Vision Payroll

In IR-2010-065, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that interest rates for the third quarter of 2010 would remain unchanged from the second quarter. The rates are as follows:

• Four (4) percent for overpayments [three (3) percent in the case of a corporation];
• Four (4) percent for underpayments;
• Six (6) percent for large corporate underpayments; and
• One and one-half (1.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.

The IRS will publish the rates in Revenue Ruling 2010-14. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the third quarter rates.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Rev. Proc. 2010-22, which contained the 2011 inflation adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts or HSAs. Since the changes in the Consumer Price Index for the relevant period do not result in changes to the amounts in 2011, the amounts will stay the same as in 2010.

The annual limitation on deductions will remain at $3,050 in 2011 for those with self-only coverage. Those with family coverage will have the deduction limitation stay at $6,150.

The definition of a high deductible health plan will see no change from one with a minimum deductible of $1,200 in 2011 for self-only coverage and $2,400 for family coverage.

The annual out-of-pocket limitation for 2011 also will not increase from $5,950 for those with self-only coverage; the out-of-pocket limitation for family coverage remains at $11,900.

Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Rev. Proc. 2010-22 and the amounts for HSAs in 2011.

The new health reform law gives a tax credit to certain small employers that provide health care coverage to their employees, effective with tax years beginning in 2010. Over the next several weeks, Vision Payroll will be providing further information on the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. Today’s topic is Claiming the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.

The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit will be claimed by employers, other than tax-exempt employers, on their annual income tax return.

The next topic to be covered in this series is Claiming the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Without Taxable Income. Contact Vision Payroll if you have further questions on Claiming the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.

Due to the severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes in Mississippi beginning May 1, 2010, President Barack Obama declared the following counties a federal disaster area: Alcorn, Benton, Lafayette, Tippah and Tishomingo. Therefore, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced recently that it will waive failure to deposit penalties for employment and excise taxes due after April 30, 2010 and before May 18, 2010 as long as the deposits are made by May 17, 2010. In addition, affected taxpayers will have until June 30, 2010 to file most tax returns. Contact Vision Payroll if you were affected by the severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes and need further information on the relief provided by the IRS.

Due to the severe storms, flooding, mudslides and tornadoes in Kentucky beginning May 1, 2010, President Barack Obama declared the following counties a federal disaster area: Adair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle, Butler, Carter, Casey, Christian, Clark, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Franklin, Garrard, Green, Greenup, Hardin, Hart, Henry, Hopkins, Jackson, Jessamine, Larue, Lee, Leslie, Lewis, Lincoln, Livingston, Logan, Madison, Magoffin, Marion, Menifee, Mercer, Metcalfe, Monroe, Montgomery, Nelson, Nicholas, Ohio, Owen, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Simpson, Taylor, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wolfe and Woodford. Therefore, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced recently that it will waive failure to deposit penalties for employment and excise taxes due after April 30, 2010 and before May 18, 2010 as long as the deposits are made by May 17, 2010. In addition, affected taxpayers will have until June 30, 2010 to file most tax returns. Contact Vision Payroll if you were affected by the severe storms, flooding, mudslides and tornadoes and need further information on the relief provided by the IRS.

This week’s question comes from Mark, a business owner. We read that the minimum wage in Nevada will increase on July 1, 2010. We know that we must pay weekly and daily overtime if the employee’s hourly wage is below a certain rate. What are the new daily overtime rates for Nevada? Employers must pay 1½ times an employee’s regular wage rate whenever an employee who is paid less than 1½ times the applicable minimum wage rate works more than forty hours in any workweek or more than eight hours in any workday. Michael Tanchek, Labor Commissioner for the Department of Business and Industry, State of Nevada, announced recently that new wage rates, below which daily overtime may be applicable, are effective as of July 1, 2010. The rates are $10.875 per hour for employees to whom qualifying health benefits have been made available by the employer and $12.375 for all other employees. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any further questions on the Nevada daily overtime rate.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending May 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 471,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 446,000. The 4-week moving average was 453,500, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 450,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6% for the week ending May 8, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.6%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 8 was 4,625,000, a decrease of 40,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,665,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,642,500, a decrease of 9,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,652,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.146 million.

In a recent study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 21% of employees quit their jobs because they believed their boss to be incompetent or difficult. The first step toward making sure that none of your managers becomes crowned as an incompetent boss is to determine some common warning signs of leadership incompetence. Use this quick checklist as your starter guide:

• Unable to Act
• Secret Keeper
• Clueless
• Inside-the-Box
• Lost in Time
• Over-reactive
• Weak Preference
• Credit-Taker

To learn more about the qualities on this checklist and action steps to take after completing it, be sure to read the featured article by the HR pros at MyHRSupportCenter, Making Employees Quit with an Incompetent Boss. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

Michael Tanchek, Labor Commissioner for the Department of Business and Industry, State of Nevada, announced recently that effective July 1, 2010 the minimum wage for employees to whom qualifying health benefits have been made available by the employer will be $7.25 per hour and the minimum wage for all other employees will be $8.25 per hour. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Nevada minimum wage increase or visit our Minimum Wage Chart.

Monday, May 31, 2010 will be Memorial Day, a federal holiday. The offices of Vision Payroll will close Friday May 28 at 5 pm EDT and re-open Tuesday June 1. Most banks will also be closed in observance of the holiday.

Payrolls dated May 31 will be paid May 28 unless a previous change in schedule has been submitted. Payrolls submitted after these processing deadlines will be pushed back until the next available processing day. No changes are required for payrolls dated June 3.

The next federal holiday will be Monday, July 5, 2010, celebration of Independence Day. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.