ACA Compliance

When entrepreneurs and small business owners imagine their companies growing, becoming more profitable, and needing the support of more employees, they often think about all of the exciting things that are going to happen with that growth. Building a company culture, increasing profits, and gaining more and more customers--these are some of the most exciting parts of being an entrepreneur. Payroll taxes are not one of the exciting parts. Check Out Our Employer's Guide to Payroll Tax

When you run a business (or even a small part of a business), you know that there is nothing more precious than time. Time is the difference between a satisfied customer whose products arrived on time and an angry one who is still waiting for their promised goods. Time is the difference between keeping payroll within budget and experiencing runaway overtime costs. And time is the difference between a satisfied workforce that can go home at the end of the day and spend an evening with their families and one that must burn the candle at both ends until there’s nothing left. As you can imagine, being lackadaisical about timekeeping is not an option if you want to build a healthy business. This guide covers the foundations of timekeeping: how to do it, what tools can assist you, and what pitfalls to avoid. Check Out Our Complete Guide to Time & Attendance >

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You saw that you had a job that needed to be done at your place of business. You publicized the opening, sorted through the applicants, interviewed the top candidates, and finally made an offer. Good news: they accepted it! Now you just need to start getting your new employee up to speed as a valuable part of your business. Right? Sure. But before your new hire rolls up their sleeves to tackle their first project, you need to manage their onboarding. Onboarding isn’t the most exciting part of hiring someone. It involves a lot of paperwork, and each form comes with its own quirks and legal requirements. Check Out Our Complete Guide to Employee Onboarding >

ACA. Affordable Care Act. Obamacare. It’s frequently a hot topic of discussion for political pundits, but for all that everyone seems to have heard of it and have differing views on the matter, there’s little public awareness or understanding of what the ACA actually means for employers. This leaves businesses—especially smaller ones without robust HR departments—scrambling for information about how to remain in compliance with a complex set of rules that can have a major impact on how businesses operate. Check Out Our Complete Guide to ACA Compliance

There are many joys when it comes to managing employees. Termination, however, isn’t on the top of anyone’s list. Regardless of your skill level, employee termination is fraught with negative emotions, disappointment, and a sense of failure. And it can be just as hard on the employees who remain, who often worry about their own job security and find themselves picking up additional responsibilities until a replacement is hired and trained. Check Out Our Complete Guide to Employee Terminations

Financial capital is critical for a healthy business, but it’s not very helpful without your organization’s greatest asset, your human capital. But while we’ve developed sophisticated systems for managing our finances, systems that encompass every transaction from the largest to smallest, most businesses have yet to roll out a similar system for the people they employ. Unified systems for human capital management are now finding a home in more and more companies, as cloud-based technology meets a deeper understanding of the needs of growing organizations. These are some of the basics when it comes to understanding exactly what that means. Check Out Our Complete Guide to Human Capital Management >

Employers may choose to run background checks on current and potential employees for a variety of reasons. Background checks may be mandatory for jobs that require a government security clearance, but that's not the only reason they're conducted. Most private employers that run background checks on potential employees before they hire them do so by choice - as a precautionary measure to protect the company against people who are more likely to steal from the company or commit other crimes at the workplace. This resource page is explains everything employers need to know about background checks. Check Out Our Complete Guide to Employee Background Checks >

There are two types of penalties (the law calls them payments): The payment under section 4980H(a): You may be liable for this if you do not offer minimum essential coverage to at least 95 percent of your full-time employees (and their dependents) and at least one employee receives the premium tax credit. The amount of this payment is based on your total number of full-time employees (with certain adjustments), not only on the number of full-time employees who receive the premium tax credit. The payment under section 4980H(b): You may be liable for this if you do offer minimum essential coverage to at least 95 percent of your full-time employees (and their dependents), but at least one of your full-time employees receives the premium tax credit because that coverage is not affordable to the employee, doesn't provide minimum value, or that employee did not receive an offer of coverage. The amount of this payment is based solely on the number of full-time employees who receive the premium tax credit. To be liable for an ESRP payment under section 4980H, one of your full-time employees must receive a premium tax credit. The calculation for the section 4980H(a) payment is significantly different from the calculation for the section 4980H(b) payment. If you are liable for the employer shared responsibility payment, you will only be liable for one of the two payments. More information on both payments can be found in the ESRP Regulation and from the IRS: Payment under 4980H(a) Payment under 4980H(b) Types of employer payments and how they are calculated

