Happy President's Day
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"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company"
George Washington
"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine" Thomas Jefferson |
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Our Mission:
We believe that nothing is more important than serving the needs of our clients. Intrinsic in our customer service-centric business model is making contact, on a regular basis, so that we know what you need and how to help. We send ClientCall to you each month to let you know that your business is important to us. In every issue, we strive to find the most interesting, effective information and web-based tools for our clients.
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CustomerCare
| | We welcome your suggestions as to how we can expand our customer care, so please feel free call or send us a fax or email. If you need supplies or service, we consider that a priority and will endeavor to meet your needs in the most expedient manner. Telephone: 818.884.8554, Fax: 818.884.6696 and Email: robbinsinsurance@attglobal.net |
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| About Us:
Kenneth S. Robbins Insurance Services
20501 Ventura Blvd., Suite 384
Woodland Hills, California 91364
Tel: 818.884.8554,
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Good afternoon:
On February 21st we observe President's Day - a federal holiday and our last three-day weekend until May! Enjoy ... in a patriotic way, of course.
During the past couple of years, we've rarely had a chance to compose a "fun" ClientCall filled with our unique and captivating wit. Instead, we provided much needed (not necessarily 'wanted' : ) information regarding new laws, worker's compensation, COBRA changes and extensions and other matters of consequence for you and your company. This month won't be any different ... more important news and information to share with you. Needless to say, we are here to answer any questions you have about ClientCall content, as well as any other topic of interest to you (Ken found some interesting info this morning on shoveling snow - something all SoCal residents will find fascinating and useful!)
Let's get to it... On January 10, 2011, the newly-sworn in Insurance Commissioner issued an order for an emergency health care regulation that was approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) on January 25. The new rule effective this month, allowing the Insurance Department six months to create permanent rules.
California's new Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones signed a Notice of Emergency Regulation that requires insurance companies to provide 80 percent of their revenue to policyholders' claims in California's individual insurance market - the 80% Medical Loss Ratio(MLR).
The MLR is the percentage of premium revenues that an insurance company pays for medical services, as opposed to their profits, marketing and overhead. According to the rule, insurance companies must provide rebates when the spending on "non-claims costs" - such as executive salaries, advertising and administrative costs - exceed 20 percent in the small group and individual markets.
The current law requires insurance carriers to spend a minimum of 70 percent of their revenue on medical care.
In remarks following his swearing-in, Commissioner Jones pledged that his primary priorities are:
· implementation of federal health care reform, including continuing to seek authority to "reject excessive health insurance premium increases"
· to "level the playing field" for consumers and businesses as they deal with insurance companies
· ensuring California has "a viable and competitive insurance market, where carriers are solvent, where new products like 'Green Property Insurance' can be brought to market to provide more choices and where consumers are treated fairly."
In this month's ClientCall: As you know, the 'lame duck' Congress and the Obama administration were quite busy through the holidays. On December 17, 2010, H.R. 4853, The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 was signed into law. Please check out our BulletinBoard for information about specific aspects of the Tax Relief Law, courtesy of Barbara Kogen, CPA.
This is a substantial and sweeping piece of legislation, so keep in mind that the details provided below are not comprehensive. If you wish to know more about the new law, please send us an email and we'll be happy to answer your questions.
This month, our Entrepreneur.com article offers suggestions for building your business with Facebook deals.
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Enterpreneur.com
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How to Build Business with Facebook Deals
By Mikal Belicove, February 1, 2011
Confused about what to do as you gather your boxes of receipts and prepare for the dreaded tax deadline in the coming months? This past year has brought several tax changes affecting small business owners, capped by President Obama's Dec. 17, signing of the tax-cut extension law.
Even as you prepare your 2010 taxes, consider also looking ahead to make investments in equipment or other fixed assets before Dec. 31, 2011... click here for the full article: Don't Miss These Tax Changes |
 InternetIntel |
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 BulletinBoard | | |
The recently enacted "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010" is a sweeping tax package that includes, among many other items, an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for two years, estate tax relief, a two-year "patch" of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), a two-percentage-point cut in employee-paid payroll taxes and in self-employment tax for 2011, new incentives to invest in machinery and equipment, and a host of retroactively resuscitated and extended tax breaks for individuals and businesses. The following are the key provisions of the package.
Tax rates: The new law keeps in place the current 10, 15, 25, 28, 33, and 35% individual tax rates for two years, through December 31, 2012.
Payroll tax cut: Effective for calendar year 2011, the employee share of the OASDI portion of Social Security taxes is reduced from 6.2% to 4.2% up to the taxable wage base of $106,800. Self-employed individuals also benefit. Self-employed individuals will pay 10.4% on self-employment income up to the wage base (reduced from the normal 12.4% rate). The payroll tax cut replaces the Making Work Pay credit, which reduced income tax withholding for wage earners in 2009 and 2010.
Capital gains/dividends: The new law also extends reduced capital gains and qualified dividend tax rates for two years
AMT relief for 2010: The 2010 Tax Relief Act raises the exemption amounts for 2010 to $47,450 for individuals, $72,450 for married taxpayers filing joint returns, and $36,225 for married taxpayers filing separately.
Marriage penalty relief: The 2010 Tax Relief Act extends the increased standard deduction for married taxpayers for two years, through December 31, 2012. For 2010, the 15% income tax bracket for a married couple was twice the corresponding amount for a single individual. The 2010 Tax Relief Act extends the expanded 15% rate bracket for married couples filing a joint return for two years, through December 31, 2012.
Tax-free distributions from IRA's: The 2010 Tax Act extends this exclusion from gross income for qualified charitable distributions made prior to 2012. It also generally permits taxpayers to elect to have distributions made in January 2011 treated as having been made on December 31, 2010.
Child tax credit: A taxpayer may claim a tax credit for each child who is under age 17 at the close of the year and satisfies relationship, residency, support, citizenship, and dependency tests. The child tax credit is $1,000 per qualifying child for 2010.
Dependent care credit: This credit applies to expenses for the care of a qualifying individual that enable the taxpayer to work. Under the 2010 Tax Relief Act, the enhanced dependent care credit is extended for two years, through December 31, 2012.
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