Author Archives: CorpStrat News

“Can I Deduct Medical Expenses Not Covered by My Insurance Plan?” – Answer Inside

What if we told you there was a way you can deduct all of the medical expenses that are not covered by your insurance plan. Doesn’t that sound interesting?

We’re talking about things like deductibles, co-insurance, doctor visits, doctor’s who don’t take insurance, eyeglasses, therapy, etc. Basically, all the things that you shake your head at and wonder, “why am I paying thousands of dollars for every year, after tax dollars?”

We’re here to tell you that there is a way to make all of these expenses deductible through a Discriminatory Medical Reimbursement Plan. This plan is available to:

Subchapter S Members
Sole Proprieters
Members of an LLC
Officers of an S Corporation.

If this pertains to you, please give us a call now and we can help make sure you’re maximizing deductibility. Your CPA may tell you that it’s not possible, but let us check to see what we can do.

At CorpStrat, our primary focus is helping business owners utilize all available strategies to overcome the complexities in benefit planning, reverse discrimination of benefits, and maximize deductibility. If you want to learn more about medical reimbursement strategies, reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com

LEARN MORE IN OUR ONE-MINUTE VIDEO:

Group Disability Insurance: Just How Important Is it? (Hint: Very)

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Getting disabled. It’s easy to think, “that’s never going to happen to me” or “stuff like that only happens to other people”. We get it, nobody thinks they’re going to be the victims of a disability. Did you know that 1 in 7 Americans can expect to be disabled for 5 years or more? You heard us right, 1 in 7.

Most people dismiss the idea of becoming disabled without giving it a second thought. We think it’s one of the biggest mistakes employers and employees can make. Becoming disabled could be financially catastrophic, especially for families that rely on a single income. If you’re a close relative of Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, becoming financially burdened may not be a problem for you. But if you’re not, you need to ask yourself: how are you going to replace your income in the event that you can’t work? Both business owners and employees who earn and need to continue to generate incomes must protect themselves and their families.

That’s where Group Disability Insurance comes in. Group Disability Insurance is:

1.) Extremely affordable
2.) A fantastic Employee Benefit
3.) Protection for people who need to protect others.

Some people are under the false impression that Group Disability Insurance is expensive. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In the event of the unthinkable, NOT having Group Disability Insurance is far more costly. Even though it’s not a flashy benefit, none of your employees are going to jump for joy, it’s one of the most important benefits you can provide. Because when life happens and someone gets disabled, this will be the lifeline that keeps their family financially afloat.

If you’d like to set up Group Disability Insurance for your team, contact us at marketing@corpstrat.com and we’ll get you started!

Can Employers Offer Employees Different Levels of Contribution?

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Today we want to share a hack around discrimination in employer contribution to employee benefit plans. The question we often receive is: Can you give different employees different levels of employer contribution?

The short answer is “Yes you Can.”

It’s commonly thought that employers don’t have a lot of discretion in designing and delivering health care benefits for their employees. But the reality is, there are many ways employers can enhance the delivery of their benefits by defining the class of eligibility. Thus creating legal and non-discriminatory ways to enhance employee benefits by class.

Now while it is possible, there are some complexities to setting it up because it touches on some issues regarding employment law and may not be advisable depending on workplace culture. But in general, an employer can create classes of employees and define the contributions or the offering of benefits to these select classes of employees.

Non-discriminatory ways to define an employee’s class of eligibility:

Generally employers have discretion when structuring their benefits plans and are able to make distinctions among employees and the benefits they’re offered. Plans may differ among employees only on “bona fide employment-based classifications”. A “bona fide employment-based classifications” might include: full-time versus part-time employee status; different geographic location; membership in a collective bargaining unit; date of hire or length of service; or differing occupations. Each of these can be treated as different groups of similarly situated individuals and receive different levels of employer contribution. For example, it is perfectly fine to offer three weeks of vacation to exempt employees and two weeks to nonexempt employees because the basis of the vacation benefit is their FLSA category and not any protected category.

The key is to make sure that benefits plan decisions are non-discriminatory, and that’s where we can help. We can make sure protected groups remain protected and design an employer contribution plan that delivers the best possible benefit while eliminating any unintentional discrimination that may result from these decisions.

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With the current challenges in recruiting and retaining it’s a perfect time to revisit how you deliver, what you deliver, and make sure your benefit packages are competitive in helping you attract, retain, and reward the A players to move your business forward. Need help creating classes of employees and defining contributions? Let’s talk, shoot us an email at marketing@corpstrat.com

7 Key Benefits of Automated Payroll

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When your HR team is all tied up with number crunching week to week and manually running payroll, they don’t have as much bandwidth to focus on important responsibilities like hiring, employee relations, and training and development. Having automated Payroll set up is a huge win for your HR department and here are a few reasons why:

1. Reduces Errors

Many outdated systems require Payroll managers to migrate data from one platform to another leaving opportunities for human and programatic error. Our Workforce Ready system features a single database which means real-time updates and no syncing, ensuring Payroll is always on time and accurate.

