The HIRE Act creates an immediate incentive for businesses to hire unemployed individuals by providing payroll tax forgiveness with an additional $1,000 credit for each qualified retained worker.  A qualified employee must start work anytime after Feb 3, 2010 and before Jan 1, 2011 and generally must have been unemployed for at least 60 days before his or her start date.  The bill’s payroll tax forgiveness measure effectively exempts employers from paying the 6.2 percent Social Security tax on wages paid to qualified new hires from the date of enactment through the end of 2010.  Based on the FICA wage cap of $106,800, the maximum value of the incentive is $6,621 for any “qualified employee.”

If you know you will be or have already started hiring people this year and have questions regarding this tax credit, please call us (972-377-7078) and we will be happy to guide you through how to take advantage of this tax credit.

Taxman by the Beatles

Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

If you drive a car – I’ll tax the street;
If you try to sit – I’ll tax your seat;
If you get too cold – I’ll tax the heat;
If you take a walk – I’ll tax your feet.

People started complaining long ago that they were Taxed Enough Already.  The TEA party is nothing new, just renewed. We have all kinds of patterns through history. If we want to interrupt the patterns we have to first change our conversations about the patterns we do not like. Vocalizing objections to unfair taxes is important, but the changes are sometimes slow.  What does not change is the fact that we must pay the taxes by the laws that are in place or face severe penalties. We can embrace the fact that we owe taxes because we are successful in the marketplace and then we can educate ourselves on using the ways that are already in place that allow us to avoid taxes.  There are many strategies to reduce your taxes and of course we recommend a CPA to make recommendations. If you find yourself unhappy about the taxes you must pay we would love to help you find ways that you can save more money.