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04 February
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Benefits Payroll Deductions Best Practices

Posted by Allie Snavely
in Benefits

Benefits Payroll Deductions Best Practices SIMA proudly provides your company with comprehensive financial services allowing you to focus on your business. Below we have outlined some best practices related to maintaining your company’s employee benefit deductions. These practices are intended to support your existing company procedures and enable your team to find any discrepancies in a timely manner. As always, please feel free to reach out to your benefits team with any questions you may have at (804) 285-5700 or benefits@simafinancialgroup.com.   Manage & Update Payroll Deductions You are responsible for maintaining your payroll system and payroll deductions. It is important to develop processes to...

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29 January
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President Biden Issues Executive Actions Addressing Health Care Access

Posted by Allie Snavely
in Benefits

President Biden Issues Executive Actions Addressing Health Care Access President Joe Biden has signed two executive actions to strengthen Americans’ access to affordable health care. Among the actions is an executive order aimed at expanding enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid, and a memorandum rescinding regulations on reproductive health access. Biden’s executive order on health care access is aimed to increase access to the Health Insurance Marketplace. It is expected that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will open a “Special Enrollment Period” in the Marketplace from Feb. 15 through May 15. According to the White House,...

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07 January
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Market Commentary from Ashley Vice, CFA, CFP

Posted by Allie Snavely
in Retirement, Wealth

Last year, Barron’s magazine asked ten top strategists to predict where the S&P 500 would end 2020. Their range was 3,000 to 3,700. The final number was 3,756 for a year-over-year return of 16.3%—much better than expected. Had the strategists possessed foreknowledge that a global pandemic would shut down the services economy and send unemployment numbers to the highest level since the Great Depression, I doubt we would’ve seen a single year-end target with a 3-handle. But as of this writing, most markets are at or near all-time highs. That’s because the worst pandemic in the last hundred years was met...

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21 December
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Employee Benefits Plan Limits for 2021

Posted by Kelly Davis
in Benefits

Many employee benefits are subject to annual dollar limits that are periodically updated for inflation by the IRS. The IRS typically announces the dollar limits that will apply for the next calendar year well in advance of the beginning of that year. This gives employers time to update their plan designs and make sure their plan administration will be consistent with the new limits. Although some of the limits will increase for 2021, most of the limits remain the same. Increased Limits For plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2021, the following limits have increased: Health savings account contributions: Single coverage—$3,600 (up...

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21 December
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Final Rule on Health Care Transparency Issued

Posted by Kelly Davis
in Benefits

The Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (Departments) issued a final rule that imposes new transparency requirements on group health plans and health insurers in the individual and group markets. Specifically, the final rule requires plans and issuers to disclose: Price and cost-sharing information to participants, beneficiaries and enrollees upon request: A list of 500 shoppable services must be available via the internet for plan years beginning or after Jan. 1, 2023. The remainder of all items and services is required to be available for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2024. In-network...

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21 December
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PCORI Fee Amount Adjusted for 2021

Posted by Kelly Davis
in Benefits

The Fee is $2.66 per Covered Life for Plan Years Ending in 2021 The IRS issued Notice 2020-84, which increases the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee amount for plan years ending on or after Oct. 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2021. Specifically, the PCORI fee amount for plan years ending on or after Oct. 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2021, is increased to $2.66 multiplied by the average number of lives covered under the plan. The IRS provided transition relief related to the 2020 PCORI fee calculation, due to the anticipated termination of the PCORI fee prior to its extension. This transition relief...

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04 December
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Charitable Giving as part of your Tax Planning Strategy

Posted by Kelly Davis
in Tax & Accounting, Wealth

With the holiday season upon us and the end of the year approaching, we pause to give thanks for our blessings and the people in our lives. It is also a time when charitable giving often comes to mind. The tax benefits associated with charitable giving could potentially enhance your ability to give and should be considered as part of your year-end tax planning. Tax deduction for charitable gifts If you itemize deductions on your federal income tax return, you can generally deduct your gifts to qualified charities. This may also help you potentially increase your gift. Assume you want to make a...

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04 December
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Your Year-End Tech Check

Posted by Kelly Davis
in Small Businesses, Technology

Wrap up 2020 knowing that your network and hardware are secure and ready for the new year with SIMA Technology's Year-End Tech Check from Chief Technology Officer, Kelly Davis. Review your backup devices and services Commonly, the business backup solutions are as simple as having an external hard drive connected or saving documents elsewhere like a cloud backup. While this is suitable for retrieving single documents as needed, the real problem comes with bigger issues that include theft, natural disasters, or user error. Documents can be saved, but not software and business applications. And the biggest factor with a network failure is...

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04 December
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1099-NEC: Who should receive them, why proper classification is essential, and how to remediate errors

Posted by Kelly Davis
in Small Businesses, Tax & Accounting

Form 1099-NEC is due to vendors by Jan. 31 for payments made the preceding year to non-corporate independent contractors. The IRS requires form W-9 to be completed before any payment is made to a vendor. Businesses do NOT have to issue a 1099 to any vendor that indicates on the Form W-9 that they are a corporation unless the payments were to an attorney. Employee or Contractor?  To determine if an individual is an employee or an independent contractor, consider the IRS 3-Factor Test: The Behavioral Test:  Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and...

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