduct the cost of capital expenditures over time according to depreciation schedules. In previous legislation, Congress allowed businesses to more rapidly deduct capital expenditures of most new tangible personal property, and certain other new property, placed in service in 2008 or 2009 (2010 for certain property), by permitting the first-year write-off of 50% of the cost. The new law extends the first-year 50% write-off to apply to qualifying property placed in service in 2010 (2011 for certain property).

Special rule for long-term contract accounting. The new law provides that in determining the percentage of completion under the percentage of completion method of accounting, bonus depreciation is not taken into account as a cost. This prevents the bonus depreciation from having the effect of accelerating income.

Boosted deduction for start-up expenditures. The new law allows taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 in trade or business start-up expenditures for 2010. The amount that a business can deduct is reduced by the amount by which startup expenditures exceed $60,000. Previously, the limit of these deductions was capped at $5,000, subject to a $50,000 phase-out threshold.

Limitation on penalty for failure to disclose certain reportable transactions (including listed transactions) on a return. The new law limits the penalty to 75% of the decrease in tax resulting from the transaction. The minimum penalty is $10,000 for corporations and $5,000 for individuals (for failure to report a listed transaction, the maximum penalty is $200,000 and $100,000, respectively). These changes are retroactively effective to penalties assessed after Dec. 31, 2006.

Deductibility of health insurance for the purpose of calculating self-employment tax. The new law allows business owners to deduct the cost of health insurance incurred in 2010 for themselves and their family members in calculating their 2010 self-employment tax.

Cell phones removed from listed property category. This means that cell phones can be deducted or depreciated like other business property, without onerous recordkeeping requirements.

Offsets (revenue raisers)

Information reporting required for rental property expense payments. For payments made after Dec. 31, 2010, the new law requires persons receiving rental income from real property to file information returns with IRS and service providers reporting payments of $600 or more during the tax year for rental property expenses. Exceptions are provided for individuals renting their principal residences on a temporary basis (including active members of the military), taxpayers whose rental income doesn’t exceed an IRS-determined minimal amount, and those for whom the reporting requirement would create a hardship (under IRS regs).

Increased information return penalties. Effective for information returns required to be filed after Dec. 31, 2010.

Application of continuous levy to tax liabilities of certain federal contractors. For levies issued after date of enactment, the new law allows IRS to issue levies before a collection due process (CDP) hearing on Federal tax liabilities of Federal contractors (taxpayers would have an opportunity for a CDP hearing within a reasonable time after a levy is issued).

Allow participants in governmental 457 plans to treat elective deferrals as Roth contributions. For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010, the new law will allow retirement savings plans sponsored by state and local governments (governmental 457(b) plans) to include designated Roth accounts. Contributions to Roth accounts are made on an after-tax basis, but distributions of both principal and earnings are generally tax-free.

Allow rollovers from elective deferral plans to designated Roth accounts. The new law allows 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) plans to permit participants to roll their pre-tax account balances into a designated Roth account. The amount of the rollover will be includible in taxable income except to the extent it is the return of after-tax contributions. If the rollover is made in 2010, the participant can elect to pay the tax in 2011 and 2012. Plans will be able to allow these rollovers immediately as of date of enactment.

Crude tall oil (a waste by-product of the paper manufacturing process) is excluded from eligibility for the cellulosic biofuel producer credit. The new law limits eligibility for the tax credit to fuels that are not highly corrosive (i.e., with an acid number of 25 or less), effective for fuels sold or used after Dec. 31, 2009.

Nonqualified annuity contracts. The new law permits holders of nonqualified annuities (annuity contracts held outside of a qualified retirement plan or IRA) to elect to receive part of the contract in the form of a stream of annuity payments, leaving the remainder of the contract to accumulate income on a tax-deferred basis.

Guarantee fees. Amounts received directly or indirectly for guarantees of indebtedness of a U.S. payor issued after date of enactment are sourced, like interest, in the U.S. As a result, amounts paid by U.S. taxpayers to foreign persons will generally be subject to U.S. withholding tax.

