The Internal Revenue Service has published a table that small employers can use to calculate their health insurance credit for the 2010 taxable year.
Employers with 25 or fewer employees and an average wage of less than $50,000 per year may be able to use the tax credit to deduct up to 35% of health insurance premium payments from their federal income taxes.
Congress created the tax credit when it approved Section 1421 of the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which added Section 45R to the Internal Revenue Code. Starting in 2014, the maximum Section 45R tax credit will be 50% of the cost of coverage, IRS officials write in IRS Revenue Ruling 2010-13.
From 2010 until the 50% tax credit level kicks in, employers with 10 or fewer employees and an average wage of $25,000 or less will get a credit of up to 35%.
Employers with 11 to 25 employees, or 25 or fewer employees with an average wage of $25,000 to $50,000, will get a partial credit, officials say.