Archive for the ‘Tax – State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits’ Category

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Federal HIRE ACT – 6.2% Payroll Tax Reduction/ $1,000 Hiring Credit

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Two new hiring tax benefits are now available to employers:

Read the IRS announcement of the 2010 Hiring Act:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=220326,00.html

Download the CCH Tax Briefing Special Report .pdf:
President Signs HIRE Act

The links above provide a summary of the 6.2% employer FICA tax holiday through December 31st for hiring employees who have been unemployed (or worked less than 40 hours a week for another employer) prior to being hired.

The HIRE Act is now law:
An employer hiring credit of up to $1,000 is also available in 2011 for non-family employees hired after Feb. 3, 2010 and retained for at least 12 months.  The employee must either be: 1) hired for a newly created position, OR  a replacement of an employee who quit or was let go “for cause”.

So as not to put further strain on the Social Security system, the payroll tax reduction under the HIRE Act will be transferred from the federal General Fund.

For full text of the new HIRE ACT statute: http://www.bnatax.com/insightsdetail.aspx?id=2147484627

Find additional useful links on the Tax Professor Blog:
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2010/03/president-obama.html

For weekly tax and financial updates, please follow Blake on twitter:
http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA” target=”_blank

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Posted in Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

Eating at the Trough – California Pension, Healthcare and Other Benefit Costs Are Strangling The Economy

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

With conservative estimates of unfunded public sector pension and healthcare liabilities topping a quarter of a billion dollars, and growing at a rate of $17 billion annually, Orange County Supervisor (and one of the very few to predict the O/C bankruptcy back in 1994) discusses the extreme danger to cities, counties and the state of California – and the real possibility of a California default:

http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/02/23/new-pensions-push-state-to-insolvency/

Katy Grimes shines a light on the chasm between public and private sector vacation and sick day payouts which are coming to light as state employees head for the exits.

http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/03/02/public-versus-private-different-sets-of-rules/

For an excellent website covering these public pension issues, bookmark the following site:

http://www.pensiontsunami.com/

Related Twitter:

http://twitter.com/pensiontsunami

Supervisor Moorlach’s webpage:

http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/Government/Elected%20Officials/Supervisor%20John%20M.W.%20Moorlach%20-%20Second%20District/Biography

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Finance/ Retirement, Healthcare, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | 1 Comment »

Government Debt Loads Continue to Pile Up

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

According to the Washington Post, the Administration’s current policies will add $9.3 Trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.  This is a 14% increase over the White House’s previous projection of $8.5 Trillion.  The largest component of the increasing deficits is being caused by President Obama’s mid- and low-income tax cuts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030502974.html?hpid%3Dtopnews

For an eye-opening look at the U.S. and world debt landscape, below are two very useful interactive links to evaluate worldwide and U.S. public debt loads now and in the past.

http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_debt_chart.html

Current record levels do not bode well for interest rates and financial stability.

California’s $20 billion budget deficit and long history of high taxes, unfunded pension obligations and massive entitlement plans has creditors worried.  Recent debt downgrades and political gridlock will likely drive up future borrowing costs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/californias-debt-now-risk_n_481058.html

http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/

 

To save some of your hard-earned taxes, check out tax planning strategies at: www.blakechristian.com

Also, for daily tax and financial updates, please follow me: http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Finance/ Retirement, International, Politics, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

$15 Billion Jobs Bill Passes House

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Today the House passed a Jobs bill that Credit, is one-tenth the size of the bill introduced late last year.   However the Senate is still pushing forward on their own $15o Billion Jobs bill.

