Time is money and administering your Section 125 Premium Only Plan (POP) shouldn’t be something that is costing you money, but saving it. So, to help save you in your valuable time here are some things to consider when deciding how to administer your premium only plan. [read more...]

High Deductible Health Plans were the fastest growing segment of health plan design for 2011.  Most HDHP’s are accompanied with a Health Savings Account (HSA).  The benefits of a Health Savings Account or HSA are significant, and now your tax savings can be even greater. [read more...]

City managers and human resource managers are finding themselves and their benefit packages under the public microscope over the past several years.  Where many towns, cities, and county budgets had allowed for 100% coverage of benefits that required no employee participation we’re finding that arrangement changing rapidly.  Many government or quasi government plans are starting to require their participants to cost share in at least a portion of their benefits.  Others are turning toward high deductible health plans coupled with a health savings account.  In either case, if you have not augmented your benefits plan with an IRS Section 125 Premium-Only Plan, you are missing out on substantial cost savings – and so are your employees. [read more...]

Non-profits enjoy amazing tax treatment and are exempt from many of the laws, rules, and taxation that are required of private business.  However, over the past several years the IRS and D.O.L. have found many 501(c)3 have been extremely out of compliance with things such as retirement plan reporting and tax deductibility of employee withholdings just to name a few.  Based on these findings the IRS changed many rules governing qualified plans in 2009 for plan years starting 2010 in regards to having a written plan document, filing 5500’s with the IRS and many other steps to make sure these non-profits were in compliance.  Although these requirements are specific to 403(b) retirement plans our office has been amazed at the frequency of calls or live chat with executives at non-profits who believe they are exempt from the need to have a written plan document for their employee deductions for health and welfare benefits. [read more...]

The fact is that owners can not participate in the company’s Section 125 Cafeteria Plan. Specifically the following owner/employees are not able to participate in a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan: [read more...]

This is the time of year to close out the books, get ready to file taxes and work with management to determine if there is a better and more effective way to keep more of the money you earn.  The GREAT news is there are a few opportunities still available for small business to have HUGE tax savings on expenses you already have.  Better yet, you can share these savings and increase morale with just a little bit of research.  IRS Section 125 Premium Only Plans have been around for years but like so many other government regulations many of us don’t know about them or just haven’t taken the time to implement one. [read more...]

With the passage of Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act (PPACA) government compliance with programs such as IRS Section 125 Plans will be a work in progress for years to come.  The most pressing change is based on the 2013 limitation to the out of pocket component of the Section 125 Plan.  Where the core document provided by www.taxfreepremiums.com is the Section 125 Premium Only Plan or POP document there is no update required. [read more...]

Last week, we talked about how some businesses are considering discontinuing their healthcare plans because of the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHCA). Would this decision benefit businesses or their employees? [read more...]

The most progressive employers are turning to CDHP (Consumer Driven Health Plans) which are proven to make your participants better consumers.  The facts are clear, the Employee Benefit Research Institute recently released information stating that 15.7 Million adults are now enrolled on an HDHP that is HSA eligible.   With dependents that’s almost 33 million estimated enrollment including dependents participating who are eligible for Health Savings Accounts.   Yet only 30% of those enrolled have actually established an H.S.A account.   The success of a CDHP for most organizations is focused on three things: [read more...]

It’s no secret that the task of government compliance with programs such as IRS Section 125 Plans has most employers jumping through some hoops.  There Department of Labor lists one of many requirements to distribute certain documents such as a Summary Plan Description referred to as SPD.   But through all of this disclosure and required notifications is a HUGE opportunity to use this communication tool to craft your company culture. [read more...]