Better Business Blog

The IRS has issued proposed regulations that would eliminate paper coupons for deposits of employment taxes, corporate income and estimated taxes, and many other taxes (REG-153340-09).  The paper 8109 coupon payment system will be shut down at the end of 2010.  Taxpayers currently still using the paper coupons to make federal payroll and corporate tax [...]

On Monday, August 16th, Governor Quinn approved the bill to establish a tax amnesty program for all taxpayers for taxes due for any taxable period ending after June 30, 2002 and prior to July 1, 2009.  The amnesty period will run from October 1, 2010 through November 8, 2010.
The amnesty program will afford taxpayers a small [...]

The Illinois General Assembly has passed a measure to implement an amnesty on taxes administered by the Department of Revenue and has sent the measure to Gov. Pat Quinn. The amnesty period would run from October 1, 2010, through November 8, 2010. Under the terms of the amnesty, upon payment by a taxpayer of all [...]

Corporate officers will sometimes attempt to disguise what should be payment for services as distributions of cash, dividends, and loans as a means of avoiding payroll taxes on the income.  Because they are pass-through entities, Sub Chapter S corporations are especially prone to the misclassification of income attributable to a misunderstanding [...]

The chairmen of the House and Senate tax-writing committees today released a summary of “H.R. 4213,” also called “The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010.” It is considered an extenders bill because it extends some favorable tax provisions due to expire this year. However there is one item tucked away in this bill is something that could affect owners of small (3 or fewer employees) S corporations engaged in a professional service business.

Illinois Democrats are floundering in their attempts to fix a $13 billion dollar shortfall and the ideas being floated are simply ludicrous. One proposal is to borrow more money. After recent downgrades of the state’s debt ratings by Moody’s this proposal is becoming not only more expensive but digging ourselves deeper in a hole. Other proposals include skipping payments to the state pension plan, delaying payments to providers of state services, and raiding state funds earmarked for other purposes.

A key tax change affecting business was made in the recently enacted Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.
To help stimulate the hiring of workers by the private sector, the new law exempts any private-sector employer that hires a worker who had been unemployed for at least 60 days from having to pay the employer’s 6.2% share [...]

On January 20, the House approved by voice vote H.R. 4462, a bill that would allow donors to accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Also on January 20, a companion bill was introduced in the Senate with the promise of swift passage.
The [...]

On December 19, 2009, the 65% COBRA premium subsidy that was due to expire December 31, 2009 for newly terminated employees was extended. The extension adds another six months to the maximum period that the COBRA subsidy can run, and also extends the up-to-15 month COBRA premium subsidy to workers who lose their jobs during the first [...]

On November 5, 2009, the House of Representative passed H.R. 3548, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009″.  The measure was OK’d by the Senate on November 4, so it is cleared for the President’s expected signature.
The Act contains several changes for business. The two most significant changes that affect clients we serve [...]