Phoenix CPA | New Year Updates
With the calendar changing from 2014 to 2015, there are many new laws that go into effect that may affect you or your business.
- The state of Arizona has raised its minimum wage. The minimum wage in AZ goes from $7.90 to $8.05 on January 1st. This change will happen every year due to a ballot measure that was passed in 2006 that requires the state’s minimum wage to adjust annually based on inflation.
- The way contractors pay their sales tax will also be changing. Effective January 1st, the state of AZ will now require contractors that aren’t in business of new construction to pay sales tax on materials at the point of purchase. Under the old law, contractors would pay sales tax on 65% of the total invoice for all materials and were exempt from paying sales tax on materials purchased. Contractors who are engaged in both repair and new construction will have to figure out how to split material purchased for new construction jobs and repairs and maintenance of existing property jobs. For more information on this please visit www.azdor.gov.
- Businesses with 100 or more full time equivalent employees are now subject to the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. This means that they must insure at least 70% of their full time workers by 2015 and 95% by 2016. Small businesses with 50-99 FTE will need to start insuring their full time employees beginning in 2016. For more information on the Affordable Care Act visit www.healthcare.gov.
- The optional mileage rates used to calculate the deductible amount of vehicle expense as well as mileage reimbursements has risen to 57.5 cents per mile for business miles. This is an increase from 56 cents in 2014.
If you have any questions or would like more information on anything discussed here, don’t hesitate to contact us at Dusseau & Makris, PC, your Phoenix CPA firm.