Please keep in mind that I’ve described only the highlights of the most important changes in the new law.

 

Prepare for new 1099-Misc requirements in 2012

The passage of the Healthcare reform bill included some of the most drastic changes to 1099 information reporting in over a decade. The bill included revenue raising provisions meant to seek greater compliance of the tax code via 1099 information reporting. General provisions included:

• The elimination of the corporate exemption from 1099-MISC reporting. (Public Law 111-148)
• The requirement to report payments for property (goods, materials, merchandise, supplies, etc.). (Public Law 111-148)
• A six-fold increase in penalties from $250,000 to 1.5 million. (H.R.4213, H.R.4849)
• A doubling of penalties per record from $50 to $100. (H.R.4213, H.R.4849)

Beginning for payments made after December 31, 2011, companies will be required to furnish and file form 1099-MISC for payments made to all for-profit companies regardless of corporate status. In addition all payments for goods, materials, merchandise, supplies, and other property will need to be reported as well. Early indications reveal that these changes will likely cause the 1099 reporting volume to increase significantly for most companies as well as the associated B-Notices.

While the law applies to payments made after December 31, 2011 companies need to make broad changes to:

1. W-9 procedures to include all vendors.
2. Solicit W-9′s for corporate vendors.
3. Prepare for larger 1099 year-end printing, mailing, and filing.
4. Make the appropriate budgetary and system updates to accommodate these changes.

 

UPDATE

The congress has change the law back to the old requirement that it be for services and has removed the product requirement.

 

Healthcare Planning for 2010 & 2011

Employers and health plan administrators need to understand and respond to changes in the tax Code, ERISA and other laws made by health care legislation that has an immediate and significant impact. You may think that your organization has several years before the acts take effect. However, certain provisions became effective on enactment. Also, some tax-planning opportunities and requirements become effective in 2010 or 2011. Below is a short description of the key provisions of the health care acts (P.L. 111-148 and P.L. 111-152) that impact employers and health plans and generally are effective in 2010 or 2011. Note that some effective dates apply to plan years or taxable years.

Effective 2010:
• Credit for small employers (no more than 25 employees) for health insurance expenses.

Effective March 23, 2010:
• Employers with more than 200 full-time employees and that have one or more health plans must automatically enroll new full-time employees in one of the offered plans. Notice and opportunity to opt out must be
provided.
• The Fair Labor Standards Act is amended to protect whistleblowers and other employees receiving health care subsidies.

Effective March 30, 2010:
• Self-employed individuals may deduct health insurance premiums paid on behalf of children under age 27.
• Dependent coverage is extended to a child of a member of a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association (commonly referred to as a VEBA) who is
less than age 27 as of the end of the calendar year.
• Qualified retirement plans may pay health benefits for a retiree’s child under age 27.

Effective June 20, 2010:
• Employer health plans providing coverage to early retirees have access to reinsurance. Program terminates January 1, 2014.

Effective September 23, 2010:
• Insurers and group health plans that offer dependent coverage are required to allow uninsured children to remain on their parents’ health insurance through age 26.
• Small and large group market plans are prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on coverage.
• Plans must provide coverage, without cost-sharing, for preventive services and immunizations.
• Insurance companies are prohibited from rescinding coverage, except in cases of fraud or intentional misrepresentation of material fact.
• No discrimination based on the wages of employees.
• All health insurance plans are prohibited from excluding children under age 19 on the basis of a pre-existing condition.

Effective 2011:
• Employers must report on Form W-2 the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance.
• Health flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, health savings accounts (HSAs) and Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs) may reimburse for medications that are prescribed drugs or
insulin only (no over-the-counter medications).
• The tax on distributions from an HSA or Archer MSA that are not used for qualified medical expenses is raised to 20%.
• Small employers (average of 100 or fewer employees in either of two preceding years) may establish “simple cafeteria plans.”

