Masonry Magazine February 1972 Page. 14
M-970 Bobcat - Top of the Line
1½ yd. 3000 lb. load capacity, 10½ lift height, gas or diesel power, hydrostatic drive, 4-wheel drive traction, pivot turning ability, finger-tip speed/direction control, powerful 14'2" IEMC rated backhoe, grapple fork and choice of buckets. Backhoe and attachments change in less than one minute. Big unit performance with small unit agility and cost. Ask your dealer, or write, about special rental yard leasing.
Washington Wire
(Continued from page 13)
Certainly this is an area of tax law for the small company, particularly, to check. Remember, using taxes as a motivation will not disqualify a plan that is formed for future expenses and for the benefit of all employees. But a plan that does not indicate an arm's length set-up will definitely arouse the curiosity of the IRS.
DECEDENT'S RETURN
An income tax return may need to be filed for someone who died during 1971. If an individual's gross income from the beginning of the taxable year to the date of his death was $1,700 or more (or $2,300 or more if 65 years or over) or if his net earnings from self-employment were at least $400, then a 1971 income tax return must be filed for him. Generally, the decedent's last return is filed by the executor or administrator of his estate. However, what happens if no executor or administrator has been appointed? In that event, the IRS informs us, a return has to be filed by some person charged with the property of the decedent, e.g., the surviving spouse.
PRIVATE PENSIONS
Protection of private pension plans has come more into the limelight lately. In explaining its interest in this area, the Nixon Administration pointed out that only half of the country's working force has any form of retirement benefits. Of these, only 31% have vested interests. The Administration further pointed out that state laws safeguarding retirement funds are inadequate.
President Nixon has introduced a five-point private pension plan reform program that would include the following:
(1) Deductions should be made available for contributions by individual employees wishing to provide their own retirement benefits.
(2) Vesting standards should be improved, on the basis of a "rule of 50," in which a person whose age and years of participation in a pension plan total 50, would be 50% vested (and the percentage would increase as time goes on.)
(3) Self-employed individuals' deductions for contributions to retirement plans for themselves and their employees should be improved.
(4) An Employee Benefits Protection Bill, for safeguarding of retirement funds, should be enacted.
(5) The government study project should be directed toward preventing loss of benefits under plans terminated by the employer's bankruptcy, etc.
Subsequent to this announced plan of the Administration, Chairman Mills of the House Committee on Ways and Means introduced a bill to establish eligibility and vesting rules for private pension plans. This bill (H.R. 12272) would give employees an income tax deduction for amounts contributed by them to individual retirement plans or to private retirement plans established by their employers.