B.A. Harris Blog

End of Year Tax Legislation

You may recall the uncertainty in late 2009 surrounding the estate tax rules and their repeal as provided for by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, for estates of decedents dying after December 31, 2009. I don’t think many of us thought Congress would actually allow the estate tax to be repealed. It did. Congressional deadlock prevented any resolution to the repeal until late 2010 resulting in a new estate tax exemption amount of $5,000,000.

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State of Idaho Department of Labor Corporate Officer Exemption from Unemployment Tax

Recently the Department of Labor changed the rules which required corporations to pay state unemployment tax (SUT) on corporate officer wages. Under the new rules the corporation can make an election to exempt officer wages from SUT. With the increases in unemployment tax over the last few years this change in law could result in a more significant savings. Please be aware that if you take advantage of the new exemption for corporate officer wages you will not be able to collect unemployment benefits.

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Recharacterization of 2010 Roth IRA Conversions

With the recent volatility in the stock market we wanted to alert our clients who converted IRA’s to Roth IRA’s in 2010 to a potential planning issue that may warrant some attention in the next 60 days. The law allows a taxpayer to reverse, or cancel a 2010 Roth conversion by filing an amended tax return prior to October 17, 2011. Depending on what has happened to your investments since converting to a Roth IRA and also depending on your particular circumstances and outlook on the future tax and investment picture, it could benefit you to reverse your Roth conversion and transfer the funds back to a traditional IRA.

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Do I Need a Will?

Recently, my wife and I engaged a local attorney to draft our wills and various estate documents. We are in our mid-thirties, in good health, and thanks to the decrease in real estate values, have very little net worth. Although many might argue that drafting these documents was a waste of money, I strongly believe all adults should have wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives in order to plan for the uncertainties of life.

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Hiring New Employees and Tax Credits

Hiring new employees? Contact Us to See if You Qualify For a Tax Credit In an effort to stimulate the economy, Idaho and the federal government have both passed tax legislation for businesses that hire new employees prior to December 31, 2013. Idaho The Idaho credit is available for new hires on or after April 15, 2011 and before December 31, 2013. The credit is only available to the extent that new hires represent an expanding workforce, (as opposed to replacement of a prior employee), and who receive employer-provided health care benefits.

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