The house bill includes a Democratic drafted provision which allows for a payroll tax “holiday” for hiring previously unemployed workers.  Ironically the $1,000 to $5,000 hiring credit considered earlier in the process was removed from the final bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030402757.html?hpid=topnews

The Senate bill is much larger in scope and cost since it includes various “extenders” of existing tax breaks, state medicare “gap” funding and other individual benefits such as unemployment compensation.

 http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100303-716657.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

For information on existing federal and state hiring credits, pleas click on the following:

www.blakechristian.com

Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

CNN Local Videos – Long Beach Tax Credits/ Green Jobs/ Port Expansion/ Card Check

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

For daily tax and economic updates, please follow me on Twitter @:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

Media Links

To download, click on the hyperlink below and choose Save

 Blake E. Christian

Access all my CNN Local Videos: 

http://www.hcvt.com/resources-links/media-links.html

Available Topics (please click on link above):

Blake Christian CNN inverview – Local Eco Credits / Green Jobs [36.0 MB] February 2010

Blake Christian CNN interview – California Tax Overhaul Proposal [41.1 MB] October 2009

Interview – Pros and cons of a national sales/flat tax [lieu of current fed. tax system] [40.3 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – The U.S. Tax Gap [40.5 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Swiss and U.S. at (Tax) War [40.6 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – $9 Billion of New California Taxes [40.5 MB] June 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – POLB Middle Harbor Project [40.5 MB] May 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Tax Planning in a Recession [40.5 MB] May 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Enterprise Zone Credits “Green Jobs” [40.5 MB] April 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Affect of Budget & Stimulus on Business [40.4 MB] April 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Employee Free Choice Act [40.4 MB] April 2009

Check out the full library of  tax and economic articles @: www.blakechristian.com

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Climate Change/ Global Warming, Finance/ Retirement, Green/ Eco Credits, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | 2 Comments »

California and Federal Tax Refunds Overlooked by Many

Monday, March 1st, 2010

In today’s challenging economic period, business owners are looking for every way to reduce costs and increase cash flow and profits.

We continue to see businesses and their CPAs overlook extremely valuable tax breaks, including:

- Federal and State Hiring Credits ($500 to $15,000 per employee)

http://www.blakechristian.com/hiring_tax_credits.html

http://www.blakechristian.com/california_tax_incentives.html

- Federal and State Eco/ Energy/ Green Credits (10% to 50%)

http://www.blakechristian.com/energy_tax_credits.html

- Use of Interest Charge DISCs for Export Sales

http://www.alliantgroup.com/_ag/index.cfm/our-services/export-incentives/interest-charge-domestic-international-sales-corporation-ic-disc1/

- Evaluation of Compensation Structure Options to Minimize After-Tax Cash Outflows.  This includes taking advantage of the lucrative and flexible qualified retirement plan rules.

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2008/CorpTax/Compensation.jsp

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2007/CorpTax/Services.jsp

- Re-Evaluating Legal Structure of Business Operations to Minimize Taxes

http://www.taxguideonline.com/hcvt/

There is still time to claim many of these tax benefits on your 2009 tax returns. 

www.blakechristian.com

For Daily Tax and Economic Updates, please follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

 

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Finance/ Retirement, General Business Matters, Green/ Eco Credits, International, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

California Veterans Get Business Lift From the State

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

California has a very large percentage of military veterans (over 2.1 million) and over 10% suffer from some form of physical or mental disability.  Projections indicate a big spike in these numbers for California in coming years.

The state of California, as well as numerous other states, have a variety of programs to provide a helping hand to these service-disabled Vets.

As discussed in the link below, Los Angeles Times’ business reporter Cyndia Zwahlen provides a summary of the ways California is taking care of these business owners – including striving to allocate at least 3% of the $9 billion of government contract and purchasing commitments to businesses owned by disabled Vets.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz-vets22-2010feb22,0,7826455.story

Also read more about the valuable state and federal tax benefits available for employers of Vets in this 2009 AICPA article.   Veterans receiving food stamps, or those who have been discharged and unemployed during the last year can generate tax credits from $2,400 to $4,800 for a future employer – making Vets an attractive solution for hiring needs.