 

New requirements for Form 1099 after 12/31/2011

In an article from the RIA Special Study: Non-Health Related Revenue Raisers and Other Tax Changes in the New Health Reform Law (04/01/2010) Federal Taxes Weekly Alert Newsletter, they referenced an little known provision of the new healthcare bill. They have enacted new rules for the Form 1099-MISC effective for payments made after 12/31/2011.

The following is from the above referenced article:

Information Reporting Required for Payments to Non-Exempt Corporations

In general, all persons engaged in a trade or business must file with IRS an information return for payments made to another person in the course of the payor’s trade or business that constitute fixed or determinable income aggregating $600 or more in any tax year. Payments are those for: salaries, wages, commissions, fees, and other forms of compensation for services rendered amounting to $600 or more in a tax year; and interest, rents, royalties, annuities, pensions, and other gains, profits, and income amounting to $600 or more in a tax year. The payor is also required to provide the payment recipient with an annual statement showing the aggregate payments made and contact information for the payor.

Payments made to corporations and certain other types of entities are generally excepted from these information reporting requirements by Reg. § 1.6041-3(p)(1) . Nevertheless, the following types of payments to corporations must be reported: (1) medical and health care payments of at least $600; (2) fish purchases totaling at least $600 cash; (3) attorney’s fees (of any amount); (4) gross proceeds paid to an attorney of $600 or more; (5) substitute payments in lieu of dividends or tax-exempt interest (of any amount); and (6) payments by a Federal executive agency for services (for contracts exceeding $25,000).

New law. For payments made after Dec. 31, 2011, notwithstanding any IRS reg issued before Mar. 23, 2010, for information reporting purposes, “person” includes any corporation that is not exempt from tax under Code Sec. 501(a) . ( Code Sec. 6041(h) , as amended by Health Care Act Sec. 9006(a)) Thus, a business must file an information return for all payments aggregating $600 or more in a calendar year to a single payee (other than a payee that is a tax-exempt corporation), notwithstanding any reg promulgated before Mar. 23, 2010.

This information-reporting provision will increase the amount of paperwork by businesses and farms. It looks like the days of doing your bookkeeping by hand is coming to an end after 12/31/2011. Unless, you want to track payments to each vendor by hand…

 

Employer requirement to offer coverage in the 2010 health reform legislation

The recently enacted health overhaul legislation requires certain employers to offer and contribute to their workers’ health insurance or pay a penalty. Under the new law, effective for months beginning after Dec. 31, 2013, a large employer that does not offer coverage for all its full-time employees, offers minimum essential coverage that is unaffordable, or offers minimum essential coverage that consists of a plan under which the plan’s share of the total allowed cost of benefits is less than 60%, is required to pay a penalty if any full-time employee is certified to the employer as having purchased health insurance through a state exchange with respect to which a tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid to the employee. Here are the details:

Who is subject to the employer mandate? Only an “applicable large employer,” defined as someone who employed an average of at least 50 full-time employees during the preceding calendar year, is subject to the requirement to offer coverage. Most small businesses, since they have fewer than 50 employees, are thus exempt from the employer requirement. In counting the number of employees for purposes of determining whether an employer is an applicable large employer, a full-time employee (meaning, for any month, an employee working an average of at least 30 hours or more each week) is counted as one employee and all other employees are counted on a pro-rated basis. However, even an employer with 50 or more employees isn’t subject to the penalty for not offering coverage if the employer doesn’t have any full-time employees who are certified to the employer as having purchased health insurance through a state exchange with respect to which a tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid to the employee. In other words, if an employer doesn’t have any full-time employees who have a lower income that might qualify him or her to receive a subsidy when purchasing a health plan in the proposed health insurance exchange, the employer will not pay a “pay or play” penalty.

