A US District Court in Michigan determined that the payments made to the employees pursuant to the severance programs were not “wages” for purposes of FICA taxation, and therefore tax payers may be seeking a refund. The decision will likely be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Employers that paid significant termination benefits to involuntarily terminated employees in 2006 should file “protective” refund claims no later than Thursday, April 15, 2010.
http://www.kiplinger.com/members/taxlinks/100305/Quality-Stores-case.pdf

The Temporary Extension Act of 2010 has amended the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to extend through March 31, 2010, the eligibility of a qualified beneficiary for COBRA (health insurance continuation benefits under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) continuation coverage and premium assistance.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4691

The US Treasury Retail Securities Training Team is offering a wide range of savings bond events, including in-person seminars, online Webinars and a 24/7 on-demand Webcast, all designed to build your savings bond knowledge.
http://www.frbservices.org/fedfocus/archive_treasury/treasury_0310_01.html

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, India, had 127,094 employees on record, but only 104,241 registered on the biometric attendance system that came into place in August 2009. The system blew the lid off the scam Wednesday, revealing there were 22,853 bogus employees causing the mayor to demand a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the scandal of the 'non-existent' employees drawing salaries every month.
http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20091126/234090.htm

FedGlobal is looking to expand ACH payments to 22 European countries and 12 additional Latin American countries.
http://www.frbservices.org/fedfocus/archive_fedach/fedach_0310_01.html

The US Department of the Treasury Fiscal Year 2011 Revenue Proposal includes such things as to extend the Making Work Pay (MWP) credit, extend COBRA health insurance premium assistance, end taxation of employer-provided cell phone use, mandate automatic enrollment in individual retirement accounts (IRAs), reinstate the 39.6% and 36% income tax rates, make the FUTA surtax permanent, restructure the federal wage reporting process, and more.
http://www.treas.gov/offices/tax-policy/library/greenbk10.pdf

According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute annual Retirement Confidence Survey, the percentage of workers very confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement has stabilized at 16%, & 54 % report that the total value of their household’s savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans, is less than $25,000.
http://www.ebri.org/publications/ib/index.cfm?fa=ibDisp&content_id=4488

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $297,000 grant to provide an estimated 280 jobless workers with partial premium payments for health insurance coverage. This grant will be used to make "gap filler" payments for unemployed individuals who are receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits and are eligible for the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) program.
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20100242.htm
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