Richard Hammar Reviews New Laws for 2010 Tax Returns

Contact: Sandra Hoekstra-Lower, 630-260-6200 ext. 4224, shoekstralower@christianitytoday.com

CAROL STREAM, Ill., Jan. 31, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The 2011 Church & Clergy Tax Guide by nonprofit tax expert, Richard Hammar, J.D., LL.M., CPA, releases today. Included in this annually updated, exhaustive tax guide are all of the last-minute changes that will affect churches throughout the United States. Here are some of the developments Hammar highlights in this book.

A few of the changes you'll want to find out more about are:

• Beginning in 2010, the new Healthcare Reform Legislation will grant small employers, including nonprofits, a refundable tax credit as inducement to obtain health insurance for their employees. After 2012, legislation changes will put a limitation on employee health flex spending arrangements.
  
  
• Congress passed the Creating Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which, among other things, removes cell phones from the definition of listed property, and imposes penalties of up to $50 per return for not issuing forms W-2 or 1099-MISC on time with the IRS. This legislation also increases the maximum amount a taxpayer may expense under section 179 to $500,000.
  
  
• In 2010, Congress enacted the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. The act provides two new tax benefits to employers that hire workers who were previously unemployed or only working part-time. Churches and most other tax-exempt organizations all qualify to claim the payroll tax benefit for eligible newly-hired employees.