Penalty for employers not offering coverage. An applicable large employer who fails to offer its full-time employees and their dependents the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage under an employer-sponsored plan for any month is subject to a penalty if at least one of its full-time employees is certified to the employer as having enrolled in health insurance coverage purchased through a state exchange with respect to which a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid to the employee. The penalty for any month is an excise tax equal to the number of full-time employees over a 30-employee threshold during the applicable month (regardless of how many employees are receiving a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction) multiplied by one-twelfth of $2,000. For example, if an employer fails to offer minimum essential coverage and has 60 full-time employes, ten of whom receive a tax credit for the year for enrolling in a state exchange-offered plan, the employer will owe $2,000 for each employee over the 30-employee threshold, for a total penalty of $60,000 ($2,000 multiplied by 30 (60 minus 30)). This penalty is assessed on a monthly basis.

Penalty for employers that offer coverage but have at least one employee receiving a premium tax credit. An applicable large employer who offers coverage but has at least one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is subject to a penalty. The penalty is an excise tax that is imposed for each employee who receives a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction for health insurance purchased through a state exchange. For each full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit or cost-sharing subsidy through a state exchange for any month, the employer is required to pay an amount equal to one-twelfth of $3,000. The penalty for each employer for any month is capped at an amount equal to the number of full-time employees during the month (regardless of how many employees are receiving a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction) in excess of 30, multiplied by one-twelfth of $2,000. For example, if an employer offers health coverage and has 60 full-time employees, 15 of whom receive a tax credit for the year for enrolling in a state exchange-offered plan, the employer will owe a penalty of $3,000 for each employee receiving a tax credit, for a total penalty of $45,000. The maximum penalty for this employer is capped at the amount of the penalty that it would have been assessed for a failure to provide coverage, or $60,000 ($2,000 multiplied by 30 (60 minus 30)). Since the calculated penalty of $45,000 is less than the maximum amount, the employer pays the $45,000 calculated penalty. This penalty is assessed on a monthly basis.

Requirement to offer “free choice vouchers.” After 2013, employers offering minimum essential coverage through an eligible employer-sponsored plan and paying a portion of that coverage will have to provide qualified employees with a voucher whose value could be applied to purchase of a health plan through the Insurance Exchange. Qualified employees would be those employees: who do not participate in the employer’s health plan; whose required contribution for employer sponsored minimum essential coverage exceeds 8%, but does not exceed 9.8% of household income; and whose total household income does not exceed 400% of the poverty line for the family. The value of the voucher would be equal to the dollar value of the employer contribution to the employer offered health plan. Employers providing free choice vouchers will not be subject to penalties for employees that receive a voucher.

 

Tax changes affecting small business in the 2010 health reform legislation

For owners of small businesses and their workers, the recently enacted health reform legislation has some key provisions to pay attention to. The major ones include: tax credits; excise taxes; and penalties. But whether a business will be affected by them depends on a variety of factors, such as the number of employees the business has.

Tax credits to certain small employers that provide insurance. The new law provides small employers with a tax credit (i.e., a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax) for nonelective contributions to purchase health insurance for their employees. The credit can offset an employer’s regular tax or its alternative minimum tax (AMT) liability.

Small business employers eligible for the credit. To qualify, a business must offer health insurance to its employees as part of their compensation and contribute at least half the total premium cost. The business must have no more than 25 full-time equivalent employees (“FTEs”), and the employees must have annual full-time equivalent wages that average no more than $50,000. However, the full amount of the credit is available only to an employer with 10 or fewer FTEs and whose employees have average annual full-time equivalent wages from the employer of less than $25,000.

Years the credit is available. The credit is initially available for any tax year beginning in 2010, 2011, 2012, or 2013. Qualifying health insurance for claiming the credit for this first phase of the credit is health insurance coverage purchased from an insurance company licensed under state law. For tax years beginning after 2013, the credit is only available to an eligible small employer that purchases health insurance coverage for its employees through a state exchange and is only available for two years. The maximum two-year coverage period does not take into account any tax years beginning in years before 2014. Thus, an eligible small employer could potentially qualify for this credit for six tax years, four years under the first phase and two years under the second phase.

