Benefits

In his annual State of the Union Address last week, President Obama mentioned several policy initiatives he plans on advancing that could have an impact on the small businesses across the country.

Financial security remains elusive for almost half of Ohio households, which often are one medical issue, pink slip or other crisis away from plunging into severe poverty, according to a new report from the Corporation for Enterprise Development.

An analysis of charity care at the state's 24 nonprofit hospitals, conducted in cooperation with the New Hampshire Hospital Association, shows that hospitals here are more charitable than the national average and less profitable, although there are wide variations from one New Hampshire hospital to another.

The new health insurance laws still have many individuals and small business owners scratching their heads. In an effort to help those in North Carolina, Tim Robinson, CPA, tax director at the CPA Firm of Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP, in the Raleigh-Durham area, recently spoke to financial executives on compliance with the Affordable Care Act. He discussed several tax penalties that will affect Triangle businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees.

Most U.S. taxpayers must secure health insurance coverage this year whether they want to or not. But the IRS and Treasury Department have clarified several exceptions to the rules in new proposed regulations relating to the health insurance mandate for individuals.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few years, you’re well-aware that the massive health care legislation known informally as “Obamacare” by both its detractors and proponents remains the law of the land.

Starting this year, the credit goes up to 50 percent for for-profit entities, and 35 percent for tax-exempt ones.

I visited Arizona last summer, where the temperatures hit 119 degrees in the afternoon and didn’t much cool at night. They call it “dry heat.” I called it Apache Territory.