If you have ANY questions, please feel free to contact us by e-mail or by phone at 906-337-2340.

Here’s what you need to know:

The HIRE Act offers employers temporary payroll tax breaks for hiring previously unemployed individuals and a business tax credit for retaining qualified individuals at least 52 weeks. The benefits can be substantial: up to $6,621 in payroll tax credits and up to $1,000 in business tax credit per eligible employee.

Reduced Social Security Taxes for Employers: Qualified employers receive a temporary payroll tax holiday from the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax on qualified individuals.

• The credit applies to wages earned from the date of enactment through December 31, 2010 for each new qualified individual hired after February 3, 2010 and through December 31, 2010.
• The maximum value of the credit would be equal to 6.2% of wages up to the FICA wage cap ($106,800) or $6,621.60 per qualified individual.
• A qualified individual “certifies by signed affidavit, under penalties of perjury, that such individual has not been employed for more than 40 hours during the 60-day period ending on the date such individual begins such employment.”

Business Tax Credit: Additionally, businesses are eligible for a $1,000 business tax credit for each qualified individual retained at least a year (52 consecutive weeks). The individual’s wages during the last 26 weeks must be at least 80 percent of the wages paid during the first 26 weeks of employment. The tax credit would be claimed on the 2011 business income tax return.

Click HERE to download the new form W-11, HIRE Employee Affidavit.

Click HERE to visit the IRS website for more details.

Check out the workshop website for more information.

Here is the direct link to the IRS site to learn more.

http://www.freefile.irs.gov/

For the filing requirements for exempt organizations, please see the IRS website.

Contact us if you would like to take advantage of our ProAdvisor discount.

For those of you getting ready for year-end activities, don’t forget to download a copy of our handy (and FREE!) Critical Due Date Checklist for Year-End 2009 & Beginning 2010.

• 50 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than last year’s. The mileage rates for 2010 reflect generally lower transportation costs compared to a year ago.

Please click here for the full IRS press release.

The Federal government is reducing the amount of the tax credit it gives employers who paid unemployment taxes in the State of Michigan in calendar year 2009. The FUTA offset credit is being reduced by 0.3%. Instead of paying a net FUTA rate of 0.8% for 2009, the rate will be 1.1%.

This means that even if you paid all of your state unemployment taxes on time in 2009, you will now owe the federal government additional money to make up for the new, retroactive rate change. Intuit Payroll is making the necessary changes to support the credit reduction on the Form 940 and Schedule A for 2009 in its products and services.

What does this mean for you? Instead of the $56 cap paid per employee by every MI employer – an additional $21.00 will be due by the end of January when filing the annual FUTA return (7,000 maximum wages X 1.1% = $77 vs. 7.000 maximum wages X .8% = $56).

Make sure you have the latest tax table update from QuickBooks before preparing your 940 return for 2009. To read the official State bulletin – click here.