Calculating the amount of the credit. For tax years beginning in 2010, 2011, 2012, or 2013, the credit is generally 35% (50% for tax years beginning after 2013) of the employer’s nonelective contributions toward the employees’ health insurance premiums. The credit phases out as firm-size and average wages increase. Tax-exempt small businesses meeting these requirements are eligible for payroll tax credits of up to 25% for tax years beginning in 2010, 2011, 2012, or 2013 (35% in tax years beginning after 2013) of the employer’s nonelective contributions toward the employees’ health insurance premiums.

Special rules. The employer is entitled to an ordinary and necessary business expense deduction equal to the amount of the employer contribution minus the dollar amount of the credit. For example, if an eligible small employer pays 100% of the cost of its employees’ health insurance coverage and the amount of the tax credit is 50% of that cost (i.e., in tax years beginning after 2013), the employer can claim a deduction for the other 50% of the premium cost.

Self-employed individuals, including partners and sole proprietors, two percent shareholders of an S corporation, and five percent owners of the employer are not treated as employees for purposes of this credit. Any employee with respect to a self-employed individual is not an employee of the employer for purposes of this credit if the employee is not performing services in the trade or business of the employer. Thus, the credit is not available for a domestic employee of a sole proprietor of a business. There is also a special rule to prevent sole proprietorships from receiving the credit for the owner and their family members. Thus, no credit is available for any contribution to the purchase of health insurance for these individuals and the individual is not taken into account in determining the number of full-time equivalent employees or average full-time equivalent wages.

Most small businesses exempted from penalties for not offering coverage to their employees. Although the new law imposes penalties on certain businesses for not providing coverage to their employees (so-called “pay or play”), most small businesses won’t have to worry about this provision because employers with fewer than 50 employees aren’t subject to the “pay or play” penalty. For businesses with at least 50 employees, the possible penalties vary depending on whether or not the employer offers health insurance to its employees. If it does not offer coverage and it has at least one full-time employee who receives a premium tax credit, the business will be assessed a fee of $2,000 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees from the assessment. So, for example, an employer with 51 employees who doesn’t offer health insurance to his employees will be subject to a penalty of $42,000 ($2,000 multiplied by 21). Employers with at least 50 employees that offer coverage but have at least one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit will pay $3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit (capped at the amount of the penalty that the employer would have been assessed for a failure to provide coverage, or $2,000 multiplied by the number of its full-time employees in excess of 30). These provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2014.

The “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health plans. The new law places an excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage (often referred to as “Cadillac” health plans). This is a 40% excise tax on insurance companies, based on premiums that exceed certain amounts. The tax is not on employers themselves unless they are self-funded (this typically occurs at larger firms). However, it is expected that employers and workers will ultimately bear this tax in the form of higher premiums passed on by insurers.

Here are the specifics: The new tax, which applies for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017, places a 40% nondeductible excise tax on insurance companies and plan administrators for any health coverage plan to the extent that the annual premium exceeds $10,200 for single coverage and $27,500 for family coverage. An additional threshold amount of $1,650 for single coverage and $3,450 for family coverage will apply for retired individuals age 55 and older and for plans that cover employees engaged in high risk professions. The tax will apply to self-insured plans and plans sold in the group market, but not to plans sold in the individual market (except for coverage eligible for the deduction for self-employed individuals). Stand-alone dental and vision plans will be disregarded in applying the tax. The dollar amount thresholds will be automatically increased if the inflation rate for group medical premiums between 2010 and 2018 is higher than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates in 2010. Employers with age and gender demographics that result in higher premiums could value the coverage provided to employees using the rates that would apply using a national risk pool. The excise tax will be levied at the insurer level. Employers will be required to aggregate the coverage subject to the limit and issue information returns for insurers indicating the amount subject to the excise tax.

