Please click here to RSVP if your are attending our September 2, 2010 at 255 Old New Brunswick Road, First Floor, North Building at 6:00 p.m. It is important to send your delegates to this meeting because we will discussing bylaws changes and selecting volunteers for current NJECA openings.

NJECA

We are now accepting applications for the Daryl Pease King/Phillip Mini Scholarship. If you or a family member would like to apply please click here or e-mail the office to receive an application by mail. The deadline for accepting application is September 17, 2010.

Prevailing Wage Update with Steven Weinstein (2 CEU credits)

Event Info
Friday, October 8, 2010
Seminars times Begins 9:00AM-2:00 PM

Trade Show Begins at 11:00-5:00 PM

Scholarship Awards at 5:30 p.m.

The Blood Center of New Jersey will be at the Trade Show. We need your help please sign up to donate blood. It only take s a few minutes and could save a life.

One of our most important functions at NJECA is to stay connected to our Chapters. To accomplish this, I would like to start meeting periodically with the chapter officials to brainstorm and assist in any challenges or concerns. In addition, I will be e-mailing monthly to the chapters' contact any updates/questions NJECA might have. If your chapter has a fundraiser, news, events or ideas that you would like to share with membership you may e-mail or phone me and I will place it in section of our e-newsletter and /or website.

House Set to Pass Legislation to Strike Small Business 1099 Reporting Mandate from Obamacare Following political maneuvering on both sides, House Democrats finally agreed to debate their own bill that would repeal the onerous 1099 reporting requirements that were used as revenue to raisers in order to theoretically offset the burdensome costs of the new healthcare law (P.L. 111-148). Under the new healthcare reform law, small business owners are required to file 1099 forms with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for every business-to-business transaction of $600 or more, beginning in 2012.

The Senate version of the bill is up next which, was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee in May, where it is expected to remain until the Legislature returns in the Fall.

The proposed Lien Law revisions are based almost entirely on the March 2009 final report of the New Jersey Law Revision Commission, seeking to fill the gaps in, and improve the application of the original 1993 Lien Law. Some of the proposed amendments are a codification of decisions of federal and state courts, including the New Jersey Supreme Court, which have sought to interpret the Lien Law since its enactment.

New 1099 Tax Reporting Requirements

An Expensive New Burden on Small Business Owners

The healthcare law includes an expensive new tax information reporting requirement, which will fall heavily on small businesses. Currently, businesses report - on a form 1099 - any service-related transactions over $600 involving an unincorporated business (sole proprietor, partnership, and LLC). Beginning in 2012, the new healthcare law requires businesses to send Form 1099s for every business-to-business transaction of $600 or more for both property and services - creating a tremendous new paperwork compliance burden for small business. This means that a small business owner will have to file two forms - one with the vendor and one to the IRS - for almost every business-to-business transaction. In addition, since Form 1099 reporting requires the inclusion of a Taxpayer Identification Number for the vendor they do business with, small business owners will also be forced to spend time tracking down the number for each and every vendor requiring a Form 1099.

The reporting requirement substantially increases compliance burdens on honest small businesses. Small business already faces tremendous expense in complying the with the tax code. In fact, according to an NFIB Small Business Survey at $74 an hour, tax paperwork is the most expensive paperwork burden placed on small businesses by the federal government. Increased paperwork and administrative burden for every additional 1099 form prepared. Small businesses lack an in-house finance department to track this kind of reporting and that is why complying with the tax code is already 66 percent more expensive for a small business than a large business. Increased costs incurred for mailing any additional 1099 forms and for hiring outside help to ensure that the business complies with the law. The law seeks to capture non-compliant corporations, but places the burden on the wrong taxpayer (the compliant small business).

Form 1099 Reporting - Separating Fact from Fiction

Fiction: 1099 reporting is about healthcare because it is in the healthcare law.

Fact: The new requirement was added to the healthcare law in an attempt to raise $17 billion to help cover the nearly $1 trillion cost of the new law. Unfortunately, the burden will fall on tax compliant small businesses. Even worse, while small business owners will pay to comply with the new requirement, there is no guarantee that the government will raise the projected revenue. The IRS does not have the matching capabilities to handle the massive volume of paperwork resulting from this proposal. Many corporations file taxes on a fiscal year that is different than the calendar year in which 1099 forms are filed which could result in substantial errors in IRS attempts to accurately match information.

Fiction: Form 1099 reporting will capture lost tax revenue.

Fact: The tax gap is the amount of tax revenue the government is owed compared to how much it actually collects. Estimates place the tax gap at about $290 billion. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the requirement will actually reduce the tax gap.

Current data is not available to portray an accurate picture of underreporting of corporations. · The 2001 National Research Program data from the IRS only focused on the individual taxpayer. The data for corporations is much older. Data does not prove whether the business-to-business transactions are the problem or if underreporting is more prominent in payments over or under $600. Without better data to craft targeted solutions to close the tax gap, we should be very careful to avoid enacting proposals that would unduly harm and burden compliant taxpayers.

Healthcare Reform and W-2 Reporting of Health Benefits

Section 9002 of H.R. 3590 requires employers to calculate and report the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored health benefit coverage on employee IRS Form W-2s. The legislation is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2010. All employers who offer employer-sponsored health insurance coverage must comply with this new legislation and must be able to provide updated W-2's no later than February 1, 2011.

Under the new requirement, costs must be reported for the following plans and services:

· Medical plans;

· Prescription drug plans;

· Executive physicals;

· On-site clinics which provide more than a minimum of care;

· Medicare supplemental policies;

· Employee assistance programs;

· Dental and vision plans, unless they are "stand-alone" plans;

The cost of coverage - even if employer sponsored - under health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) is excluded from the reporting requirement. Employer contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) are excluded from being reported as part of the aggregated health coverage amount, but should continue to be reported in Box 12 of the W-2 as usual under existing law.

The aggregate cost of health coverage (including both employee and employer portions of cost) is determined under rules similar to COBRA. Under the new reporting requirement, employers must establish value for coverage provided by plans and programs not previously valued for COBRA purposes.

(Government regulations regarding how to value plans for COBRA purposes are expected shortly. Any regulations issued will apply both to COBRA and to the new IRS Form W-2 reporting requirements.)

In addition to reporting health benefit costs, the new reporting requirement appears to require the following:

· A monthly calculation of coverage value. (Future regulations may clarify how to report coverage of less than a full month.)

· W-2 reporting of former employees who are still provided with health coverage (including early retirees, retirees, terminated employees on COBRA, and surviving spouses).

For additional clarification on these points you may wish to consult with your insurance carrier or association.