No easy answers on health-care tax credits for small businesses

The Seattle Times reports:

To small-business owners, it can seem like every deal offered by the government comes with much head-scratching and a ton of paperwork.

The latest example is a tax credit offered in the new federal health-care law to encourage small businesses to provide insurance for employees.

Effective this year, the credit will take up to 35 percent of health-care expenses straight off the top of any taxes owed by the smallest businesses — those with fewer than 25 full-time workers earning less than $50,000 a year on average, and for whom the company pays at least 50 percent of premiums.