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News You (Individuals) Can Use (and that we may use to serve our clients better)

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1. Employees get a 2% raise with their first 2011 payroll checks. The Tax Relief Act of 2010 reduces the employee-share of the FICA tax by 2%

 2. Provisions set to expire on December 31, 2010, related to sales tax, educator, tuition, contributions, mortgage insurance premiums, and student loan interest deductions, and some related to the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits were extended by the Tax Relief Act. An energy credit for individuals was also reinstated, but at a lower rate.

 3. Updated mileage rate deductions for 2011: business-51 cents/mile; charitable-14 cents/mile; moving and medical-19 cents/mile.

 4. While it received a lot of negative press, the Health Care Reform Act of 2010 contained provisions that may benefit individuals including tax credits and increased benefits for employees' adult children.

 5. The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 increased some business write-offs and created additional Roth Account conversion opportunities for individuals.
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