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Health Savings Accounts
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to an account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. Unlike a flexible spending account (FSA), HSA funds roll over and accumulate year to year if they are not spent. HSAs are owned by the individual, which differentiates them from company-owned Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) that are an alternate tax-deductible source of funds paired with either high-deductible health plans or standard health plans. HSA funds may be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability or penalty. Beginning in early 2011 over-the-counter medications could not be paid with an HSA without a doctor's prescription, although that requirement was lifted as of January 1, 2020. Withdrawals for non-medical expenses are treated very similarly to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tax Advantage
Tax advantage refers to the economic bonus which applies to certain accounts or investments that are, by statute, tax-reduced, tax-deferred, or tax-free. Examples of tax-advantaged accounts and investments include retirement plans, education savings accounts, medical savings accounts, and government bonds. Governments establish tax advantages to encourage private individuals to contribute money when it is considered to be in the public interest. Benefits Tax advantages provide an incentive to engage in certain investments and accounts, functioning like a government subsidy. For example, individual retirement accounts are tax-advantaged since they are tax-deferred. By encouraging investment in these accounts, there is a reduced need for the government to support citizens later in life by spending money on welfare or other government expenses. Capital gains tax rate benefits may also spur investment. Types of tax-advantaged accounts and investments Retirement plans An examp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
America's Health Insurance Plans
AHIP (formerly America's Health Insurance Plans) is an American political advocacy and trade association of health insurance companies that offer coverage through the employer-provided, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, and individual markets. History AHIP was formed in 2003 by the merger of Health Insurance Association of America and American Association of Health Plans. The association's 2005 television advertisement "Shark Bait" drew criticism for its claim that "lawsuit abuse" by American trial lawyers cost the typical American family $1,200 a year. On August 27, 2009, a spokesman for the association told CNN's ''Lou Dobbs'' program that "every survey shows strong satisfaction for private health insurance," as part of the organization's campaign against health care reform. The non-partisan Politifact watchdog organization found that his words were "half-true." In fact, Politifact said polls have found that often the majority of consumers have varying degrees of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deductible
In an insurance policy, the deductible (in British English, the excess) is the amount paid out of pocket by the policy holder before an insurance provider will pay any expenses. In general usage, the term ''deductible'' may be used to describe one of several types of clauses that are used by insurance companies as a threshold for policy payments. Deductibles are typically used to deter the large number of claims that a consumer can be reasonably expected to bear the cost of. By restricting its coverage to events that are significant enough to incur large costs, the insurance firm expects to pay out slightly smaller amounts much less frequently, incurring much higher savings. As a result, insurance premiums are typically cheaper when they involve higher deductibles. For example, health insurance companies offer plans with high premiums and low deductibles, or plans with low premiums and high deductibles. One plan may have a premium of $1,087 a month with a $6,000 deductible, while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Income Tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Taxation rates may vary by type or characteristics of the taxpayer and the type of income. The tax rate may increase as taxable income increases (referred to as graduated or progressive tax rates). The tax imposed on companies is usually known as corporate tax and is commonly levied at a flat rate. Individual income is often taxed at progressive rates where the tax rate applied to each additional unit of income increases (e.g., the first $10,000 of income taxed at 0%, the next $10,000 taxed at 1%, etc.). Most jurisdictions exempt local charitable organizations from tax. Income from investments may be taxed at different (generally lower) rates than other types of income. Credits of various sorts may be allowed that reduce tax. Some jurisdictio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
401(k)
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This legal option is what makes 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their (full-time) workers. There are two types: traditional and Roth 401(k). For Roth accounts, contributions and withdrawals have no impact on income tax. For traditional accounts, contributions may be deducted from taxable income and withdrawals are added to taxable income. There are limits to contributions, rules governing withdrawals and possible penalties. The benefit of the Roth account is from tax-free capital gains. The net benefit of the traditional account is the sum of (1) a possible bonus (or penalty) from withdrawals at tax rates lower (or higher) than at contribu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Individual Retirement Account
