Personal Loan Blog

A Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, is a report by an employer to the IRS that discloses the amount of income earned by an individual as well as the federal, state and payroll taxes paid. In addition to income earned in cash and non-cash payments, the W-2 reports the amount of contributions to pension plans and other deferred income.

Non-taxable income is income exempted from taxes due to a statutory exception. Non-taxable income from your employer would be given in the form of welfare benefits. You may receive other limited non-taxable income from your employer, such as certain meals and lodging. However, in order to be non-taxable, the meals and lodging benefits must be given solely for the convenience of your employer. An example of this non-taxable benefit would be working for a company where you were not permitted to leave the premises for a business reason like security, so meals are provided by the employer on the work premises. Most non-taxable income, however, would not come from your employer. You would receive it as a gift, bequest or child support payments.

Your W-2 contains information about the cost of your health care coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan. This is non-taxable income, but under a new rule, it must be reported on your W-2. This includes not only the cost of employer-provided health insurance but employer contributions to health savings accounts as well. Your W-2 will also include non-taxable elective deferrals or contributions to retirement plans or any nontaxable combat pay from a military employer.

Your employer should send your W-2 to you by Jan. 31. You will receive several copies of your W-2, so that you can include a copy when you file your state and federal taxes. Your employer will also send a copy of your W-2 directly to the IRS.

When a last will and testament is executed by a person, the will is generally intended to provide a legal mechanism to pass all of the decedent’s assets down to beneficiaries upon his death. A will may bequeath specific items or assets to a beneficiary or may bequeath a percentage of the total assets of the estate. Pennsylvania estate rules of interpretation will attempt to interpret the will in a way that leaves no assets of the estate without a beneficiary.

When a Pennsylvania decedent leaves assets to a child or issue of the decedent, or to a sibling or child of a sibling, and the designated beneficiary dies before the decedent, then the assets that were intended for the beneficiary will pass to the beneficiaries’ issue. “Issue” is a legal term which is used to describe a child, grandchild or other lineal descendant. The exception to this rule is that if the intended beneficiary is a sibling, or child of a sibling, and he fails to survive the death of the decedent, then the inheritance will pass to the decedent’s spouse or issue if that person is alive at the time of the decedent’s death.

When a bequest in a will that is not considered part of the residue of the estate does not qualify for the substitution of issue rule, then that bequest will become part of the residue of the estate, meaning it will become part of all non-specific bequests. Any portion of a will that has not been passed down by substitution of issue or passed to the spouse or issue of the decedent, shall be passed to all residuary devisees or legatees. A will often specifies that any assets remaining after all bequests have been taken into account shall be devised to a specific beneficiary or a class of beneficiaries in equal shares. In the absence of a clause such as that, the remainder will be passed down to the heirs under the laws of intestate succession as if the will did not exist.

A decedent may directly indicate in a last will and testament what she wants done with a bequest in the event the beneficiary does not survive her. In that case, the wishes of the decedent will be honored. For example, a testator, or person making the will, frequently bequeaths a portion to a spouse but also indicates that if his spouse should fail to survice him then the spouse’s share will pass to his children.

The U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics reported in May 2010 the 10th and 25th percentile salaries for mechanical engineers in food processing as $51,760 to $61,110 This salary range is commonly accepted as entry-level and represents the lowest salaries in the profession. The annual median salary was $74,080 and the 90th percentile salary was $111,050 for mechanical engineers in this field. The 10th percentile salary for mechanical engineers in general was $50,550.

Mechanical engineers work in research and development, operations and packaging in the food processing industry. In this industry, a mechanical engineer may work in an office or on the factory floor. Process engineer, project manager, packaging equipment manager and factory engineer are a few of the positions a mechanical engineer may occupy when working with Nestle or Kraft.

FoodProcessing.com ranked Nestle, Tyson Foods and Kraft Foods as the top three food and beverage companies for profits in 2010. Nestle’s U.S. operations are based in Glendale, California, and processes food such as baby food, beverages, snacks and pet food. Tyson Inc is based in Springdale, Arkansas, and processes beef, poultry, pork, and frozen and prepared foods. Kraft Foods, Inc is based in Northfield, Illinois, and processes snacks, cereals, beverages, cheese and much more.

Mechanical engineering students may pursue internship or co-op opportunities with companies in this industry. Once employed full time, a mechanical engineer can progress to senior levels of the same or similar positions. You may be tapped for middle management positions or to move into other professional positions in personnel or marketing.