If you have at least 50 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs), by law you are considered an Applicable Large Employer (ALE). All Applicable Large Employers are required to offer affordable health insurance for its employees. As an ALE with at least 50 FTEs, you are mandated by law to: Use 1094-C and 1095-C to report to the IRS information about the health care coverage, if any, offered to full-time employees. Furnish 1095-C to employees providing the same information reported to the IRS. Prepare to offer affordable health care coverage to full-time employees. Provide affordable health care coverage to full-time employees for the entire calendar year The process needs to be tracked and then you need to submit a report to the federal government at the end of each year.

Whether an employer is an ALE is determined each calendar year, and generally depends on the average size of an employer’s workforce during the prior year. If an employer has fewer than 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, the employer is not an ALE for the current calendar year. Therefore, the employer is not subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions or the employer information reporting provisions for the current year. Employers who are not ALEs may be eligible for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit and can find more information about how the Affordable Care Act affects them on the ACA Tax Provisions for Small Employers page. If an employer has at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, the employer is an ALE for the current calendar year, and is therefore subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions and the employer information reporting provisions. To determine its workforce size for a year an employer adds its total number of full-time employees for each month of the prior calendar year to the total number of full-time equivalent employees for each calendar month of the prior calendar year and divides that total number by 12. The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 provides that an employee will not be counted toward the 50-employee threshold for a month in which the employee has medical care through the military, including Tricare or Veterans’ coverage. This is solely for the purpose of determining whether an employer is an “applicable large employer” subject to the employer shared responsibility rules of § 4980H. For more information, see IRC § 4980H(c)(2) subparagraph (F) “Exemption for Health Coverage Under Tricare or the Veterans Administration.”

The size of your workforce in the previous calendar year determines whether you are an applicable large employer. In most cases, you determine your “workforce size” by looking at your employees in the previous calendar year and computing if you employed on average 50 or more full-time employees, including your full-time equivalent employees, across all 12 months of the year. You must look at all of your employees, including seasonal workers, when determining if the provision applies to you; however, you may exclude employees who are covered by TRICARE or certain health programs for veterans. Employers with a common owner or that are otherwise related (that is, employers that are part of an aggregated group) must count all full-time employees and full-time equivalent employees of all members of the aggregated group to determine if the employer is an applicable large employer. If the combined members of the aggregated group together employed an average of 50 or more full-time employees (including FTEs) in the preceding calendar year, the provision applies separately to each employer that is a member of the aggregated group (each ALE member). If an ALE member owes an assessable payment under the provision, the amount of the assessable payment would be determined based only on the full-time employees of that ALE member, and not full-time employees of any other member of the aggregated group. If you are an applicable large employer, you could be required to pay an assessable payment if you do not offer minimum essential coverage to at least 70% (for 2015) or 95% (for 2016 and future years) of your full-time employees, or if you offer coverage that does not provide minimum value or that is not affordable to one or more full-time employees, and at least one full-time employee receives the premium tax credit. Generally, the provision is effective beginning in 2015.

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Under the employer shared responsibility provision, a full-time employee is, for a calendar month, an employee employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week or 130 hours of service for that month. This definition of full-time employee is central to the employer shared responsibility provision. You must identify your full-time employees to: Determine your applicable large employer status and Determine which employees to whom you need to offer coverage in order avoid a potential employer shared responsibility payment. There are two designated measurement methods for determining your employees' full-time status: the monthly measurement method and the look-back measurement method. The look-back measurement method for identifying full-time employees is available only for purposes of determining and computing liability under section 4980H and not for purposes of determining status as an applicable large employer. The term 'hours of service' and both measurement methods are explained in the ESRB regulations, on IRS.gov, and within the provision section of the estimator. You may choose to use either method and you may use different methods for different specified classes of employees - so long as the methods are used consistently.

