Payments for the services of a child under the age of 18, who works for his or her parent in a trade or business, are not subject to Social Security, Medicare, and Ohio Unemployment taxes, if the trade or business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership in which each partner is a parent of the child.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has initiated a new method of assigning Social Security numbers (SSN) to new applicants. In the past, a person applying for a SSN would be assigned a number based on his or her geographic residency. The first three numbers of the SSN, known as the area number, were assigned to individuals in specific states.

Starting with those who had birthdays in July 2011, the SSA is going to discontinue mailing these annual projected benefit statements. It is expected to save $30 million, this fiscal year, and $60 million, next fiscal year, by ending the mailings.

The recently enacted 2012-2013 budget that Gov. Kasich signed into law includes a provision that eliminates the Ohio estate tax. Before this repeal, Ohio taxed anyone who died with assets above $338,333 at a tax rate of up to 7%. This was the lowest exemption amount of any state in the United States.

There were a lot of discussions this recent tax season regarding the tax law changes on Roth conversions. Those conversations will likely continue this year, as some changes to your new Roth can be made through October 2011.

Dealing with the Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT) just became a little more difficult. ODT has announced that June 30, 2011 was the last day that Service Centers in Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, Youngstown, and Zanesville would be open.