Agriculture : News
DATE: June 20, 2010
HARDIN COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
201 Peterson Drive
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701-9370
BY: Doug Shepherd
County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Review of Healthcare Legislation:
The health care reform signed into law in March 2010 is a massive, complicated piece of legislation that will affect individuals and businesses alike. This article was compiled by Suzy Martin and Rush Midkiff with Kentucky Farm Business Analysis, will touch on just a few of the topics which will likely be of concern to farm business operations.
1. The law gives small business owners tax credits to provide health coverage to employees. For this purpose, small business is defined as 10 or fewer employees with average annual wage paid of less than $25,000. Qualified businesses can receive a credit of up to 35% of their health premium costs through tax year 2013. The credit is phased out for businesses with more than 25 employees or an average annual wage of $50,000 or more.
2. Probably the most burdensome of all…businesses who employ more than 50 employees MUST provide “minimum essential” health coverage or risk getting fined. The fine is $2,000-per-employee, starting in 2014.
3. Starting in 2011, all businesses must report the value of the health care benefits they provide to employees on W-2s. However, the amount reported is not considered taxable income.
4. Also starting in 2011, any nonqualified distributions from health savings accounts will be penalized 20%. This is double the penalty from current rates.
5. In 2013, there will be a $2,500 per year cap on the amount an employee can contribute to a health care flexible spending account.
6. Starting in 2011, over-the-counter medication will not be eligible for reimbursement from flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts.
7. Individuals who do not have adequate health care coverage will actually start getting taxed (penalized) in 2014.
8. In 2014, those who are considered low income individuals can receive a refundable tax credit to purchase coverage. Low income individuals are those whose household income is below 400% of the federal poverty level. That roughly translates to $88,000 for families and $43,000 for individuals at today’s figures.
On a final note, the law also changed reporting requirements for Form 1099s starting in the 2012 tax year. Any vendor that a business pays $600 or more to in “gross proceeds” will need to receive a 1099. This means that corporations are no longer exempt. It also means that businesses will report not only services, rents, interest, royalties, etc. but they will also report purchasing products, parts, inputs, so on and so forth. This could result in cumbersome end of the year form preparations. Most of the changes do not begin until the 2011 tax year and many do not take effect until 2014.
Tobacco Disease Update:
Here’s the latest info on tobacco diseases comments of Dr. Kenny Seabold, UK
Extension Plant Pathologist. Blue mold remains active in North Carolina but has not been reported elsewhere in the United States. For Kentucky, the threat from blue mold is low at this time. The weather has been mostly unfavorable for disease development, and looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Still, growers should scout fields regularly and be prepared to act if the disease is found.
We are also starting to see black shank appear in fields around the state, and a little target spot is being reported in some areas. In the case of black shank, post-transplanting applications of Ridomil Gold, Ultra Flourish, or generic versions of the old Ridomil 2EC can be helpful so long as the tobacco variety that was planted has at least a moderate level of resistance to both races of the black shank pathogen. In the case of target spot, an application of Quadris (8 fl oz/A) around layby will allow for good coverage of the foliage and provide protection as the crop heads into a period of time in which conditions will be more favorable for disease development. A follow-up application of Quadris may be needed if active target spot is present as we approach topping.
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