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© quinn.anya

Couples in civil union in Illinois are facing a problem when it comes to filing their income tax. Under Illinois law, couples in civil union, are considered as married. However, federal law does not consider civil union as legal. Therefore a couple under civil union has to file their federal income tax separately.
Illinois Income Tax Act Sec. 502 (c)(1)(C) states that, if the federal income tax return of the couple is filed separately then they have to file their respective state income tax separately too..
Under the circumstances, medical insurance benefits that one civil union partner gets for the other, is considered as income and taxed under federal laws. They are also taxed under Illinois income tax laws, as the state uses the same income tax numbers, thus contradicting their law for civil union.
Senior staff attorney for the group Lambda Legal, Christopher Clark remarks that this is not in tune with the civil union law of the state.
Steps are now being proposed by Lambda Legal to make corrections and do away with such anomalies.

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© adria.richards

As per the new Californian sales tax law, having affiliates in the state is equivalent to having one's own presence in the territory. This is not well accepted by Amazon.com. Opposing the sales tax law, Amazon has sent out a letter to affiliates, as per which it will end contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program as soon as the sales tax law is in effect. Amazon says the bill passing the sales tax law is not only unconstitutional but also counterproductive.
However, Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, says the California tax law is unavoidable especially when the state requires the money. It is true that the US Supreme Court has passed the sales tax law preventing states from collecting tax from companies without a physical presence in the state, but California has skirted it by changing its definition of physical presence to cover companies with affiliates in its territory. Therefore, Amazon has little choice but to pay up.

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© David Reber's Hammer Photography

Business owners can save on taxes by setting up an S corporation.

The savings can be realized in three different ways. As compared to a regular C corporation, S corporation owners can use the business's losses on their personal returns as deductions. This advantage is also shared by single member and multiple member LLCs electing default treatment. As compared to almost every other form of business, and S corporation can save the owners self employment or Social Security and Medicare taxes. A final possible benefit is that compared with regular corporations, S corporations can save their owners taxes because S corporations don't pay corporate income taxes. This means that they avoid the "double-taxation" problem. However, this benefit usually doesn't offer much of a savings for small corporations and their owners.

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