Under the Affordable Care Act, governments, insurers, employers and individuals are given shared responsibility to reform and improve the availability, quality and affordability of health insurance coverage in the United States. The estimator is specifically designed to help you determine if the employer shared responsibility provision (IRC Section 4980H) applies to you and, if it does, will help you determine the maximum amount of the employer shared responsibility payment that could apply to you under either section 4980H(a) or 4980H(b) based on the number of full-time employees that you report. The provision applies to employers called applicable large employers that employ on average at least 50 full-time employees (including FTEs) during the preceding calendar year. If you are an applicable large employer, you may owe the payment if at least one of your full-time employees receives the premium tax credit because: You don't offer health coverage to at least 95% your full-time employees (and their dependents) or You do offer health coverage to at least 95% of your full-time employees (and their dependents), but the offer of coverage doesn't provide minimum value or is unaffordable to a particular employee, or a full-time employee that was not offered coverage receives the premium tax credit.

What does the ESRP require? If you are an applicable large employer, you may be required to make an ESRP payment to the IRS if you: Do not offer minimum essential coverage to your full-time employees (and their dependents), or Do offer coverage to your full-time employees (and their dependents) that is not affordable or does not provide minimum value. If you are an applicable large employer, you are also required to file information returns with the IRS and furnish statements to your full-time employees containing details about the coverage that you offered in each month. See Information Reporting by Applicable Large Employers on IRS.gov for more information.

Sexual Harassment Posting (Optional) New York State has also provided employers with a posting they can tack up next to their standard labor law poster to provide notice to employees about the law and who they can contact if they need to report an incident of sexual harassment in the workplace. This poster, which is an optional tool, is one way to direct both employees and non-employees to your Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy and should be displayed in a highly visible place. Download it here.

Basic Requirements Every employer in New York State is required to adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy and share it with all employees by October 9, 2018. There are two ways to accomplish this: Employers may simply use the model policy issued by New York State. Or, employers may adopt their own sexual harassment prevention policy, provided it meets or exceeds the minimum standards established by New York State. We've outlined how employers can do each below. Using the Model Policy In consultation with the Division of Human Rights, the New York State Department of Labor has established a model sexual harassment prevention policy for employers to adopt. Using this policy would ensure compliance for this specific component of the law. Developing Your Own Policy - Minimum Standards As previously stated, employers may adopt their own sexual harassment prevention policy, provided it meets or exceeds the minimum standards established by New York State. According to the minimum standards issued by New York State, the sexual harassment prevention policy must: prohibit sexual harassment consistent with guidance issued by the Department of Labor in consultation with the Division of Human Rights. provide examples of prohibited conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment. include information concerning the federal and state statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment, remedies available to victims of sexual harassment, and a statement that there may be applicable local laws. include a complaint form. include a procedure for the timely and confidential investigation of complaints that ensures due process for all parties. inform employees of their rights of redress and all available forums for adjudicating sexual harassment complaints administratively and judicially. clearly state that sexual harassment is considered a form of employee misconduct and that sanctions will be enforced against individuals engaging in sexual harassment and against supervisory and managerial personnel who knowingly allow such behavior to continue. clearly state that retaliation against individuals who complain of sexual harassment or who testify or assist in any investigation or proceeding involving sexual harassment is unlawful. Poster Notice - Recommended New York State has also given employers an added ability to direct both employees and non-employees to their sexual harassment prevention policy through a labor law notice. This poster, which is an optional tool, should be displayed in a highly visible area within the workplace, likely next to wherever your current labor law poster(s) are displayed. Download the Sexual Harassment Policy Templete.

