Small physician practices, may be eligible for new tax credits of up to 35 percent of the cost of providing health insurance to their employees. The credit will increase to 50 percent in 2014.

To be eligible for the credit, your practice must:

• Cover at least 50 percent of the total premium cost for employees’ health insurance
• Have less than 25 full-time workers, or the equivalent number of part-time workers
• Pay average annual wages below $50,000

Practices with less than 10 full-time employees with average salaries less than $25,000 will receive the full credit. It gradually phases out for employers with between 10 and 25 full-time employees with average salaries between $25,000 and $50,000.

Wages and hours of physician business owners and partners will not be counted in calculating the number of full-time employees or the average annual wages.

By Cindy Padilla, Barnes Dennig

For more information, visit http://irs.gov