Small businesses all around Oregon may be eligible to receive a tax credit while providing excellent health insurance to their employees. The credit is called the IRS Small Business Health Care Tax Credit and it can save Oregon businesses up to 50 percent of the amount they pay toward employee’s healthcare premium costs. If you have tax-exempt employees, the credit will still cover 35 percent of those premium costs.
Here is the minimum criteria your small business will need to meet in order to qualify for the credit:
1. You must employ fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees. This doesn’t include family of owners/partners or seasonal workers who worked fewer than 120 days during the tax year.
2. Your average annual salary per employee must be $50,000 or less.
3. You must pay at least 50 percent of your full-time employee’s healthcare premium costs.
4. The plan you offer must be a certified medical or dental plan. Certified plans include many Atrio health plans, Health Republic Insurance plans, Kaiser plans, Moda Health plans, Oregon’s Health Co-Op plans, Providence Health plans, and more.
If you qualify for this tax credit, be sure to apply for it! Even though Oregon’s Small Business Health Options Program has not yet opened, you can still get the tax credit. The easiest way to apply is to talk to your insurance agent about it. They will request a letter from Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace that states that the plan your purchased is certified. Once you get that letter, you can file it with your taxes and ask your accountant to apply for the tax credit. (While this letter doesn’t guarantee the tax credit, you do have to have it in order to apply.)
Are you interested in getting certified insurance? Contact us today and we will help you get set up for a prosperous 2016!
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