Obamacare Individual Mandate

Most taxpayers who do not have health insurance will be required to pay a fee for being uninsured. There are numerous hardship exemptions but they must be applied for and approved prior to filing your 2014 tax return. Upon approval, an exemption certificate number (ECN) will be issued which must be included in the 2014 tax return.  Instructions on how to apply, as well as a list of the Hardship Exemptions can be found here

New mandate for CA employers

On 9/10/14, Governor Brown signed a new law which makes California the second state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave for nearly all employees in the state. This law applies to nearly all public and private employers with one or more employees. The law takes effect on July 15, 2015, but employers should be reviewing there sick leave policies now to prepare to comply by the deadline. The text of the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act can be found here. 

2015 IRS information

The IRS recently issued Rev Proc 2014-61 which gives inflation adjusted figures for 2015. This includes a wide variety of information such as tax brackets, exemption amounts, EIC information etc. The complete document can be accessed here.