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Another tax season has ended….another baby born. Well, not actually, thank goodness, or I would have 26 children now! After tax season number 21 came to an end, when I was exhausted, relieved, and emphatic I was NOT going to put myself through this again, the childbirth analogy was born.

Before inception, there is the planning and discussions. The attempt to get as much done before the pregnancy as possible. We start out energized and on top of the task at hand with our lists of what needs to get done and a plan in place. Soon though, our schedule falls apart and as the due date creeps closer and closer, we start to get overwhelmed, even sick with anxiety of the enormity of our situation. For those long months, we are totally consumed by the pregnancy. Little else matters as there is just not time or space for anything else in our lives. Then as the due date nears, we are completely exhausted and not sure we can make it but thankfully adrenaline kicks in. We push hard to the end and are so proud of what we accomplished.

Many family and friends come alongside of us tax professionals to witness each tax season and wonder how we can keep putting ourselves through those grueling months each year. And they inevitably ask why?!  My response…tax season is like childbirth. It is exhausting and all consuming. And during the final push, you wonder if you’re able to put yourself through this again. But then it is over – “the baby is born” - and you celebrate with your family and colleagues all of the hard work and the huge accomplishment. Then as we enjoy the “baby,” the downtime in summer, we quickly forget about how painful it was, until we do it again…

Gilmore Jasion Mahler Tax Manager Amy Merkel, sense of humor intact after all those tax seasons, contributed this blog.

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers cloud-based accounting services and provides comprehensive services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm’s professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities. 

With a new corporate tax rate of 21% now in place, many businesses are asking if perhaps they should change their business classification with the federal government from an “S” Corp to a corporation (sometimes referred to as a “C” Corp) to take advantage of the lower corporate tax rate. Your window for making that decision (and having it take effect for the entire 2018 calendar year) closed on March 15, but you can still make the change.

An S Corp is a “pass-through” entity that passes its income through to the individual level for the purposes of taxation. A corporation would be subject to taxation at the new corporate tax rate of 21%.

Gilmore Jasion Mahler (GJM) tax experts are fielding this S Corp vs. C Corp question from many clients across multiple industries. While it may sound like an obvious move to make, they will tell you that each business must examine the pros and cons of such a move with a trusted tax advisor.

GJM held an education event on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and examined the S Corp vs. Corporation question, citing some examples that showed remaining an S Corporation could actually mean lower taxation for some businesses (versus taxation at the new 21% corporate rate).

If your business wanted to revoke your S Corporation election effective January 1, 2018, then you needed to make that decision by March 15, 2018. Now that the deadline has passed, you can still make the change, but you need to be aware that your revocation would be effective on the date indicated in your revocation election to the IRS. For example, if you elect to revoke your S Corporation election on June 30, 2018, you would file a short period S Corporation return for January 1-June 30, 2018. You would then file a Corporation return from July 1-December 31, 2018.

Now is the time to have this important discussion with your tax advisor, as such a move could have significant financial implications for your business. 

Tax Partner Deanna Hall contributed this blog. Learn about GJM’s expertise in Tax and meet our team. If you're interested in receiving more informational articles and tax strategy ideas direct to your inbox, be sure to sign up for our free GJM tax newsletter Focus. You may also want to consider signing up for some of GJM's free quarterly industry newsletters, including The Manufacturer (for those in manufacturing & distribution), On-Site (construction & real estate), Practice Management Advisor (physician practices and other healthcare entities) and The Expert (with a focus on business valuation and litigation support). You can sign up here for any of GJM's free newsletters.

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers cloud-based accounting services and provides comprehensive services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm’s professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities. 

Are you a contractor about to start a new project? Partner Bob Bobek, CPA leads GJM's Construction & Real Estate team and says there are some critical questions to ask before moving forward.

Bob works closely with many construction businesses as a trusted advisor in key business decisions. Interested in learning more about issues, regulations and tax strategy specific to the construction industry? Sign up for GJM's free industry newsletter On-Site. Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers cloud-based accounting services and provides comprehensive services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm's professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities.

“It takes too much time.”

“I would rather not have my workers on social media sites at work.”

“What if someone posts a negative comment about my business?”

Just some of the thoughts and questions that can come up when you start talking about social media as a tool for employee engagement in the manufacturing space.

Gilmore Jasion Mahler recently held a roundtable series for financial executives at area manufacturing companies. The topic: how social media, specifically Facebook, can help with employee engagement. A recent Gallup poll shows that two thirds of American workers are not engaged at work. The numbers are even less encouraging in the manufacturing industry. If workers aren’t engaged, that means they may not stay. As manufacturers struggle to find workers, the last thing they want is to lose the good people they have.