New York State has issued new requirements designed to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The key components of the law are as follows: Employers must establish a formal sexual harassment prevention policy and share it with all employees. The policy must also include and share a complaint form with employees that can be used to file formal sexual harassment complaints. Employers must also provide mandatory sexual harassment prevention training to all employees on an annual basis. 1. Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy Every employer in New York State is required to adopt a formal sexual harassment prevention policy by October 9, 2018, according to the new law. In consultation with the Division of Human Rights, the New York State Department of Labor has established a model sexual harassment prevention policy for employers to adopt. Employers may also choose to adopt their own policy, provided it meets or exceeds the minimum standards of the model policy issued by New York State. 2. Sexual Harassment Complaint Form New York State also requires the sexual harassment prevention policy to include a formal complaint form that must be shared with all employees by October 9, 2018. If an employee believes they have become a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, the are encouraged to complete this form. Even if the employee reports the sexual harassment verbally or through another manner, employers are still required to complete the complaint form on the employee's behalf. New York State has not released any minimum guidelines for the complaint form, which leads us to believe - unlike for the policy and training requirements - employers must use the formal complaint form issued by the state and therefore may not adopt their own version of it. 3. Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Additionally, all employers in New York State are required to provide mandatory sexual harassment prevention training to all employees on an annual basis, effective October 9, 2019. Just like the model policy and complaint form, New York State has also released a sexual harassment prevention training model. Employers may also choose to implement their own annual sexual harassment prevention training, provided it meets or exceeds the minimum standards developed by the New York State Department of Labor and Division of Human Rights.

Download and Use the Complaint Form New York State also requires the sexual harassment prevention policy to include a formal complaint form that must be shared with all employees by October 9, 2018. If an employee believes they have become a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, the are encouraged to complete this form. Even if the employee reports the sexual harassment verbally or through another manner, employers are still required to complete the complaint form on the employee's behalf. New York State has not released any minimum guidelines for the complaint form, which leads us to believe - unlike for the policy and training requirements - employers must use the formal complaint form issued by the state and therefore may not adopt their own version of it.

Step 2 allows you to choose one of three options, which involve tradeoffs between accuracy, privacy, and ease of use: Step 2(a): For maximum accuracy and privacy, use the Tax Withholding Estimator at www.irs.gov/W4app. You will generally be guided to enter an additional amount to withhold in Step 4(c). While you will need to know the approximate amount of pay for each job, you will enter the additional amount of withholding in Step 4(c) on the Form W-4 for only one of the jobs. If pay for any of the jobs changes significantly, you will need to use the Tax Withholding Estimator again and furnish a new Form W-4 to change the amount in Step 4(c) to have accurate withholding. Step 2(b): If you do not have access to the Tax Withholding Estimator but wish to have roughly accurate withholding and retain privacy, you may use the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3. You will be guided to enter an additional amount to withhold in Step 4(c). While you will need to know the approximate amount of pay for each job, you will enter the additional amount of withholding in Step 4(c) on the Form W-4 for only one of the jobs. If a change in pay for any of the jobs changes the additional withholding amount in the lookup table used with this worksheet, you will need to furnish a new Form W-4 to change the amount in Step 4(c) to have accurate withholding. If you (and your spouse) have a total of only two jobs and the pay at the higher paying job is more than double the pay at the lower paying job, this option is generally more accurate than choosing Step 2(c). If the pay at each job is more similar, choosing Step 2(c) is more accurate than choosing Step 2(b). Step 2(c): If you (and your spouse) have a total of only two jobs held at the same time, you may check the box in Step 2(c) on the Forms W-4 for both jobs. That is, to use this option, you should complete a Form W-4 for each job with the box in Step 2(c) checked. The standard deduction and tax brackets will be cut in half for each job to calculate withholding. You will not need to furnish a new Form W-4 to account for pay changes at either job. This option is accurate for jobs with similar pay; otherwise more tax than necessary may be withheld from your wages. This extra amount will be larger the greater the difference in pay is between the two jobs.

You should generally increase your withholding if: you hold more than one job at a time or you and your spouse both have jobs (Step 2) or you have income from sources other than jobs or self-employment that is not subject to withholding (Step 4(a)). If you do not make adjustments to your withholding for these situations, you will very likely owe additional tax when filing your tax return, and you may owe penalties. For income from sources other than jobs, you can pay estimated tax instead of having extra withholding.

Your withholding will be computed based on your filing status's standard deduction and tax rates, with no other adjustments. To learn more about how to fill out the W-4 form, click here.

The redesigned Form W-4 makes it easier for you to have your withholding match your tax liability. But if you prefer to have more tax than necessary withheld from each paycheck, you will get that money back as a refund when you file your tax return (keep in mind though you do not earn interest on the amount you overpay). The simplest way to increase your withholding is to enter in Step 4(c) the additional amount you would like your employer to withhold from each paycheck. Note, even if you don't have any income tax withheld from your wages, you may get a refund if you are eligible for tax credits such as the Earned Income Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, or American Opportunity Credit.

