Category: Employee Benefit Plans

The Greater Washington Society of CPAs has elected Julia Lafferty, Principal at Councilor, Buchanan & Mitchell, P.C. (CBM), to its board of governors. CBM has a long history working with GWSCPA dating back to 1924 when the firm’s founder, James Councilor, served as the society’s first president. GWSCPA, a not-for-profit organization serving the DC-area accounting profession, promotes ethical standards and educational opportunities and support for its members. The Society also acts as a liaison contact with Capitol Hill, state, and… Read more ›

Many companies today are creating bonus and incentive compensation plans to reward hard-working employees for jobs well done. Such plans can be a win-win: Employees receive a tangible reward for exceptional performance, and businesses reap the benefits of high achievements. However, creating an employee bonus plan without carefully thinking through what you want to accomplish can end up doing more harm than good. The result is wasted time, money and opportunity — on the part of the company and the… Read more ›

The rush is already on to line up seasonal help. Seasonal job postings on one recruiting website started to hit peak demand levels from prior years in early October, about a month earlier than usual. The projected total number of seasonal jobs this holiday season — between 640,000 and 690,000 — is expected by the National Retail Federation to be about the same as last year. Employers might need to pay a little more for seasonal hires this year than… Read more ›

2016 ushers in a few changes to the tax laws that govern benefits, as the IRS recently laid out in its annual “Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits.” The document features important clarifications, not just identifying which benefits are and aren’t tax-exempt to employees, but also the fine points of tests that tax-exempt benefits must satisfy to maintain that status. Here are some of the changes and reminders for 2016: Mileage. The deduction for the business use of a personal vehicle… Read more ›

If your dealership offers a retirement plan to employees, you have certain fiduciary responsibilities as the plan’s sponsor. Failure to meet these responsibilities can be costly, because corporate officers (as fiduciaries) may be held personally liable to restore losses suffered by plan participants.

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling that legalizes same-sex marriage nationwide. This landmark case will have significant tax, estate planning, immigration, employee benefits, and other financial and legal implications for individuals and businesses that reside in states that didn’t recognize same-sex marriages. (Obergefell, et al v. Hodges, No. 14-556) Although Obergefell isn’t a tax case, it will affect the taxes of many same-sex married couples who have been subject to conflicting treatment of their marital… Read more ›