An individual retirement account (IRA) in the United States is a form of pension provided by many financial institutions that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. It is a trust that holds investment assets purchased with a taxpayer's earned income for the taxpayer's eventual benefit in old age. An individual retirement account is a type of individual retirement arrangement as described in IRS Publication 590, ''Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)''. Other arrangements include employer-established benefit trusts and individual retirement annuities, by which a taxpayer purchases an annuity contract or an endowment contract from a life insurance company. Types There are several types of IRAs: * Traditional IRA – Contributions are often tax-deductible (often simplified as "money is deposited before tax" or "contributions are made with pre-tax assets"), all transactions and earnings within the IRA have no tax impact, and withdrawals at retirement are taxed as income ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tax Relief And Health Care Act Of 2006
The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (, ), includes a package of tax extenders, provisions affecting health savings accounts and other provisions in the United States. Tax provisions Extenders The Act retroactively extended for two years (through December 31, 2007) certain provisions that had expired at the end of 2005, including: * Above the line deduction for qualified tuition and higher education expenses * Elective itemized deduction for state and local general sales taxes (in lieu of a deduction for state and local income taxes) * Research credit * For tax years ending after December 31, 2006, the Act also modifies the rules for calculating the research credit: it increases the rates of the alternative incremental credit and creates a new alternative simplified credit * Work opportunity tax credit, welfare-to-work tax credit * Tax credit for Qualified Zone Academy Bonds * Up to $250 above-the-line deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax law. It is an agency of the Department of the Treasury and led by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is appointed to a five-year term by the President of the United States. The duties of the IRS include providing tax assistance to taxpayers; pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings; and overseeing various benefits programs, including the Affordable Care Act. The IRS originates from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, a federal office created in 1862 to assess the nation's first income tax to fund the American Civil War. The temporary measure provided over a fifth of the Union's war expenses before being allowed to expire a decade later. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cafeteria Plan
A cafeteria plan or cafeteria system is a type of employee benefit plan offered in the United States pursuant to Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code. Its name comes from the earliest such plans that allowed employees to choose between different types of benefits, similar to the ability of a customer to choose among available items in a cafeteria. Qualified cafeteria plans are excluded from gross income. To qualify, a cafeteria plan must allow employees to choose from two or more benefits consisting of cash or qualified benefit plans. The Internal Revenue Code explicitly excludes deferred compensation plans from qualifying as a cafeteria plan subject to a gross income exemption. Section 125 also provides two exceptions. If the cafeteria plan discriminates in favor of highly compensated employees, the highly compensated employees will be required to report their cafeteria plan benefits as income. The second exception is that if "the statutory nontaxable benefits provided to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Insurance Contributions Act Tax
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA ) is a United States federal payroll (or employment) contribution directed towards both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, people with disabilities, and children of deceased workers. Calculation Overview The Federal Insurance Contributions Act is a tax mechanism codified in Title 26, Subtitle C, Chapter 21 of the United States Code. Social security benefits include old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI); Medicare provides hospital insurance benefits for the elderly. The amount that one pays in payroll taxes throughout one's working career is associated indirectly with the social security benefits annuity that one receives as a retiree. Consequently, Kevin Hassett wrote that FICA is not a tax because its collection is directly tied to benefits that one is entitled to collect later in life. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Form 1040
Form 1040 (officially, the "U.S. Individual Income Tax Return") is an IRS tax form used for personal federal income tax returns filed by United States residents. The form calculates the total taxable income of the taxpayer and determines how much is to be paid or refunded by the government. Income tax returns for individual calendar year taxpayers are due by Tax Day, which is usually April 15 of the next year, except when April 15 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday. In those circumstances, the returns are due on the next business day. An automatic extension until October 15 to file Form 1040 can be obtained by filing Form 4868. Form 1040 consists of two pages (23 lines in total) not counting attachments. The first page collects information about the taxpayer(s) and dependents. In particular, the taxpayer specifies his/her filing status on this page. The second page reports income, calculates the allowable deductions and credits, figures the tax due given adjusted i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, race, Sexism, gender, Ageism, age, religious discrimination, religion, ableism, disability, or Sexual orientation discrimination, sexual orientation, as well as other categories. Discrimination especially occurs when individuals or groups are unfairly treated in a way which is worse than other people are treated, on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in certain groups or social categories. It involves restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group. Discriminatory traditions, policies, ideas, practices and laws exist in many countries and institutions in all parts of the world, including territories where discrimination is generally looked down upon. In some pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