No. The form is divided into 5 steps. The only two steps required for all employees are Step 1, where you enter personal information like your name and filing status, and Step 5, where you sign the form. Complete Steps 2 - 4 only if they apply to you. Doing so will make your withholding more accurately match your liability.

You are not required to have tax on non-job income withheld from your paycheck. Instead, you can pay estimated tax on this income using Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals. However, if you want to use Form W-4 to have tax for this income withheld from your paycheck and you do not want to report this income directly in Step 4(a), you have several options. First, you can use the Tax Withholding Estimator at www.irs.gov/W4app. The estimator will help you calculate the additional amount of tax that should be withheld from your paycheck. You will then enter that amount in Step 4(c), without reporting the income to your employer. Second, you can determine for yourself the amount of extra withholding needed to pay for the tax on your other income (for example, by using Publication 505), divide that amount by the number of pay dates in the year, and enter the result in Step 4(c). Third, if this is the only job in your household, you can check the box in Step 2(c), which will increase your withholding and significantly reduce your paycheck. The amount of this extra withholding varies across taxpayers and ranges from zero to $20,000 annually—and you may not know how much extra is being withheld. Also, whether this extra withholding in turn is too little or too much—and results in a balance due or refund—depends on the amount of your non-job income.

Tax rates increase as income rises, and only one standard deduction can be claimed on each tax return, regardless of the number of jobs. Therefore, if you have more than one job at a time or are married filing jointly and both you and your spouse work, more money should usually be withheld from the combined pay for all the jobs than would be withheld if each job was considered by itself. Adjustments to your withholding must be made to avoid owing additional tax, and potentially penalties, when you file your tax return. All of this has been true for many years; it did not change with the recent tax law changes. The old Form W-4 accounted for multiple jobs using detailed instructions and worksheets that many employees may have overlooked. Step 2 of the redesigned Form W-4 lists three different options you should choose from to make the necessary withholding adjustments. Note that, to be accurate, you should furnish a 2020 Form W-4 for all of these jobs.

You should generally decrease your withholding if: you are eligible for income tax credits such as the child tax credit or credit for other dependents (Step 3), and/or you are eligible for deductions other than the basic standard deduction, such as itemized deductions, the deduction for IRA contributions, or the deduction for student loan interest (Step 4(b)).

If you are single or married but filing separately and claiming 0 deductions/allowances you only need to complete steps 1 and 5 on the current W-4 Form.

Yes. To provide maximum accuracy, you are encouraged to use the Tax Withholding Estimator available at www.irs.gov/W4app. You should consider using the withholding estimator if you: expect to work only part of the year (this does not apply if you are only switching jobs), had a large balance due or refund last year and it is no longer the beginning of the current year, have dividend or capital gain income or are subject to additional taxes, such as the additional Medicare tax, have self-employment income, prefer the most accurate withholding for multiple job situations, or prefer to limit information provided in Steps 2–4 but do not want to sacrifice accuracy. For additional help on how to complete you W-4 form, click here.

If you have income from self-employment (including as an independent contractor), you will generally owe both income tax and self-employment tax. Form W-4 is primarily intended to be used by employees who are not subject to self-employment tax. Thus, like the old Form W-4, the redesigned Form W-4 does not compute self-employment tax. If you would like to use Form W-4 to make an adjustment to your withholding to account for self-employment income that you will receive from another source, use the Tax Withholding Estimator at www.irs.gov/W4app or refer to IRS Publication 505.

Cash advance requests received before 4pm Monday through Friday will have the funds deposited in their bank account on the next business day. For example, if you submit a request on Tuesday before 4pm, the funds will be in you bank account on Wednesday morning.

About 60 seconds. Simply select the amount you need and enter your credit card information. Thats it!

There are no applications. If you have the available credit on your credit card, you are instantly approved for the cash advance.

The cost charged for the cash advance is 10% of the total amount requested. Personal loans and interest on other forms of cash advances are genrally much higher.