KOS Implements New Company Policy

KOS has developed a Personnel Committee whose primary goal is to discuss personnel-related issues, policies and procedures and other performance and talent management issues with the goal of making KOS the best possible workplace.

First order of business has been to recognize changing workplace trends in the industry and create a more comfortable and enjoyable workplace. All employees working in the office and not meeting with clients will be able to wear jeans Monday through Friday..

“Our philosophy has always been on delivering the best client experience and we want our professionals to always remain dynamic and engaged,” states Managing Partner Jeff Arnol. “We recognize that workplace trends are changing and we want to make sure our employees understand that we are staying current on these developments,” Human Resource Director Julie Jesso adds, “The new policy has already been put into effect and well received.”

For more information on KOS, visit www.koscpa.com.

Changes to Key Sections of the Illinois Unemployment Act

In December 2015 legislation was signed into Illinois law which changed key sections of the Illinois Unemployment Act.  These changes to Illinois law have taken effect on 1/3/2016 and add some clarification to the existing rules about terminating employees for misconduct.

Prior to this legislation when terminating an employee for misconduct, employers found it difficult to substantiate misconduct when terminating a poor employee due to the definition of misconduct provided by the state.  For purposes of the state misconduct was defined as “the deliberate and willful violation of a reasonable rule or policy of the employing unit, governing the individuals behavior in performance of his work, provided such violation has harmed the employing unit of other employees or has been repeated by the individual employee despite a warning or other explicit instruction from the employing unit.”

Many times when an employee was terminated due to true misconduct, the state would award unemployment benefits to the employee because the employer has the burden of proof to prove misconduct by the employee based on the law in Illinois.  When an employer would fail to prove misconduct in the termination of an employee, the state would award unemployment benefits to the employee, which would result in a higher tax bill for the employer for the next three years.  Employers were left frustrated not only from having to deal with a poor employee, but needing to pay higher unemployment taxes.

The legislation enacted on 1/3/2016 does not change the definition of misconduct but does add eight specific instances to help better define the term misconduct when representing your company in front of the IDES:

• Falsification of an employment application or other documentation provided to an employer.
• Failure to maintain licenses, registrations, certifications reasonable required by the employer, or those that the individual is required to possess by law.
• Knowing, repeated violation of the attendance policies of the employer that are in compliance with State and Federal law.
• Damaging the employers property through conduct that is grossly negligent.
• Refusal to obey an employer’s reasonable and lawful instruction, unless the refusal is due to the lack of ability, skill or training for the individual that would result in an unsafe act.
• Consuming alcohol or illegal or non-prescribed prescription drugs, or using an impairing substance in an off-label manner on the employers premises during working hours in violation of the employer’s policies.
• Reporting to work under the influence of alcohol, illegal, non-prescribed or impairing substance.
• Grossly negligent conduct endangering the safety of individuals and co-workers.

With this expanded definition of misconduct employers can now be represented in front of the IDES and  better protect themselves from paying higher taxes resulting from an employee’s misconduct and relieve some of the frustration generated by a bad hire.

Please contact your KOS representative about any questions you may have about working with the IDES or how unemployment taxes affect your business.

KOS 2016 Economic Outlook Breakfast - Another Successful Event!

Thank you to all the attendees of the 2016 Economic Outlook Breakfast last Thursday, January 14th at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  This was the fifth year that KOS has hosted this event and we had another wonderful turnout.  It is always so great to see many of our clients and friends in one room.  A special thank you to our fantastic speakers this year: Beata Kirr of AllianceBernstein L.P., Wade Lewis of The Wade Street Group at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Spencer Klein of MB Financial Bank NA. 

We look forward to continuing this event and other events throughout the year.  We are always welcome to any suggestions for topics or event ideas as we constantly look to serve our clients in the best possible way.  Please contact Kristin Kentra at 847-580-4100 or kkentra@koscpa.com concerning any KOS special events.

Congrats to Diana Spatoulas and Bruce Kreisman!

Diana Spatoulas, Senior Accountant and Bruce Kreisman, Tax Supervisor were both published this past month in Accounting Today. Both write articles regularly for the monthly KOS  newsletter, "Bottom Line Bulletin."

Diana's article was titled, "Tips for Teaching Kids about Money Management" and went live on Accounting Today on December 23, 2015.  

Please click the link below to view the full article.

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/financial-planning/tips-for-teaching-kids-about-money-management-76732-1.html

Bruce's article was titled, "Dealing with IRS Tax Notices" and went live on Accounting Today on December 30, 2015.

Please click the link below to view the full article.

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/tax-practice/dealing-with-irs-tax-notices-76750-1.html

As always please visit www.koscpa.com to view our monthly newsletter and learn more about the services we offer.

BREAKING NEWS: Tax Extenders Legislation Expected – Before December 31!

 

Legislation that will extend a number of tax provisions that expired on December 31, 2014, was introduced on December 15, and is expected to be passed by Congress and signed by the President within the next few days.  It’s noteworthy that several provisions are expected to be made permanent, and others will be extended for multiple years.

We’ll provide a more comprehensive summary of the legislation once it officially enacted, but there a few key provisions of which we want you to be aware:

Business Provisions

·         The annual limit for expensing certain asset additions under IRC Sec 179 is permanently increased to $500,000.  And beginning in 2016 the limit will be indexed for inflation.

·         Bonus depreciation is extended for the years 2015 through 2019.  Fifty percent bonus depreciation is provided for 2015-2017, forty percent bonus depreciation is provided for 2018, and thirty percent bonus depreciation is provided for 2019.

·         The research tax credit is permanently extended.

Individual Provisions

·         Key provisions that are being made permanent include:

o   The child tax credit

o   The American Opportunity credit

o   The deduction for certain classroom expenses for elementary and secondary school teachers

o   The deduction for state and local general sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes

o   The ability of individual at least 70 ½ years of age to exclude from gross income qualified charitable distributions from IRA accounts.

·         Provisions extended through 2016 include:

o   The exclusion from gross income for the discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness,

o   Allowing mortgage insurance premiums to be deducted as qualified residence interest, and,

o   The credit for nonbusiness energy property.

We’ll provide a more comprehensive summary of the legislation once it is enacted. Please contact your KOS Advisor if you need more information in the meantime.

Check out the KOS December Newsletter!

Check out the KOS "Bottom Line Bulletin" Newsletter if you haven't already!  This month we are featuring an article by Senior Accountant, Diana Spatoulas entitled "Tips for Teaching Kids about Money Management" and also an article by Tax Supervisor, Bruce Kreisman entitled "Tax Notices." 

You can view our newsletter on our website at http://www.koscpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/December-2015-Newsletter.pdf.

If you would like to receive an email notification of our monthly newsletter, please contact Kristin Kentra, Marketing Director at kkentra@koscpa.com to get on our list!