State Withholding Changes
You Must Act Soon!
The Arizona State Legislature amended the amounts required to be withheld for Arizona withholding purposes. Through June 30, 2010, the amount required to be withheld was a percentage of federal withholding. For amounts withheld on or after July 1, 2010, the amount required must be based on a percentage (based on a table prescribed by the department) of gross taxable wages. “Gross taxable wages” is the amount that meets the federal definition of “wages” included in box 1 of the employee’s federal Form W-2 at the end of the calendar year (i.e., gross wages net of pretax deductions, such as the employee’s portion of health insurance premiums).
These changes affect employees subject to mandatory Arizona income tax withholding, Arizona resident employees working outside of Arizona who elect to have Arizona income tax withheld and pension and annuity recipients who elect to have Arizona income tax withheld from their pensions or annuities.
Every employee subject to Arizona income tax withholding must fill out a new form A-4 that will go into effect on July 1, 2010 and give the completed form to their employer.
The withholding percentage options for wages paid after June 30, 2010 are as follows:
(Rates are a percentage of gross taxable wages). 1.3% - available only for employees whose annual compensation is less than $15,000. 1.8%, 2.7%, 3.6%, 4.2% and 5.1%
As an employer you are required to distribute new Forms W-4 to each employee and begin using the new withholding percentages for every paycheck issued after June 30, 2010. These forms are available now on our website or through the AZ Department of Revenue website at www.az.gov. You may print a supply and begin distributing them to your employees at any time. Included with the form are instructions and an example to determine an appropriate withholding percentage. The formula is convoluted and may frustrate some of your employees to the point where they turn to you and ask for assistance to keep their withholding about the same as it was prior to this change. You may use the following table to assist you in this transition:
If the employee’s withholding rate Then use this rate for wages paid
before July 1, 2010 was: after June 30, 2010:
0% 0%
10.7% 1.3%
20.3% 1.8%
24.5% 2.7%
26.7% 3.6%
33.1% 4.2%
39.5% 5.1%
If a new employee does not return the form A-4 in a timely manner, employers are required to withhold at a rate of 2.7% until they receive a completed form from the employee. Also, remember that an employee can request a change at any time in their withholding percentage by completing a new Form W-4.
Please call us at 480-948-0060 if you have any questions about the withholding changes.
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Individual Health Care Reform Details
Floor on medical expenses deduction raised from 7.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 10%. Under current law, taxpayers can take an itemized deduction for unreimbursed medical expenses for regular income tax purposes only to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5% of the taxpayer's AGI. The new law raises the floor beneath itemized medical expense deductions from 7.5% of AGI to 10%, effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012. The AGI floor for individuals age 65 and older (and their spouses) will remain unchanged at 7.5% through 2016.
Limit reimbursement of over-the-counter medications from HSAs, FSAs, and MSAs. The new law excludes the costs for over-the-counter drugs not prescribed by a doctor from being reimbursed through a health reimbursement account (HRA) or health flexible savings accounts (FSAs) and from being reimbursed on a tax-free basis through a health savings account (HSA) or Archer Medical Savings Account (MSA), effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010.
Increased penalties on nonqualified distributions from HSAs and Archer MSAs. The new law increases the tax on distributions from a health savings account or an Archer MSA that are not used for qualified medical expenses to 20% (from 10% for HSAs and from 15% for Archer MSAs) of the disbursed amount, effective for distributions made after Dec. 31, 2010.
Limit health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) to $2,500. An FSA is one of a number of tax-advantaged financial accounts that can be set up through a cafeteria plan of an employer. An FSA allows an employee to set aside a portion of his or her earnings to pay for qualified expenses as established in the cafeteria plan, most commonly for medical expenses but often for dependent care or other expenses. Under current law, there is no limit on the amount of contributions to an FSA. Under the new law, however, allowable contributions to health FSAs will capped at $2,500 per year, effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012. The dollar amount will be indexed for inflation after 2013.
Dependent coverage in employer health plans. Effective on the enactment date, the new law extends the general exclusion for reimbursements for medical care expenses under an employer-provided accident or health plan to any child of an employee who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the tax year. This change is also intended to apply to the exclusion for employer-provided coverage under an accident or health plan for injuries or sickness for such a child. A parallel change is made for VEBAs and 401(h) accounts. Also, self-employed individuals are permitted to take a deduction for the health insurance costs of any child of the taxpayer who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the tax year.
Excise tax on indoor tanning services. The new law imposes a 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services. The tax, which will be paid by the individual on whom the tanning services are performed but collected and remitted by the person receiving payment for the tanning services, will take effect July 1, 2010.
Liberalized adoption credit and adoption assistance rules. For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2009, the adoption tax credit is increased by $1,000, made refundable, and extended through 2011 The adoption assistance exclusion is also increased by $1,000.
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Business Health Care Reform Details
Most small businesses exempted from penalties for not offering coverage to their employees. Although the new law imposes penalties on certain businesses for not providing coverage to their employees (so-called “pay or play”), most small businesses won't have to worry about this provision because employers with fewer than 50 employees aren't subject to the “pay or play” penalty. For businesses with at least 50 employees, the possible penalties vary depending on whether or not the employer offers health insurance to its employees. If it does not offer coverage and it has at least one full-time employee who receives a premium tax credit, the business will be assessed a fee of $2,000 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees from the assessment. So, for example, an employer with 51 employees who doesn't offer health insurance to his employees will be subject to a penalty of $42,000 ($2,000 multiplied by 21). Employers with at least 50 employees that offer coverage but have at least one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit will pay $3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit (capped at the amount of the penalty that the employer would have been assessed for a failure to provide coverage, or $2,000 multiplied by the number of its full-time employees in excess of 30). These provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2014.
The “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health plans. The new law places an excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage (often referred to as “Cadillac” health plans). This is a 40% excise tax on insurance companies, based on premiums that exceed certain amounts. The tax is not on employers themselves unless they are self-funded (this typically occurs at larger firms). However, it is expected that employers and workers will ultimately bear this tax in the form of higher premiums passed on by insurers.
Here are the specifics: The new tax, which applies for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017, places a 40% nondeductible excise tax on insurance companies and plan administrators for any health coverage plan to the extent that the annual premium exceeds $10,200 for single coverage and $27,500 for family coverage. An additional threshold amount of $1,650 for single coverage and $3,450 for family coverage will apply for retired individuals age 55 and older and for plans that cover employees engaged in high risk professions. The tax will apply to self-insured plans and plans sold in the group market, but not to plans sold in the individual market (except for coverage eligible for the deduction for self-employed individuals). Stand-alone dental and vision plans will be disregarded in applying the tax. The dollar amount thresholds will be automatically increased if the inflation rate for group medical premiums between 2010 and 2018 is higher than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates in 2010. Employers with age and gender demographics that result in higher premiums could value the coverage provided to employees using the rates that would apply using a national risk pool. The excise tax will be levied at the insurer level. Employers will be required to aggregate the coverage subject to the limit and issue information returns for insurers indicating the amount subject to the excise tax.
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