photo credit: seniorliving.org

While we don’t know the full impact of every last word of the Congressional budget, we have already been informed of several aspects of tax law that will change in 2016 and many things that will stay the same.

The U.S. economy has minimal inflation at this point (even with the recent Fed corrections). As a result, many figures are going to stay unchanged in 2016:

• Contribution limits to IRA’s
• Contribution limits to 401(k) plans
• Flexible spending regulations
• Health Saving Accounts’ allowable contributions will remain largely the same. People use HSA’s to offset expenses not covered by health insurance plans so that they can pay for these expenses with pre-tax earnings. The individual maximum contribution will remain the same, although the family maximum will increase by $100.

However, some figures are changing. A brief summary:

• The personal federal tax exemption is rising to $4,050, up $50.
• The federal income tax brackets are rising slightly (less than ½%)
• The alternative minimum tax, which catches many income earners in a tax bind is also changing. The new AMT exemption will be $53,900 for single filers or $83,800 for joint filers.
• The federal estate tax exemption is supposed to rise again; this time, the threshold will be $5.45 million for those taxpayers who pass away in 2016.

In addition, there will be some regulatory tax changes. The most notable is the next phase of the Affordable Care Act, which will require employers who employee 51 or more full-time people to offer health insurance with some grandfathering allowances. In addition, the penalty for not having healthcare will be increasing again this year to $695 per person or 2.5% of income.

Knowing the upcoming changes gives everybody time to add some monetary behavior to their upcoming New Year’s Resolutions.

Happy 2016!

The post Things Change and Things Stay the Same….Taxes in 2016: appeared first on Dawda PLC.

January is also a good time to review a variety of human resources issues, as well as employee benefits and compensation issues. If you can carve out time, try to check these off your list, either as something that you have reviewed and are satisfied with or something that needs prompt, if not immediate attention.

Examine and revise your employee handbook: Whether your company has hundreds of employees or is just a small family operation, a functional employee handbook that everyone has read and agreed to is essential for optimal business functioning. Reread your employee handbook, and employ another reader, one who is well-versed in employment law. Make sure your employee handbook addresses changes in the Affordable Care Act (especially the aspects of mandatory health insurance), that it is up to date on your state’s Family and Medical Leave policies (as well as federal ones), and that the appropriate terminology is used regarding marriages and partnerships.

Create technology and social media rules for your business. Most likely, your employee handbook doesn’t go into enough detail on mobile technology, including what aspects of cell phones and computers belong to the corporation and what belong to employees. In addition, many companies are still behind the curve in developing proactive ways to deal with social media use on the job and depictions of corporate life on employees’ social media outlets.

Tighten up privacy regulations as required by law or good business sense. If your company is part of the health care system, how do you ensure that your employees do not inadvertently breach patient privacy (HIPAA) when they take a cute selfie at work? On a related front, be sure you have good technological fixes to backup files and disable stolen or lost devices so that they cannot be used to access client or patient information or sensitive financial information.Be particularly vigilant if employees use handheld devices to answer corporate email, as these client addresses need to be protected.

Review relevant wage and hour laws. Many states and municipalities have increased the minimum wage requirements for certain employment sectors or even universally. Under-age employment minimums have also increased in Michigan. Be sure you know exactly what the laws are.

Plan and implement management training for all of your executive team (and include middle management too) to be sure that everybody has the information that you have gathered. Often, there is a policy in place but the person who is dealing with that issue hasn’t been included in training or policy discussions. Be sure the training is direct, understandable and stimulating and that everybody walks away with clear, written information and the most recent iteration of the by-now revised handbook. Management training also offers the opportunity to practice hypotheticals regarding hiring, firing and retraining, as well as accommodation for various disability issues.

Distribute the revised employee handbook to all employees and obtain their dated signature indicating they have read the handbook.

The post January: Resolve to Revise Your Employee Handbook appeared first on Dawda PLC.