CCH Tax Briefing Details Senate Jobs Bill

(RIVERWOODS, ILL., February 23, 2010) – The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, providing tax breaks to businesses that add employees to their payrolls and invest in equipment has been cleared by the Senate for expected passage later this week. The measure must be reconciled with House tax legislation, and the fate of many expired and expiring tax provisions remains uncertain. CCH has issued a Special Tax Briefing on the provisions of the HIRE bill and lists the many tax issues for 2010 that are still unresolved. To read the Briefing, click here.

Hiring and retention tax incentives in the bill provide forgiveness of Social Security tax for each new “qualified” employee who is hired after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011. The forgiveness would apply to pay periods beginning on or after the date of enactment through the end of 2010. Businesses would also receive a $1,000 tax credit for qualified employees who then remain employed for one year. A “qualified” employee is basically someone who has been unemployed for at least 60 days prior to being hired.

“The incentives are structured to encourage businesses to hire new employees sooner rather than later,” said Mark Luscombe, JD, LLM, CPA, CCH Principal Federal Tax Analyst.

Businesses would also benefit from an extension of enhanced Section 179 expensing, although an extension of bonus depreciation is not in the bill. The Build America Bonds program would be liberalized under the legislation, which is paid for by increased withholding and reporting requirements on foreign financial accounts of over $50,000.

“What’s impressive is the list of expired and expiring measures that aren’t addressed in the bill,” Luscombe said. These include the COBRA subsidy, which expires at the end of this month, expired provisions for teacher’s classroom expenses, deductibility of state and local sales tax, the extra standard deduction for real estate taxes, the higher education deduction and a host of business provisions.

“Add in the expired estate tax, a lowered alternative minimum tax exemption and the upcoming sunset of the Bush tax cuts at the end of this year, and it looks as though Congress will have a lot on its plate even if this bill becomes law,” Luscombe said.

CCH Tax Briefings

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. Among its market-leading solutions are The ProSystem fx® Suite, CorpSystem®, CCH® IntelliConnect™, Accounting Research Manager® and the U.S. Master Tax Guide®. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill.

Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal, and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer had 2008 annual revenues of €3.4 billion, employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 35 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Visit www.wolterskluwer.com for information about our market positions, customers, brands, and organization.

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