 

Tax changes affecting individuals in the 2010 health reform legislation

A brief overview of the key tax changes affecting individuals in the recently enacted health reform legislation.

Individual mandate. The new law contains an “individual mandate”—a requirement that U.S. citizens and legal residents have qualifying health coverage or be subject to a tax penalty. Under the new law, those without qualifying health coverage will pay a tax penalty of the greater of: (a) $695 per year, up to a maximum of three times that amount ($2,085) per family, or (b) 2.5% of household income over the threshold amount of income required for income tax return filing. The penalty will be phased in according to the following schedule: $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015, and $695 in 2016 for the flat fee or 1.0% of taxable income in 2014, 2.0% of taxable income in 2015, and 2.5% of taxable income in 2016. Beginning after 2016, the penalty will be increased annually by a cost-of-living adjustment. Exemptions will be granted for financial hardship, religious objections, American Indians, those without coverage for less than three months, aliens not lawfully present in the U.S., incarcerated individuals, those for whom the lowest cost plan option exceeds 8% of household income, those with incomes below the tax filing threshold (in 2010 the threshold for taxpayers under age 65 is $9,350 for singles and $18,700 for couples), and those residing outside of the U.S.

Premium assistance tax credits for purchasing health insurance. The centerpiece of the health care legislation is its provision of tax credits to low and middle income individuals and families for the purchase of health insurance. For tax years ending after 2013, the new law creates a refundable tax credit (the “premium assistance credit”) for eligible individuals and families who purchase health insurance through an Exchange. The premium assistance credit, which is refundable and payable in advance directly to the insurer, subsidizes the purchase of certain health insurance plans through an Exchange. Under the provision, an eligible individual enrolls in a plan offered through an Exchange and reports his or her income to the Exchange. Based on the information provided to the Exchange, the individual receives a premium assistance credit based on income and IRS pays the premium assistance credit amount directly to the insurance plan in which the individual is enrolled. The individual then pays to the plan in which he or she is enrolled the dollar difference between the premium assistance credit amount and the total premium charged for the plan. For employed individuals who purchase health insurance through an Exchange, the premium payments are made through payroll deductions.

The premium assistance credit will be available for individuals and families with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level ($43,320 for an individual or $88,200 for a family of four, using 2009 poverty level figures) that are not eligible for Medicaid, employer sponsored insurance, or other acceptable coverage. The credits will be available on a sliding scale basis. The amount of the credit will be based on the percentage of income the cost of premiums represents, rising from 2% of income for those at 100% of the federal poverty level for the family size involved to 9.5% of income for those at 400% of the federal poverty level for the family size involved.

Higher Medicare taxes on high-income taxpayers. High-income taxpayers will be hit with a double whammy: a tax increase on wages and a new levy on investments.

Higher Medicare payroll tax on wages. The Medicare payroll tax is the primary source of financing for Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, which pays hospital bills for beneficiaries, who are 65 and older or disabled. Under current law, wages are subject to a 2.9% Medicare payroll tax. Workers and employers pay 1.45% each. Self-employed people pay both halves of the tax (but are allowed to deduct half of this amount for income tax purposes). Unlike the payroll tax for Social Security, which applies to earnings up to an annual ceiling ($106,800 for 2010), the Medicare tax is levied on all of a worker’s wages without limit.

Under the provisions of the new law, which take in 2013, most taxpayers will continue to pay the 1.45% Medicare hospital insurance tax, but single people earning more than $200,0000 and married couples earning more than $250,000 will be taxed at an additional 0.9% (2.35% in total) on the excess over those base amounts. Employers will collect the extra 0.9% on wages exceeding $200,000 just as they would withhold Medicare taxes and remit them to the IRS. Companies wouldn’t be responsible for determining whether a worker’s combined income with his or her spouse made them subject to the tax. Instead, some employees will have to remit additional Medicare taxes when they file income tax returns, and some will get a tax credit for amounts overpaid. Self-employed persons will pay 3.8% on earnings over the threshold. Married couples with combined incomes approaching $250,000 will have to keep tabs on their spouses’ pay to avoid an unexpected tax bill. It should also be noted that the $200,000/$250,000 thresholds are not indexed for inflation, so it is likely that more and more people will be subject to the higher taxes in coming years.

