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Welcome to AVZ
2011 Health Care Changes as a Result of the 2010 Health Care Act
Dear Friend,
Although most of its major provisions will take effect in subsequent years, the health care reform legislation passed in 2010 contains a major provision that is effective in 2011 as follows:
Employees may see some new information on their W-2 Forms for 2011. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required employers to disclose on each employee's annual Form W-2 the value of the employee's health insurance coverage sponsored by the employer. This provision was originally mandatory for tax years beginning after Dec 31, 2010; however, in Notice 2010-69, the IRS announced that employers will not be required to report the cost of employer-sponsored coverage on W-2s issued for 2011, due to the difficulty in preparing payroll systems for the requirement. However, employers have the option to report such costs in 2011, so some employees may see this information. It will appear in box 12, with a code DD. This reporting is strictly informational; the amount reported will not affect the individual's tax liability. The IRS is requiring this to be done starting with 2012 W-2 forms so employers who did not voluntarily comply for 2011 W-2's will need to start compiling information now in order to meet the requirement. There is an exception for small employers as follows, if employer files less than 250 W-2's for 2011 they will not be required to comply until January 2014 (relates to the W-2's for 2013). |
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2012 Tax Filing Deadline
The 2012 due date for personal income tax filings will be Tuesday, April 17, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, delaying the deadline for a weekend and a holiday observed by the District of Columbia.
The traditional deadline for personal income taxes is April 15, but that will fall on a Sunday this year. Monday, April 16, is Emancipation Day, a D.C. holiday.
Last year, tax day fell on Monday, April 18 because D.C. observed Emancipation Day on Friday, April 15.
The IRS however, suggests that you get your taxes done early
as it expects to receive more than 144 million individual tax returns this year, with most filed by the April 17 deadline.
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The New Filing Requirement Regarding Specified Foreign Financial Assets
(Form 8938)
For tax years beginning after March 18, 2010, certain specified individuals (to be defined later) must file Form 8398 to report the ownership of specified foreign financial assets if the assets exceed the reporting threshold (also to be defined later). The reporting threshold varies depending on whether an individual lives in the United States, is married or files a joint income tax return with their spouse. The specified financial assets include any financial institution and, to the extent held for investment, any stock, securities or any other interest in a foreign entity and any foreign financial instrument or contract with an issuer or counter-party that is not a U.S. person.
A specified individual is defined as one of the following:
- A U.S. citizen.
- A resident alien of the United States for any part of the tax year (the resident alien category applies if the individual meets the green card test or substantial presence test).
- A non resident alien who makes an election to be treated as a resident alien for purposes of filing a joint return.
A non resident alien who is a bona fide resident of American Samoa or Puerto Rico.
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Albrecht, Viggiano, Zureck & Company, P.C.
25 Suffolk Court, Hauppauge, New York 11788 P.631.434.9500 F.631.434.9518
245 Park Avenue, 24 Floor, New York, New York 10167 P.212.792.4075
PERSONAL SERVICE. TRUSTED ADVICE. |
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