Employee theft in the workplace is a serious problem for employers: 75 percent of employees have stolen from their employer at least once, and businesses lose 5 percent of their annual revenue to employee fraud, theft and abuse. Employee theft is a crime that is costing U.S. businesses $50 billion annually, but even more shocking is that employers think they are immune from such a crime.
In the past, home office deductions were available to a wide range of taxpayers, including certain employees who worked from home. But the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has effectively eliminated home office deductions for employees through 2025. Fortunately, many self-employed individuals can still claim deductions — even if they don't itemize deductions on their tax returns.
It is never a bad idea to review your retirement plan and how effectively it is working. Whether your plan needs an audit or not, you should review the common mistakes we often find and consider whether they might be a potential issue occurring in your employee retirement plans.
Under current tax law, the federal income tax rate for C corporations is a flat 21%. Under prior law, C corporations faced a graduated federal income tax-rate schedule with a maximum effective rate of 35%.
On December 20th, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act was amended, extending tax provisions that were set to expire by the end of 2019. These provisions will now be effective through the upcoming fiscal year, ending September 30, 2020.
One of the most common mistakes we see when auditing retirement plans is a lack of compliance with the handling of late employee contributions. Many plan sponsors are mistaken in thinking they are compliant with the Department of Labor (DOL) with regard to how often they are remitting their employee contribution deferrals. This has been a hot topic item for the DOL over the last several years; the big question is: how often should employee contribution deferrals be transmitted from the plan sponsor’s assets to third party administrators? Take note that this explanation applies only to employee contributions; employer contributions do not have a remittance time constraint against them.
Effective January 1, 2020, all employees must earn at least $684 per week (or $35, 568 annually) before they can be exempt from overtime. The current threshold is $455 (or $23,660 annually).
Internet-connected devices or Internet of Things (IoT) devices are popular holiday gifts. Now that the holidays are over, our shiny new tablets, phones, smart TVs, watches, and toys are providing hours of entertainment. Before the boxes and instruction manuals are long gone, it is the perfect time to make sure they are secure! These devices usually require personal and/or financial information to complete setup, which includes sending that information over the internet. Without thinking about it, we put in a credit card number or create a password in our haste to play with our new toy or satisfy an impatient child. Security of this sensitive information now resides with the manufacturer or service provider who is charged with keeping it safe from a cyberattack. Attacks and breaches happen every day and are frequently in the news.
Bowman & Company LLP extends its heartfelt condolences on the passing of our retired Partner, Thomas P. Duffy.
President Donald Trump has signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement or SECURE Act. The Act ushers in major changes to the way most Americans plan and save for retirement.