“Your Not-So-Secret Weapon for Employee Engagement” presentations in Maumee and Findlay offered up some out of the box ideas. Attendees heard from manufacturing companies in northwest Ohio that are using Facebook to engage their workers. Among the speakers: Andrea Kramer of City Dry Cleaning in Findlay, Caitlin Lake of Toledo transportation company Bolt Express and Heidi Bollin from Toledo’s Bollin Label Systems.  Carl Dettmer from Workforce & Community Services at Owens Community College also added his perspective to the panel discussions.

Some of the key takeaways from the panel discussions:

• Facebook is your opportunity to tell your company’s story for free. It can help give your team a sense of community and can also give potential recruits a look at what it’s like to work there.
• Posting doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Select one of your workers already active on social media and designate them. Giving someone the responsibility shows you value their input and trust their judgement (another engaged employee).
• Make sure your posts align with your company’s core values and strategy. Also remember that this is a place to have some fun and show your company’s personality.
• Establish a social media policy so all of your people are aware of appropriate content for social media and acceptable time spent on social media sites in the workplace.
• Job postings are fine, but won’t necessarily get a lot of shares. Anything that conveys your company culture will help show “who you are” to the world.
• Always post pictures or video if possible to get more interaction with your Facebook posts.
• Ideas for posts are all around you: show a quick meeting at your facility, an award to an employee, the wedding picture of a newly married worker, company picnic or event. Other ideas for posts: welcome your new hires, show young people shadowing for the day or tour groups.
• Showcase products and services in a more casual setting. Avoid the direct sales pitch.
• If someone posts a negative comment, view it as a customer service opportunity in front of the world. If you handle it professionally, you’re showing everyone how you handle a difficult situation.
• Be aware that if your company isn’t on Facebook, the social media site may have created an “unofficial page” for your business that people could be posting and tagging to right now. We found many of the companies attending our roundtable events had these “unofficial” Facebook pages and didn’t even know it. People were posting questionable and sometimes inappropriate material. Claim your unofficial page and take control of it.
• Remember, if you’re looking to engage younger potential employees, it’s a new era: social media is how millennials communicate. This is where they are, and this is where they will go to look for your business.

Other topics tackled at the GJM Manufacturing & Distribution Financial Executive Roundtables: House Bill 523, the legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio. Labor and Employment lawyer Sarah Pawlicki of Eastman & Smith helped manufacturers prepare for this major change in their workplaces. GJM Tax Partner Steve Schult also shared information about WOTC (Work Opportunity Tax Credit). The tax credit applies in the hiring of certain employees including veterans, the long-term unemployed and many other populations. GJM’s tax professionals are working with many of our clients right now to see if they could benefit from WOTC.

GJM established the Manufacturing & Distribution Financial Executive Roundtable after learning that area manufacturers needed a way to come together to share their challenges and successes. Previous roundtable topics have included mergers & acquisitions, company culture and the state of Ohio manufacturing.

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers comprehensive financial services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm’s professionals specialize in industries including construction, real estate, healthcare, manufacturing/distribution and utilities.

What is WOTC?

WOTC, or the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, is a federal tax credit. It’s available to employers in the healthcare field and in other industries who hire and retain veterans and other people who face significant barriers to employment. Employers claim about a billion dollars in tax credits every year under the WOTC program. There is no limit to how many people an employer can hire to qualify to claim the tax credit, and there are a few simple steps to follow to apply for WOTC.

How Does WOTC Work?

The tax credit that employers can claim depends upon the target group of the person hired, the wages paid to that person in their first year with the company, and the number of hours worked. There is also a maximum tax credit that can be earned.

For the long-term Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) target group only, the credit is available to employers who hire members of this group for up to a two-year period.

TANF Target Group:

The employer can claim a tax credit equal to 40% of the first-year wages, up to the maximum tax credit, if the employee works at least 400 hours.

The tax credit grows to 50% of the second-year wages, up to the maximum tax credit. Again, the employee must have worked at least 400 hours.

For all other target groups, the credit is available to employers who hire members of these groups, based on the employee’s hours worked and wages earned in the first year of employment.

Other Target Groups:

If the employee works at least 120 hours, the employer can claim a tax credit that’s 25% of first year wages, up to the maximum tax credit.

The tax credit goes up to 40% of first year wages (up to the maximum tax credit) if the employee works at least 400 hours.

Who can I Hire?

• Veterans
• TANF recipients
• SNAP (Food Stamp) recipients
• Designated Community Residents (living in Empowerment Zones or Rural Renewal Counties)
• Vocational rehabilitation referral
• Ex-felons
• Supplemental Security Income Recipients
• Summer Youth Employee (living in Empowerment Zones)

How do I Apply for WOTC?

In order to apply, you need to fill out IRS form 8850. Application instructions are also available to help guide you through the process.

Jamie Dixon is a member of the Gilmore Jasion Mahler Healthcare Specialist Team, with an expertise in long-term care, home health care and hospice. A member of the Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice, he has been a member of the Financial Issues Committee for close to 20 years.