Fox Accounting & Tax Services Inc.                                    (503)246-6994   Income Tax Preparation, Payroll & Bookkeeping Services

Interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1, 2014: 

• Three (3) percent for over-payments [two (2) percent in the case of a corporation].
  
• Three (3) percent for underpayments.
  
• Five (5) percent for large corporate underpayments. 
  
• One-half (0.5) percent for the portion of a corporate over-payment exceeding $10,000.
  

• 15% is the top capital gain rate form most filers applying to long-term capital gains that fall in the 25% to 35% tax brackets.
  
• 0% for long-term capital gain income that falls in the 10% or 15% tax brackets (up to $39,600 for singles or $73800 for joint files).
  
• 20% for long-term capital gain income that falls in the 39.6% tax bracket for high-income taxpayers (income over $400,000).
  

Individuals with incomes over $200,000 if single or $250,000 married will also be subject to the new 3.8% surtax on net investment income which includes net long term capital gains.

Supreme Court Strikes Down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)-  Following the Supreme Court ruling in late June 2013, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS ruled that same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be treated as married for federal tax purposes. Legally-married same-sex couples generally must file their 2013 federal income tax return using either the “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately” filing status.  This ruling has implications beyond filing status.  All provisions where marriage is a factor will be impacted.  This includes personal and dependency exemptions, the standard deduction, IRA contributions, earned income credits, and the child tax credit.  Legally married same sex couples will be treated as married for all federal tax purposes including gift and estate taxes. The ruling does not apply to registered domestic partnerships, civil unions, or similar formal relationships recognized under state law.

This law MUST be applied to 2013.  Couples who would benefit from this change in prior years may be able to amend any years that are not barred by the 3 year statute of limitations.

The “employer mandate” requiring all employers with 50 or more employees to provide healtcare coverage has been postponed until 2015.

The “individual mandate” requiring all citizens and legal residents of the United States to maintain minimum essential health care coverage begins in January of 2014.  Individuals who do not maintain this coverage for themselves and their dependents will be subject to penalties which will be calculated and assessed on their 2014 tax returns.  The penalty for year 1 will be $95 or 1 percent of your taxable income, whichever is greater. If you have $50,000 in taxable income, your penalty for not maintaining adequate insurance would be $500.