Since 1975, Total Administrative Services Corporation (TASC) has been helping family
farmers and small business owners provide affordable health, retirement and educational benefits
for their families and employees. TASC has gradually grown by providing tax saving solutions to the
segment of the workplace too often overlooked by traditional third-party administrators: small
businesses.
“We believe small snowflakes can make big drifts,” states TASC Chairman of the Board
Don Rashke when he explains the philosophy behind TASC’s success. “We thought if a business could
price its products competitively for the smaller employer in time it would be very successful,” he
adds. Rashke founded TASC as an insurance agency. From those early days in Stevens Point,
Wisconsin, the focus shifted into employee benefit plans, and in 1985 FlexSystem was
born. This Section 125 Cafeteria Plan administration service is TASC’s fastest growing product
with thousands of businesses enjoying the benefits of FlexSystem.
From the beginning, Rashke wondered why family farmers and small businesses could
not get tax breaks for healthcare expenses like those their large counterparts enjoyed. After all,
not only do family farmers and small business owners deserve the same advantages as large
companies, they are
entitled to them. Research into the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) verified Rashke’s
hopes, and AgriPlan and BizPlan were developed. The two products draw upon a little-known tax
provision–IRC Section 105–which allows qualifying self-employed individuals to deduct from their
taxes 100 percent of their family health care expenses. Last year, AgriPlan and BizPlan Clients
averaged over $10,000 in deductions and $2,450 in tax savings.
AgriPlan and BizPlan became part of TASC’s suite of services in 1986. MAPP (Maximum
Advantage Pension Planning) was added in 1996, and in 1998 PHiEd (Planning for Higher Education)
followed. COBRAToday–a COBRA administration service–joined the suite in 2001, with DirectPay
soon after in 2002, offering small and midsized businesses health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)
administration. In 2005 TASC released LegacyGuard, an estate preservation program. Finally, in
2006 a Payroll Administration Service option was created for AgriPlan and BizPlan
Clients.
Today TASC’s clients reside in all 50 states and the company has over 220 full- or
part-time employees. “TASC and the Rashke family are particularly proud of developing and
maintaining programs that have such a positive effect on the quality of life of our clients,” says
Dan Rashke, CEO. Many family farmers and small business owners have benefited from our
services; we provide essential health care for their families at an affordable price. According to
Dan, AgriPlan and BizPlan clients enjoyed over $340,000,000 in tax deductions last year alone. In
addition, employers enrolled with FlexSystem save in excess of one million dollars in payroll taxes
each and every year through the program. “That savings spurs growth, creates and saves jobs, and
has a significant impact on the lives of the families enrolled in our Plans,” says Dan.