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2009/CorpTax/HireVeteran.jsp

Additional hiring credit information is also avaialable at:

www.blakechristian.com

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

2011 U.S. Budget – $1.6 Trillion Deficit

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal – Winners and Losers

The Departments of Education and Energy will be applauding the President’s budget proposal since they might see increases of 16% and 6.8%, respectively.

On the other hand, the petroleum industry, NASA and those pesky taxpayers making more than $250,000 will be less enamoured with the 2011 budget.

The debate will likely be heated over the coming months as the final budget is hammered out in Congress as fiscal accountability takes center-stage.

For more details, please see the article links below:

Office of Budget and Management – The Facts With a Little Less Spin:  

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

Reuters’ Analysis: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60U00220100131

Heritage Foundation Analysis: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/01/morning-bell-the-obama-budget-higher-taxes-higher-spending-and-more-debt/

An Analysis From the U.K/ Financial Times -

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e538dfd4-0e98-11df-bd79-00144feabdc0.html

 

For daily updates, please follow me on Twitter @:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

 

Thank you

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Posted in Finance/ Retirement, Politics, Tax - General, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! – Obama Proposal and Existing State & Federal Hiring Tax Incentives

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Hiring Credits – $500 to $15,000 Per Employee

Eco/ Green Credits – 10% to 50% of Equipment Costs

President Obama spent a good portion of his State of the Union Speech focused on jobs and the economy.

 Throughout California – and across the U.S. – there are literally thousands of specified “tax zones” which allow employers hiring new employees to claim valuable federal and state hiring credits, as well as other tax and economic incentives.  In addition, certain state and federal programs such as the federal WOTC program and the California new jobs credit, which apply to businesses operating in any jurisdiction with the federal or state boundaries, respectively.

 

Click here for my latest AICPA hiring credit article, and please rate it at the end of the article:

 http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2010/CorpTax/Jobs_Jobs.jsp

 

Obama’s proposed $5,000 per employee hiring credit – up to $500,000 per taxpayer:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/78661-obama-to-roll-out-jobs-tax-credit-proposal-friday

 

 For more information regarding the California general jobs credit and the CA Enterprise Zone Program, please click on the links below:

 http://www.ftb.ca.gov/businesses/New_Jobs_Credit.shtml   $3,000 CA Jobs Tax Credit

http://www.hcvt.com/services/hiring-a-equipment-credits–ez-studies-.html  EZ Hiring & Equipment Credits

 

 For information regarding the 10% to 50% Federal and State Energy and Pollution Control Credits:

 http://www.blakechristian.com/green_tax_incentives.html

 Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

 For ongoing tax and economic updates, please follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TaxCredits_CPA

 

 (562) 590-9535 x1800 – Telephone

(562) 216-1803 – Fax

Blakec@hcvt.com

www.hcvt.com

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Posted in California Enterprize Zone, Climate Change/ Global Warming, Green/ Eco Credits, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | No Comments »

Creative Accounting “Creates or Saves” More Jobs

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Apparently the best defense is a good offense — or at least an offensive method of accounting. 

The Obama administration has decided it is easier to develop a totally new method for quantifying job creation, rather than try and correct the numerous errors documented over the the first 11 months of last year.

The revised accounting method allegedly yields 640,000 jobs “tied” to federal stimulus projects.  The new methods simply traces federal funds which pay salaries of either existing or new employees working on federally funded stimulus projects.

This methodology appears to be helpful in helping the administration meet its highly publicized (and problematic) promise  to “save or create” 3.5 million jobs during President Obama’s first term.

The continuing challenge for the U.S. and the world is double-digit unemployment — which may take some time to reduce.

Summary of new methodology

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34830451/ns/business-stocks_and_economy     

Access all the details on Recovery.Gov

http://www.recovery.gov/OPPORTUNITIES/Pages/Jobs.aspx

Posted in General Business Matters, Politics, Tax - State & Federal Hiring and Equipment Credits | 2 Comments »

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