Health Reform Step-by-Step: Small Business Tax Credits

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a long, complicated document that will cause real changes in the way you and your family access and pay for health insurance. Texas Impact is committed to helping you understand the bill and making sure you get the benefits available to you. In the coming weeks we will pick apart the bill-- starting with provisions that go into effect in 2010-- so you can so who will be affected.

Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

Small businesses have struggled for years to provide health insurance coverage to their employees. To help them shoulder the burden of this cost, the federal government is offering tax credits to certain small businesses who offer health insurance coverage to their employees.

The credit will cover up to 35% of the employer's contribution to health insurance, with an increase to 50% on January 1, 2014. About 4 million small businesses throughout the country will benefit from this provision, including an estimated 223,000 Texas businesses.

To qualify for the tax credit, an employer must:

• cover at least 50% of the cost of health insurance for employees
• not have more than 25 full-time equivalent employees
• have annual average wages of less than $50,000

To read more about the tax credit provision, you can visit the IRS website here.

To read about this provision on the health reform website, click here.

To read more about how the healthcare reform bill will affect Texas, click here.

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Health Reform Step-by-Step: Free Preventive Care