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PA’s New Hire Reporting Program?

Helpful Links for New Hire Reporting

About the New Hire Program

CWDSThe Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 along with Pennsylvania’s Act 58 of 1997 requires all employers to report certain information on their newly-hired employees to a designated state agency. As an employer, you are a key partner in ensuring financial stability for many children and families across the Commonwealth.

New Hire Reporting is designed to increase child support collections from non-custodial parents and parents who change jobs frequently, thus securing a better life for children. As an employer, your role of reporting newly-hired employees is critical to the success of the program. By reporting your newly-hired employees within 20 days of hire, you aid the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in speeding up the child support income withholding order process, locating non-custodial parents to expedite collection of child support and in many cases, establishing paternity.

The New Hire program has experienced not only significant increases in child support collections from non-custodial parents but also savings in unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation and public assistance programs through fraud detection. As a result, Pennsylvania is committed to this endeavor and expects continued diligence from the employer community to aid in this endeavor. For more information on this law, please visit the Pennsylvania State Law.

Employer Requirements

Employers doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must report the following employees:

New Employees: Employers must report all employees who reside or work in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Employees should be reported even if they work only one day and are terminated or leave employment prior to the employer fulfilling the new hire reporting requirement. However, if the employee never earned wages he/she does not need to be reported.

Re-hires or Re-called employees: Employers must report rehires, or employees who return to work after not receiving wages for more than 30 calendar days. This includes being laid off, furloughed, separated, or terminated from employment for any reason. Examples of such employees include teachers, substitutes, seasonal workers, etc.

Temporary employees: Temporary agencies are responsible for reporting any employee who they hire to report for an assignment. Employees need to be reported only once; they do not need to be re-reported each time they report to a new assignment. They do need to be reported as a rehire if the worker has a break in service or gap in wages from the temporary agency.

 For more information visit the PA CareerLink Website

The Top 10 Overlooked Tax Deductions

The top 10 overlooked deductions Each year, thousands pay too much in taxes because they didn’t think of deducting job hunting expenses or donations to charity. Read this list before you file.

Read more

Did you pay too much to Uncle Sam last year?

 Tax laws change ever year and staying current with those Federal, State, and Local tax laws are an integral part to ensure you are not overpaying your taxes. So how can you be assured that you are not overpaying taxes? If you are preparing your own tax returns using a tax software package, please keep in mind that software alone is not a substitute for understanding tax law. You should be spending many hours annually to stay current with all the tax law changes. If you are using a tax preparation service, make sure you fully understand the tax background and experience level of your preparer. Here are some good examples of questions to ask your preparer: Read more

Qualified Medical Expenses

Following is a list of qualified medical expenses that you can report on Form 1040 as a deduction. We don’t claim to include every conceivable deductible medical expense, but it’s a pretty hefty start! The expenses are listed in alphabetical order. For a complete list of qualified medical expenses, see IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses. Read more

How do home improvements affect your taxes?

One of the questions that tax preparers hear all the time is: “I added a sun room (added a deck, replaced the roof, caulked the bathtub—you fill in the blank). Can I take it off my taxes?” The short answer? “No.” Read more

ATM… What is it?

 Alternative Minimum Tax: Read more

What interest payments can I deduct? (2011)

Whether or not you can deduct interest payments on a loan depends on what the loan is for and sometimes how the loan is secured. Here’s a list of what is deductible and where you take the deduction:

You can deduct: Report the
deduction on this
form or schedule:
1. Interest on debts taken out for business
operations
Schedule C
2. Interest on student loans (special rules and limits
apply)
Form 1040 (worksheet
is provided in the
instructions)
3. Margin interest (up to the amount of interest,
dividend and other investment income you have)
Form 4952
4. Home mortgage interest on your primary
residence
Schedule A
5. Home mortgage interest on your secondary
residence or vacation home
Schedule A
6. Home equity loan interest (to the extent that the
loan doesn’t exceed $100,000)
Schedule A
7. Interest on loans you take out to buy property to
hold as an investment (such as land, securities,
etc.)
Form 4952
8. Points paid when you buy a house Schedule A
9. Points paid when you refinance your home loan
(deducted ratably over the life of the loan)
Schedule A
10. Interest you pay on loans to purchase property
that you rent to others
Schedule E
11. Interest on debts taken out for farming operations Schedule F or Form
4835
12. Redeemable ground rent (lease payments made
for the use of land) if the lease term is for more
than 15 years and you meet certain other criteria
Schedule A
13. Construction loan interest where you use the
proceeds to buy a building lot (provided you meet
certain requirements)
Schedule A
14. Timeshare loan interest in which you own the
property (fee simple or deeded) as a vacation
home
Schedule A
15. Boat loan interest if the boat has basic living
accommodations and serves as a vacation home
Schedule A
16. Mobile home loan interest if it serves as a
vacation home
Schedule A
You can’t deduct the following types of interest:

  1. Credit card finance charges and interest (except on purchases made either for your business or for property you rent out)
  2. Car loan interest (unless your car is used in your own business)
  3. Interest on loans for personal purchases
  4. Interest on loans for purchasing tax-exempt securities
  5. Interest on a loan for making a down payment on a house, unless the loan is secured by the home itself
  6. Interest assessed on unpaid tax liabilities

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