The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that the due date for providing the following 2015 forms have been extended from February 1, 2016 to March 31, 2016:

• 2015 Form 1095-B – Health Coverage
• 2015 Form 1095-C – Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage

Also, the IRS has announced that the due date for the following forms are extended from Feb. 29, 2016, to May 31, 2016, if not filing electronically, and from March 31, 2016, to June 30, 2016, if filing electronically:

• 2015 Form 1094-B – Transmittal of Health Coverage Information Returns,
• 2015 Form 1095-B –Health Coverage
• 2015 Form 1094-C – Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns
• 2015 Form 1095-C –Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage

If you have any questions regarding this, please to not hesitate to contact Greg Gandy or Mike McDevitt at (719) 579-9090, and we will be happy to serve you.

Tracking business, charitable, medical, and moving mileage on a per drive basis accurately is a tedious task for taxpayers and employees that are reimbursed for their business miles. Traditionally, this is accomplished with a quick and dirty excel spreadsheet and Google maps, or not accomplished at all.

We are excited to promote the Mileage IQ app for Android, and iOS operating systems.

The app makes tracking mileage easy by running in the background and automatically tracking every mile driven then syncing them to the cloud where you can access from either the app itself or by going to www.mileiq.com to access it on your own personal file all stored in the cloud.  The app will take 5 minutes to calculate your drive. Then it will prompt you to classify it as either business, charitable, medical, or personal.  You can also take notes on the nature of the drive.  The following are the current 2015 rates:

• Business Miles: 57.5 cents a mile
• Medical or Moving Miles: 23 cents a mile
• Charitable Service Miles: 14 cents a mile

Many taxpayers miss out on a truly great tax deduction/expense reimbursement at 57.5 cents a business mile, which if you back out the cost of fuel, includes roughly 40 cents of depreciation and repairs on the vehicle alone.  If you drive on average 200 business miles a week, this equates to $5,800 in deductions/reimbursements a year.

A taxpayer has the option to use actual cost to maintain and use the vehicle (which must be adjusted for a business use percentage) or the standard mileage rate.  The standard mileage rate also allows for you to deduct parking fees and tolls as well, and Mile IQ has this feature already integrated.  Miles commuting to your tax home or place of business is not considered to be a business mile and must be excluded.

If audited, the IRS representative will request a drivers log to account for the business/charitable mileage taken on the tax return which is usually satisfied by the excel spreadsheet.  On Mile IQ’s website, you will have all of the data easily accessible and exportable to excel to meet your IRS documentation requirements.

If you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to call 719-579-9090 to contact your BiggsKofford representative and we will be more than happy to help you.

(www.payrollcity.com) The I-9 form is a document that employers must keep on file to verify the identity of each new employee (both citizen & non-citizen). Employees fill this form out once, at the time they are hired (but not before accepting a job offer) along with providing the required identification. Employers must use the new I-9 form for all employees hired on or after May 7th, 2013. The new Form I-9 is available on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov/i-9.

1. The differences between the old and new I-9 forms

It’s important to understand the differences between the two forms, so you can easily recognize whether or not you have the correct one on file. The new I-9 form is much more modern and user-friendly, and employers need not be afraid to use it. It was designed to eliminate some of the confusion from the old I-9 form. Now 2 pages long (plus 6 pages of instruction and 1 page of acceptable documents), the new I-9 form allows employees to provide additional information such as email addresses and telephone numbers. While some of these fields are optional, this is not expressly mentioned on the form itself, only in the instructions. Additionally, the new form no longer permits PO Boxes to be used as addresses. Much of the form has been re-formatted for simplicity, readability, and added clarification.

2. Existing employees should NOT fill out the new I-9.

You should not re-verify employment for existing employees unless you have a valid reason to question the authenticity of the original documents provided at time of hire. Doing so could be construed as discriminatory, and should be avoided.

3. Know what forms you should keep on file

All employers are required to keep a copy of the I-9 form and Federal W-4 form. Check with your state to see if there are additional requirements. For example: many states have an additional W-4 form, and some states, like Colorado, have a Verification Form. If an employee does not fill out a state W-4 form, make sure that the state allowances always match their federal allowances for payroll.

4. Understand the consequences of non-compliance!

In addition to fines as much as $1,100 per form, employers may be subject to criminal liability in some circumstances, as well. I-9 audits are on the rise, and even though 100% of your workforce may be legally allowed to work, you can still incur hefty fines simply by not maintaining valid records.

5. Make a To-Do List

In addition to downloading a copy of the new I-9 form, and carefully reviewing its instructions, you may wish to provide training to all employees and managers involved in administering the new I-9 form. Take care to take “smart steps” with regard to its implementation – especially if you do so prior to May 7th. You may wish to note any questions you have and consult with legal counsel where appropriate.

If you have any questions about how this change will affect your business, call BiggsKofford at (719) 579-9090.