Month: November 2017

Businesses often need to hire workers on a seasonal or part-time basis. For example, some businesses may need seasonal help for holidays, harvest seasons, commercial fishing, or sporting events. Whether you are getting paid or paying someone else, questions often arise over whether these seasonal workers affect employers with regard to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

For the purposes of the Affordable Care Act the size of an employer is determined by the number of employees. As such, employer-offered benefits, opportunities, and requirements are dependent upon your organization’s size and the applicable rules. For instance, if you have at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, you are an ALE (Applicable Large Employer) for the current calendar year.

If you hire seasonal or holiday workers, you should know how these employees are counted under the health care law:

Seasonal worker. A seasonal worker is generally defined for this purpose as an employee who performs labor or services on a seasonal basis, generally for not more than four months (or 120 days). Retail workers employed exclusively during holiday seasons, for example, are seasonal workers.

Seasonal employee. In contrast, a seasonal employee is an employee who is hired into a position for which the customary annual employment is six months or less, where the term “customary employment” refers to an employee who typically works each calendar year in approximately the same part of the year, such as summer or winter.

The terms seasonal worker and seasonal employee are both used in the employer shared responsibility provisions but in two different contexts. Only the term seasonal worker is relevant for determining whether an employer is an applicable large employer subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions; however, there is an exception for seasonal workers:

Exception: If your workforce exceeds 50 full-time employees for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year, and the employees in excess of 50 during that period were seasonal workers, your organization is not considered an ALE.

For additional information on hiring seasonal workers and how it affects the employer shared responsibility provisions please call.

• By Leon Clinton
• November 21, 2017

Certain energy-efficient home improvements can cut your energy bills and save you money at tax time. While many of these tax credits expired at the end of 2016, tax credits for residential and non-business energy-efficient solar technologies do not expire until December 31, 2021. Here are some key facts that you should know about these tax credits:

Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit

• This tax credit is 30 percent of the cost of alternative energy equipment installed on or in your home.
• Qualified equipment includes solar hot water heaters and solar electric equipment placed into service on or after January 1, 2006, and on or before December 31, 2021.
• There is no maximum credit for systems placed in service after 2008.
• The tax credit does not apply to solar water-heating property for swimming pools or hot tubs.
• If your credit is more than the tax you owe, you can carry forward the unused portion of this credit to next year’s tax return.
• At least half the energy used to heat the dwelling’s water must be from solar in order for the solar water-heating property expenditures to be eligible.
• Solar water-heating equipment must be certified for performance by the Solar Rating Certification Corporation (SRCC) or a comparable entity endorsed by the government of the state in which the property is installed.
• The home must be in the U.S. It does not have to be your main home.
• Use Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits, to claim the credit.

Equipment costs such as assembling or installing original systems, on-site labor costs, and costs related to wiring or piping solar technology systems are considered final when the installation is complete. For a new home, the placed in service date is the occupancy date.

The maximum allowable credit varies by the type of technology:

Solar-electric property

• 30% for systems placed in service by 12/31/2019
• 26% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2019 and before 01/01/2021
• 22% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2020 and before 01/01/2022

Solar water-heating property

• 30% for systems placed in service by 12/31/2019
• 26% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2019 and before 01/01/2021
• 22% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2020 and before 01/01/2022

If you would like more information about this topic please contact the office today.

• By Leon Clinton
• November 19, 2017

As IRS e-Services begins its move later this month to Secure Access authentication and its two-factor protections, cybercriminals are likely to make last-ditch efforts to steal passwords and data prior to the transition.

IRS e-Services users should be aware of a new phishing scam that tries to trick tax professionals into “signing” a new e-Services user agreement.

The phishing scam seeks to steal passwords and data.These and other sophisticated schemes are adaptive in nature, and everyone should be cautious before clicking on a link or entering sensitive personal information.

How the e-Services Scam Works

The scam email claims to be from “e-Services Registration” and uses “Important Update about Your e-Services Account” in the subject line. It states, in part, “We are rolling out a new user agreement, and all registered users must accept its revised terms to have access to e-Services and its products.” It asks the individual to review and accept the agreement but takes them to a fake site instead.

What to do if you Clicked on a Link

For those who may have clicked on this link, perform a deep scan with security software, and then contact IT/cybersecurity personnel and the IRS e-Help Desk on IRS.gov.

Questions or Concerns?

Don’t hesitate to call the office if you have any questions about IRS e-Services or believe you may have been a victim of an IRS-related scam. To learn more about what the IRS is doing to protect accounts with Secure Access authentication, please visit the e-Services landing page on the IRS website.

• By Leon Clinton
• November 16, 2017