2. Save Time

With automated Payroll, managers no longer have to run around wrangling timesheets, double checking approved time off, or submit corrections. With Workforce Ready, managers can run Payroll quickly, saving 3-5 hours per week.

3. Geofencing Capabilities

With outdated Payroll systems, many times employers were limited by location and relied on an honor system. With our automated Payroll system, Geofencing gives employees the opportunity to clock in from within a certain distance of a work site and offers employers deeper knowledge into the exact hours their employees are working—all of which lead to more efficient and accurate Payroll.

4. Increased Security

Security is a huge concern when you’re managing valuable employee and company information. With an automated Payroll system, your data is encrypted and password protected so it’s only accessible to your team.

5. Makes Taxes a Piece of Cake

Gone are the days of number crunching, referencing various spreadsheets, and pulling out your hair trying to understand confusing new tax rules. With an automated Payroll system, you never have to worry about being compliant with new tax rules because the system is constantly being updated to reflect current tax policies. Also, tax withholdings are automatically calculated for each individual employee so you can rest assured that everything is filed correctly and on time.

6. Easy Reporting

When it comes to Payroll, we think the more data you have the better. The deeper insight you can have into how your workforce is performing, the better you can make informed decisions for your team. With automated Payroll, you can easily download beautifully designed reports that give you both a birds eye and granular view of your Payroll, which will help you make more strategic labor cost decisions.

7. Self-Service Employee Portals

One of the biggest headaches for HR Departments is having to chase down employees for signed time-sheets or documents. Automated Payroll takes this stressor away immediately by offering each individual employee their own login credentials and dashboard. Through their self-service portal, team members can make updates to their information, sign time-sheets and documents, access documents, and so much more.

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Curious about automating your organization’s Payroll? Let’s talk. Give us a call at 818.377.7260 or email us at marketing@corpstrat.com

Everything You Need to Know About the American Rescue Plan Act & the COBRA Premium Subsidy

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On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or ARPA. ARPA provides $1.9 trillion in federal stimulus which includes a handful of items directly affecting employers and their employees. Among other provisions, ARPA created a 100% COBRA Premium Subsidy and additional COBRA enrollment rights for certain employees (and their families) who lost group health plan coverage due to an involuntary termination of employment or a reduction of hours. Today, we’ll break down how ARPA will affect employers specifically when it comes to the COBRA Premium Subsidy.

Who qualifies for the COBRA Premium Subsidy?

From April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021, group health plans providing COBRA continuation coverage must offer a 100% subsidy of COBRA premiums for Assistance Eligible Individuals (AEI) and their qualified beneficiaries. An individual is an AEI if they qualify for COBRA coverage due to an involuntary termination of employment or reduction of hours due to COVID-19. The subsidy requirement applies to major medical, dental, and vision plans offered by employers, but does not apply to Health Flexible Spending Accounts (HFSA). It’s important to note that individuals who qualify for COBRA coverage due to other qualifying events, such as a voluntary termination of employment, are not considered to be AEIs eligible for the premium subsidy.

In addition, the following individuals also qualify for the COBRA Premium Subsidy:

Individuals who do not have a COBRA election in effect on April 1, 2021, but who would be AEIs if they did, are also eligible for the subsidy. This means that individuals who experienced an involuntary termination of employment or a reduction of hours so that COBRA would have started sometime within the 18 months prior to April 1, 2021, but who did not timely elect COBRA, may still elect subsidized COBRA coverage.
Individuals who had elected COBRA coverage but discontinued such coverage before April 1, 2021 are eligible to re-elect COBRA coverage if they would otherwise be AEIs and are still within their COBRA 18-month maximum coverage period.

Will AEIs be responsible for COBRA taxes?

The amount of the COBRA premium subsidy is not taxable to the AEI. The premium amount is advanced by the employer or plan and will be reimbursed by the federal government through a refundable credit against payroll taxes.

What tax benefit will employers receive?

For self-insured plans and insured plans subject to federal COBRA, the employer will receive the tax credit. For insured plans not subject to COBRA, the insurer will receive the credit. Credit amounts exceeding Medicare taxes will be treated as a refund of a Medicare tax overpayment. Employers, insurers, and administrators will need to implement the ARPA COBRA provisions on very short notice, since subsidies became available beginning April 1, 2021.

The Department of Labor is expected to issue further guidance, but employers should consult with their insurers, third-party administrators, and advisors now to ensure compliance.

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We know this is a lot of information. Feel free to reach out to us we will help answer any questions. Email us at marketing@corpstrat.com or call us at 818-377-7260.