10 Mar 11 HIRE Act Primer For Enrolled Agents

HIRE Act Primer For Enrolled AgentsBy: Sawyer Adams .... Click author's name to view profile and articles!!!Retargeting by ChangoTweet The recently enacted HIRE Act of 2010 is intended to offer tax incentives to employers who hire eligible employees by offering payroll tax credits. Overall, the HIRE Act is straight- forward and determining who is an eligible employee is not overly difficult.Under the HIRE Act, employers can receive a payroll exemption of their 6.2% share of social security tax on all wages paid to qualified employees, exempting the employer from their share of Social Security taxes on 2010 wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010. Employers are still liable for Medicare tax on all wages. In addition to the 6.2% savings, businesses who retain a qualified employee for a 52 consecutive week period can qualify for a tax credit of up to $1,000 provided the employee's pay does not decrease significantly in the second half of the year. The employer may claim the new hire retention credit on their 2011 ine tax return.What employees are eligible for the HIRE Act?The basic instructions, as explained on IRS Form W-11 are as follows. Employee must begin employment after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011. An eligible employee has not been employed for more than 40 hours during the 60-day period ending on the date the employee begins work with employer. The employee must sign a W-11, or similar affidavit to be eligible. An employee is not eligible if heshe replaces a fired employee, but is eligible if filling a voluntarily vacated position, or as a result to downsizing. Employees who are also not eligible for the HIRE Act are any persons related to the employer, or a relative or dependent of anyone who owns more than 50% of outstanding stock or capital of a business. The HIRE Act does not apply to household employees.Who is an eligible employer for the HIRE Act?Businesses, agricultural employers, tax-exempt organizations, temp agencies, employees in U.S territories and public colleges and universities all qualify to claim the payroll tax benefit for eligible newly hired employees. The HIRE Act also applies to brand new businesses. A business that lays off workers due to lack of work and hires new staff when business improves may qualify. The hire act even applies to employees who are laid off and rehired for the same position, and employees hired from a temp agency if the temp agency has not claimed said employees wages.For an employee to be eligible heshe does not need work a minimum amount of hours or for a set period. Of course, to receive the general tax credit the employee must be employed for 1 year. Employers may claim the Cobra Premium Assistance Credit and the Payroll Tax Exemption for new hires on the same employment tax return.As you can see, the requirements for the HIRE Act are not overly stringent or difficult to meet. The W-11 Affidavit is currently available on the IRS official website as well as additional information regarding more specific tax questions. Enrolled agents, CPA's and other registered tax preparers should be aware of this opportunity to help clients save money under the Hire Act. These new rules cannot show up on the enrolled agent exam until the 2011 testing period, so if you are a prospective enrolled agentcurrently studying for the 2010 EA exam, you will not need to know these rules. The 2011-2012 enrolled agent course will cover this new law.Article Source: abcarticledirectoryFast Forward Academy is a leading publisher of IRS enrolled agent study guides, enrolled agent exam review questions and continuing education for all tax professionals. Information on the pany including free access to an online question bank for the EA exam is available on their website.Note: The content of this article solely conveys the opinion of its author, Sawyer AdamsRetargeting by ChangoDid You Like This Article? Share It With YourFriends!Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 Not yet Rated Click the XML Icon to Receive Free Articles About Auditing via RSS!Additional Articles From - Home Accounting AuditingWhat you need to know about Auditing from the experts.- By : john newportCulture and business proposition- By : foxhatsNavigating Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions- By : Sawyer AdamsAbout The National Association Of Enrolled Agents (NAEA)- By : Sawyer AdamsThe History Of Enrolled Agents- By : Sawyer AdamsThe Canon Sd780is Black Silver Gold Red - Very Nice Christmas Gift- By : ArticleSubmit AutoIRS Increasing Enforcement Activity- By : Sawyer AdamsDestination Military Surplus Products- By : Ali Khan5 Tips For Getting The Right Health Insurance For Your Needs- By : danica12 Quick Tips For Eye Shadow- By : Ali Khan Still Searching? Last Chance to find what you're looking for. Try using Bing Search!