Finance Tax Time

Many companies offer their employees cash incentives to undertake certain actions such as buying a hybrid car. It is important to remember that such situations have tax consequences

Employer Cash Incentives To Employees For Hybrids

Purchasing a hybrid vehicle makes sense on many fronts. It is a financial windfall given tax credits provided under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Driving a hybrid has the additional financial advantage that one uses less gas, thus saving on fuel prices. Finally, hybrids are much easier on the environment given the fact they produce less pollution than traditional fossil fuel vehicles.

As is often the case, businesses tend to take action to promote socially positive steps before the federal government. Whether it is promoting healthier lifestyles or, in this case, a more green lifestyle, businesses almost always lead the way. The situation with hybrid cars is no different.

Many businesses are providing financial incentives to employees that purchase hybrid vehicles. These incentives can be significant. They often are offered in the form of cash payments, contributions to retirement plans and even stock options. As you might image, employees are taking advantage of the situation.

There is, however, one cautionary not for both businesses and employees when it comes to incentives for hybrids. The act of transferring wealth to the employees is considered a taxable event. Simply put, the employees must claim the amount of the incentive as income when reporting taxes. The employer is responsible for reporting said income as part of the reported W-2 wages and the employee must pay the relevant taxes.

There is one exception to this taxable income rule. If the employer is actually producing the product in question, then no taxable event occurs. In the case of the hybrid incentives, this exception would obviously only apply to employees of vehicle manufactures actually building the hybrids, to wit, Honda, Toyota, Ford, GM and so on.

The decision by many companies to offer incentives to motivate employees to purchase hybrids is laudable. It is important, however, that both employers and employees understand the tax consequences.

Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing tax information.

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Employees of a business often incur expenses on behalf of the business. The best way for the business to reimburse such expenses is to use an accountable plan as described in Regulations Section 1.62-2. If the business uses an accountable plan, the reimbursements received by the employee are not included in the employee’s gross income. Therefore, they do not appear on the employee’s Form W-2. The reimbursement is not subject to income tax withholding or payroll taxes. The employee may not deduct the reimbursed expenses. The business deducts the expenses, except that the business may generally deduct only 50 percent of business meals and entertainment.

The employee may deduct any expenses not reimbursed as a miscellaneous itemized deduction, except that the employee may generally deduct only 50 percent of business meals and entertainment. The taxpayer must reduce total miscellaneous itemized deductions by two percent of adjusted gross income. In addition, itemized deductions generally do not provide a benefit to a taxpayer unless total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. Therefore, the employee may receive little, if any, tax savings from the deduction.

To qualify as an accountable plan, the employee must substantiate the expenses to the employer. The employee must document the time, place, business purpose, and amount of each expense. The employee must also return any unused advances within a reasonable time.

Some businesses use nonaccountable plans. They give each employee a certain amount that the employee may spend for business purposes. The employee may or may not be able to keep any excess depending on the plan.

While a nonaccountable plan has the advantage of simplicity, it has tax disadvantages for the employer and for the employee. Under this type of expense account arrangement, any amount the employer provides to the employee is taxable as compensation. This treatment means that the employee is subject to income tax withholding, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax on the expense account. In addition, the employer is subject to payroll taxes on the amount. The employee may deduct the actual expenses incurred, except that the employee may deduct only 50 percent of business meals and entertainment.

However, the employee may not receive any tax benefit from the deduction because employee business expenses are deductible only as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The employee must subtract two percent of the adjusted gross income shown on the return from the total miscellaneous itemized deductions. Only the excess over this reduction is deductible. The employee’s total itemized deductions must generally exceed the standard deduction to provide any tax benefit. In addition, miscellaneous itemized deductions are not allowed for purposes of calculating the alternative minimum tax.

The best way to handle employee business expenses is to establish an accountable plan that complies with the requirements of Regulations Section 1.62-2. The tax advantages of an accountable should be greater than any increased bookkeeping burden over a nonaccountable plan.

Alan D. Campbell is a CPA in Arkansas and Florida and is self-employed primarily as an author of tax publications. He earned a Ph.D. in accounting with an emphasis in taxation from the University of North Texas. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court. He has published numerous articles on tax topics in professional journals. He is the co-author of the book Tax Strategies for the Self-Employed and the revision editor of CCH Financial and Estate Planning Guide, 15th edition. For more tax savings strategies, please see his blog: http://taxsavingsstrategies.blogspot.com

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If you worked in a salaried position during 2005, your employer should issue you a W-2 form for your tax reporting. So, what if you haven’t received one?

What To Do If You Didn’t Get a W-2

W-2 Forms, known as Wage and Tax Statements, must be issued by employers to all employers with duplicates being reported to the IRS. W-2 Forms have to be issued no later than January 31, 2006, which means you should have already received yours as of the writing of this article. Notwithstanding this legal requirement, more than a few employers fail to send out W-2 statements in a timely manner. This is particularly true for small business, which have a bad habit of being unorganized. There isn’t any tactical advantage to failing to send out W-2 forms, so don’t assume the employer is carrying out a vendetta.

If you haven’t received a W-2 Form from an employer, the first step is to contact the person or business and ask why it hasn’t arrived. Keep in mind that if you’ve moved since you worked for the employer, the W-2 Form may have been delivered to the wrong address or returned to the employer. Don’t assume the employer knows where you are.

Once you’ve spoken with the employer, you’ll inevitably be told the form is in the mail. Give the employer a couple of weeks to get it to you. If it still doesn’t arrive, you can call the IRS for help. Trust me, the IRS is very interested to learn about companies that are screwing around with anything related to employee taxes.

If April 15th rolls around and you still don’t have a W-2 Form, you should go ahead and file your tax return anyway. You should have pay stubs lying around from the job or at least bank statements showing you bimonthly deposits. Use these to figure out your estimated earnings and withholding. Report them on Form 4852, which is a substitute for your W-2 forms. Send the form in with your tax return.

Most employers are good about getting W-2 forms out to employees and ex-employees. They may be a few days late, but they will get them to you eventually.

Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing information on tax and taxes. Visit us to read more tax articles and our new tax credits page.

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