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Key Aspects of a Successful Wellness Program

Wellness programs have found a place in many companies’ health care benefits packages, but it hasn’t been easy. Because these programs take many different shapes and sizes, they can be challenging to design, implement and maintain. There’s also the not-so-small matter of compliance: The federal government regulates wellness programs in various ways, including through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Whether your business is just embarking on the process of creating one or simply looking for improvement tips, here are some key aspects of the most successful wellness programs. Simplicity and Clarity “Welcome...

How to Treat Business Website Costs for Tax Purposes

These days, most businesses have websites. But surprisingly, the IRS hasn’t issued formal guidance on when website costs can be deducted. Fortunately, established rules that generally apply to the deductibility of business costs provide business taxpayers launching a website with some guidance as to the proper treatment of the costs. Plus, businesses can turn to IRS guidance that applies to software costs. Hardware Versus Software Let’s start with the hardware you may need to operate a website. The costs fall under the standard rules for depreciable equipment. Specifically, once these assets are operating, you can deduct 100% of the cost...

Three Tax Breaks for Small Businesses

Sometimes, bigger isn’t better: Your small- or medium-sized business may be eligible for some tax breaks that aren’t available to larger businesses. Here are some examples. 1. QBI Deduction For 2018 through 2025, the qualified business income (QBI) deduction is available to eligible individuals, trusts and estates. But it’s not available to C corporations or their shareholders. The QBI deduction can be up to 20% of: QBI earned from a sole proprietorship or single-member limited liability company (LLC) that’s treated as a sole proprietorship for federal income tax purposes, plus QBI passed through from a pass-through business entity, meaning a...

10 Tax Tips for Volunteers

Donating time to a charity can be a rewarding experience — both for you and people (or animals) who benefit from the organization's mission. But your efforts may also provide you with some well-deserved tax breaks if you itemize deductions on your tax return. Although you can't deduct the "value" of your services, here are 10 other tax-saving opportunities that you may be able to take advantage of. 1. Unreimbursed Vehicle Expenses If you take short-distance trips for the charity in your personal vehicle — say, to attend meetings, make deliveries or pick-ups or run other errands for the organization —...

Weathering the Storm of Rising Inflation

Like a slowly gathering storm, inflation has gone from dark clouds on the horizon to a noticeable downpour on both the U.S. and global economies. Is it time for business owners to panic? Not at all. As of this writing, a full-blown recession is possible but not an absolute certainty. And the impact of inflation itself will vary depending on your industry and the financial strength of your company. Here are some important points to keep in mind during this difficult time. Government Response For starters, don’t expect any dramatic moves by the federal government. Some smaller steps, however, have...

Is Your Cloud Provider Still Meeting Your Company’s Needs?

Like many businesses, yours has probably jumped aboard the cloud computing bandwagon … or “skywagon” as the case may be. How’s that going? Some business owners pay little to no attention to a cloud provider once the service is in place. Others realize, perhaps years later, that they’re not particularly satisfied with the costs, features and cybersecurity measures of their cloud vendors. Given the value of the data and documents that you store in the cloud, it’s a good idea to occasionally review your provider and determine whether you’re still making a good investment. Are You Getting These Benefits? As...