Rules for Overtime Have Changed…Nonprofits, Take Note!

Who’s been hitting the books? RBI’s Chris Smith has been, that’s who! He is always brushing up on new tax rules that will impact our amazing clients. He does the studying so he can keep you informed, up-to-date, and out of trouble with the IRS.

Here is a big change to the tax law in 2020 that impacts employers that Chris wants to share with you. Overtime rules have changed! The criteria for which employees qualify for being exempt has been updated, as of January 1, 2020.

First, let’s do a quick review about what it means to be “exempt” and “non-exempt.” If an employee qualifies to receive overtime pay, they are considered to be “non-exempt.” However, if they are not eligible to receive overtime pay, they are considered “exempt.”

Want to know if your employees will qualify as exempt or not in 2020? If so, here are the questions to ask based on two new rules from the IRS.

Here are the questions:

  1. Does your employee earn less than $684 per week ($35,568 per year)?

If your answer is no, your employee is considered to be non-exempt.

If your answer is yes, please review and answer question 2:

  1. Does your employee direct the work of 2 or more employees?

If you answer “yes” for both questions 1 and 2, your employee is considered to be exempt.

If your answer is “yes” for question 1 but “no” for question 2, your employee is considered non-exempt.

It’s important to know that this impacts all employers! Often non-profits are excluded from many tax changes, but this one impacts everyone! Nonprofits are NOT excluded from this change.

To give you some background, this change to the overtime rules was first proposed under President Obama, but they were held up in the court system starting in December 2016. The Department of Labor made the final changes on January 1, 2020.

 

We have included the details for these rules here if you want additional information:

  1. The “standard salary level” threshold for white-collar exempt employees will increase from $455 ($23,600 per year) to $684 per week ($35,568 per year). That means starting January 1, employers will need to pay overtime to employees who earn less than $684 per week ($35,568 per year).
  2. Direct work of 2 or more employees – This threshold applies to non-executive, administrative, or professional (EAP) employees (i.e., white collar employees) who earn at least $684 per week and whose primary duties involve performing office or non-manual work and include at least one of the duties of an EAP employee (e.g., directing the work of two or more employees). The duties test did not change from the current rule.

We’re so glad that Chris is always on top of what you need to know about your taxes for your business. If you have any questions about this new overtime rule, or any other tax questions, please contact RBI Services or Community First. We’re here to support you!

New Tax Law for 2018 to Negatively Affect Homeowners

The new Tax law for 2018 that will affect millions of Americans when the new filing season comes around. Many individuals love to use home ownership as an extra way to save money on their taxes. After all, this is a major incentive for people to purchase homes in the first place, to save money.  These changes are being brought about by longstanding provisions from direct and indirect tweaks that have allowed individuals to deduct home-mortgage interest on Schedule A.

With these new changes in place, the 32 million tax filers who received a write off on their home will fall to approximately 14 million. Not only will this stop a tax break, this will cause a rift in savings. These new changes have begun to stir the question of what is the best thing to do with your home financially if you can’t pay it off? Many are beginning to advocate for paying off the mortgage as soon as possible. This mentality of paying off a mortgage can help compensate for the lack of a tax break, as well as rising mortgage interest costs. Many married couples will feel the blunt of this new law due to limitations on number of returns received, not person in a house hold. There is a cap on deducting more than $10,000 of state and local income or sales and property taxes (SALT). If a married couple is filing jointly, this is the limit they must stick to when filing. During the 2017 filing season, a couple only needed write off’s totaling over $12,700 to receive the benefits of listing deductions on Schedule A.

For 2018 couples will have to claim one $24,000, nearing doubling the amount from the previous year. These new limitations are causing stress and concern for individuals worrying about their taxes.

Contact us through www.rbisvcs.com to talk to us about this and other tax changes, so we can make sure your 2018 filing is as smooth as possible.