Affordable Care Act & Health Care

Employer-Provided Health Coverage — Not Taxable
Starting in tax year 2011, the Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the value of the health insurance coverage they provide employees on each employee's annual Form W-2. This reporting is for informational purposes only, to show employees the value of their health care benefits so they can be more informed consumers. The amount reported does not affect tax liability, as the value of the employer contribution to health coverage continues to be excludible from an employee's income and it is not taxable.

Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
This new credit helps small businesses and small tax-exempt organizations afford the cost of covering their employees and is specifically targeted for those with low- and moderate-income workers. The credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have. In general, the credit is available to small employers that pay at least half the cost of single coverage for their employees.

Health Coverage for Older Children
Health coverage for an employee's children under 27 years of age is now generally tax-free to the employee. It applies to various work place and retiree health plans. These changes allow employers with cafeteria plans to permit employees to begin making pre-tax contributions to pay for this expanded benefit. This also applies to self-employed individuals who qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction on their federal income tax return.

Tax Tip - Review your 2009 Tax Return to determine the need to Amend the Return.

If you forgot to include some income or to take a deduction or to claim a credit(including the first time homebuyer or repeat homebuyer credit) on your tax return – you can correct it by amending your tax return.

Generally, to claim a refund, you must file Form 1040X within three years from the date you filed your original return or within two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.

Use Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to correct a previously filed Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ. Be sure to check the box for the year of the return you are amending on the Form 1040X, Line B. The newly revised Form 1040X (Rev. January 2010) has only one column used to show the corrected figures and an area on the front of the form where you explain why you are filing Form 1040X.

Closing Deadline Extended - Eligible Homebuyer Credit

Eligible taxpayers who contracted to buy a home, qualifying for the first-time homebuyer credit, before the end of April now have until Sept. 30, 2010 to close the deal.

The Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010, signed by the President, extended the closing deadline from June 30 to Sept. 30 for any eligible homebuyer who entered into a binding purchase contract on or before April 30 to close on the purchase of the home on or before June 30, 2010.

Time is running out for all those who can benefit from IRA conversion in 2010

Beginning in 2010, the rules for conversions of traditional IRA money to a Roth IRA are changing by eliminating the MAGI limitations and hence, making more investors eligible to convert their traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs.

However, look before you leap....just because you can convert to a Roth IRA doesn't necessarily mean that you should.
First of all, you need to evaluate if you should convert the traditional IRA to Roth. There are various factors to consider including the age to retirement, your income source at retirement, your need for funds, tax rates in future and appreciation expected in these accounts.

If you are already retired and over 59 1/2 years than you can take distribution over a period of time and spread the taxes over a number of years.

Higher your tax bracket, the more tax you will have to pay on conversion. But if you expect taxes to go up in the long term, conversion will make sense as you may have to pay a higher tax rate on these distributions later.

Also to note is the special tax treatment for Roth IRA conversions available for 2010 which allows taxpayers to spread the taxes due on the conversion over two years and thus making the tax burden much easier to handle by requiring only one-half of the taxes to be paid during 2011 and the other half of the Roth conversion taxes to be paid in 2012.

Feel free to contact for a detailed evaluation considering your financials facts and long term goals.