Medicare payroll tax extended to investments. Under current law, the Medicare payroll tax only applies to wages. Beginning in 2013, a Medicare tax will, for the first time, be applied to investment income. A new 3.8% tax will be imposed on net investment income of single taxpayers with AGI above $200,000 and joint filers over $250,000 (unindexed). Net investment income is interest, dividends, royalties, rents, gross income from a trade or business involving passive activities, and net gain from disposition of property (other than property held in a trade or business). Net investment income is reduced by properly allocable deductions to such income. However, the new tax won’t apply to income in tax-deferred retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans. Also, the new tax will apply only to income in excess of the $200,000/$250,000 thresholds. So if a couple earns $200,000 in wages and $100,000 in capital gains, $50,000 will be subject to the new tax. Because the new tax on investment income won’t take effect for three years, that leaves more time for Congress and the IRS to tinker with it. So we can expect lots of refinements and “clarifications” between now and when the tax is actually rolled out in 2013.

Floor on medical expenses deduction raised from 7.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 10%. Under current law, taxpayers can take an itemized deduction for unreimbursed medical expenses for regular income tax purposes only to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5% of the taxpayer’s AGI. The new law raises the floor beneath itemized medical expense deductions from 7.5% of AGI to 10%, effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012. The AGI floor for individuals age 65 and older (and their spouses) will remain unchanged at 7.5% through 2016.

Limit reimbursement of over-the-counter medications from HSAs, FSAs, and MSAs. The new law excludes the costs for over-the-counter drugs not prescribed by a doctor from being reimbursed through a health reimbursement account (HRA) or health flexible savings accounts (FSAs) and from being reimbursed on a tax-free basis through a health savings account (HSA) or Archer Medical Savings Account (MSA), effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010.

Increased penalties on nonqualified distributions from HSAs and Archer MSAs. The new law increases the tax on distributions from a health savings account or an Archer MSA that are not used for qualified medical expenses to 20% (from 10% for HSAs and from 15% for Archer MSAs) of the disbursed amount, effective for distributions made after Dec. 31, 2010.

Limit health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) to $2,500. An FSA is one of a number of tax-advantaged financial accounts that can be set up through a cafeteria plan of an employer. An FSA allows an employee to set aside a portion of his or her earnings to pay for qualified expenses as established in the cafeteria plan, most commonly for medical expenses but often for dependent care or other expenses. Under current law, there is no limit on the amount of contributions to an FSA. Under the new law, however, allowable contributions to health FSAs will capped at $2,500 per year, effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012. The dollar amount will be indexed for inflation after 2013.

Dependent coverage in employer health plans. Effective on the enactment date, the new law extends the general exclusion for reimbursements for medical care expenses under an employer-provided accident or health plan to any child of an employee who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the tax year. This change is also intended to apply to the exclusion for employer-provided coverage under an accident or health plan for injuries or sickness for such a child. A parallel change is made for VEBAs and 401(h) accounts. Also, self-employed individuals are permitted to take a deduction for the health insurance costs of any child of the taxpayer who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the tax year.

Excise tax on indoor tanning services. The new law imposes a 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services. The tax, which will be paid by the individual on whom the tanning services are performed but collected and remitted by the person receiving payment for the tanning services, will take effect July 1, 2010.

Liberalized adoption credit and adoption assistance rules. For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2009, the adoption tax credit is increased by $1,000, made refundable, and extended through 2011 The adoption assistance exclusion is also increased by $1,000.