You compete for employee talent in a variety of ways, including perhaps by implementing a medical and family leave policy.
The good news on this front is that your federal government may have given you a tax credit (yes, that lovely dollar-for-dollar offset to your taxes) for what you wanted to do anyway. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) establishes a new federal income tax credit for employers that provide qualifying paid family and medical leave benefits to their employees. This new tax credit is available for two employer tax years only—those beginning between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019. If your business operates on a calendar year for tax purposes, you can put your business in a position today to claim the tax credit for both the 2018 and 2019 tax years. But you will need to hurry. If eligible, you can claim a credit equal to 12.5 percent of wages paid to “qualifying employees” (defined later) who are on family and medical leave, as long as the leave payments are at least 50 percent of the normal wages paid to those employees. You can increase the credit beyond the 12.5 percent. For each 1 percent increase in medical leave payments over the 50 percent threshold, the credit rate increases by 0.25 percent, up to a maximum credit rate of 25 percent. A qualifying employee is one who has been employed by your company for at least one year and whose compensation last year was less than $72,000. For purposes of qualifying for the credit, “family and medical leave” is defined as leave taken by a qualified employee for any of the following reasons:
Employer-provided vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave (other than qualifying leave as defined above) is not considered leave eligible for the credit. Also, leave that is paid by a state or local government or that is required by state or local law does not create leave eligible for the credit. The maximum length of paid family and medical leave taken by a specific employee who can qualify for the credit is 12 weeks per tax year of the employer.
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Spencer Accounting Group, LLC does not provide investment, tax, legal, or retirement advice or recommendations in these blogs. The information presented here is not specific to any individual's personal circumstances. AuthorKeana Spencer is an Accountant, Entrepreneur, and Educator to her clients, with a strong passion. Keana has over 10 years of experience and through her practice, she is a source of knowledge and strategies to her clients. |