Small Businesses Could Dodge Obamacare Mandates

Small Businesses Could Dodge Obamacare Mandates

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Small business owners across the country are looking at all the angles for getting around the new employer mandate under Obamacare that will take effect next year and require employers to provide coverage to workers clocking in more than 30 hours a week.

To save money, some employers are planning to shift their full-time workers to part-time status, while others say they intend to pay the $2,000 penalty per employee for not abiding by the mandate since it would be cheaper than providing coverage.

Of course, companies that do opt to pay the penalty will likely be nicked by higher taxes. That’s because expenditures to provide health insurance are deductible, but penalties are not.Read more at The Wall Street Journal

BAUCUS AND CAMP BACK TAX REFORM   The chairmen of the two tax-writing bodies, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., have jointly vowed a major push for tax reform this year. "While we cannot provide you every detail of the bill today, we can commit to you that we are writing tax reform bills," Baucus and Camp jointly wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published today. "We'll look to close loopholes like those used by some lawyers and celebrities to avoid paying the payroll tax on much of their earnings. We'll make sure that companies can't avoid paying tax on income they earn in the U.S. by pretending that they earned it in an overseas tax haven instead . Simplifying the code means regular families will be on a level playing field with those who can afford high-price tax advisers." - Read more at The Wall Street Journal

K STREET BRIGADE GEARS UP FOR TAX BATTLE A new analysis by Legistorm, an online database that tracks Congressional staff members and lobbyists, shows that at least 28 former aides to Senate Finance Chairman Baucus have lobbied on tax issues during the Obama administration. No other member of Congress has seen more of his or her former aides cash in their government experience for high-paying jobs as lobbyists. According to The New York Times, Baucus aides-turned-lobbyists helped financial firms save $11.2 billion in tax deferments. -  Read more at The New York Times

   The chairmen of the two tax-writing bodies, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., have jointly vowed a major push for tax reform this year. "While we cannot provide you every detail of the bill today, we can commit to you that we are writing tax reform bills," Baucus and Camp jointly wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published today. "We'll look to close loopholes like those used by some lawyers and celebrities to avoid paying the payroll tax on much of their earnings. We'll make sure that companies can't avoid paying tax on income they earn in the U.S. by pretending that they earned it in an overseas tax haven instead . Simplifying the code means regular families will be on a level playing field with those who can afford high-price tax advisers." -

CHAINED CPI COULD MEAN HIGHER TAXES ON THE MIDDLE CLASS President Obama is expected to propose tweaking the consumer price index formula to reduce long-term Social Security payments as part of the 2014 budget he will unveil on Wednesday. But the proposed new "chained CPI" could also raise taxes that would disproportionately affect middle to low-income families. "According to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, if individual income taxes had been indexed to the chained CPI starting four months ago, by 2021, 69 percent of the gains in revenue would come from taxpayers with incomes below $100,000, while those in the highest income brackets would barely be affected." For example, workers with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000 would experience an increased tax burden of 14.5 percent, while those with incomes over $1 million would just see an increase of 0.1 percent.  -  Read more at The Fiscal Times

OBAMA BUDGET TARGETS FEDERAL WORKERS The president’s new budget proposal calls for an increase in the amount of money federal workers must pay toward their retirements, a proposal that is expected to create $35 billion of savings.   -  Read more at GovExec

 

Brianna Ehley is the former Washington Correspondent for The Fiscal Times. She is currently a reporter on Politico's health care team in Washington, D.C.