Throughout 2020, Congress released numerous pieces of legislation designed to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 disruption, particularly for organizations that struggled to maintain their headcounts. One provision involved a refundable credit that organizations could apply against qualified wages and certain health insurance costs – the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).
Topics: IRS, tax relief, tax credit, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, PPP, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Consolidated Appropriations Act, Employee Retention Tax Credit, The Act, ERTC
On March 8, the Federal Reserve announced it is extending its application deadline for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans until June 30, 2021. The announcement that the loan facility that supports the PPP would run through June comes at the end of the temporary restrictions on PPP loan applications. Designed by the Biden administration to give priority access to small businesses, the limitation spanned Wednesday, Feb. 24 through Tuesday, March 9, 2021. During that window, the Small Business Administration was only accepting PPP loan applications from businesses with less than 20 employees.
Topics: CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, PPP, charitable contributions, SBA, loan forgiveness, PPP2
On February 22, the White House announced changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that give exclusive access to certain small businesses.
Year-end legislation provided additional funding and an extension of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for the first quarter of 2021. Effective February 24, the Biden-Harris administration is instituting a 14-day holding period on new PPP applications (sometimes referred to as PPP2 loans) for businesses with 20 or more employees. The goal of the hold is to lessen the PPP competition for small businesses and sole proprietorships that may have had difficulty accessing the federal funds previously.
Topics: Election, COVID19, Coronavirus, employees, CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP Loan, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Biden, PPP2
The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but limitations on its availability tempered interest in the relief measure. That is about to change, thanks to significant changes made on Dec. 27, 2020, by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act). The ERTC is now available to employers that received loans under the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), so any employer meeting ERTC eligibility criteria can benefit. Because employers potentially benefit from the enhanced ERTC on a retroactive basis, employers should immediately begin analyses to identify and calculate the value of retroactive or prospective ERTC benefits.
Topics: IRS, tax relief, tax credit, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, PPP, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Consolidated Appropriations Act, Employee Retention Tax Credit, The Act, ERTC
The Consolidated Appropriations Act passed on Dec. 27, 2020 provided some much needed COVID-19 relief measures along with its government funding provisions. After much back and forth among Congress about the size and scope of the stimulus package, several opportunities emerged in the final legislation, the first major stimulus package released since the spring’s Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Below are eight actions your organization may want to take as part of its recovery from COVID-19 disruption.
Topics: payroll taxes, FSA, student loans, tax credit, tax legislation, Paid Family and Medical Leave, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Employee Retention Credits, PPP, charitable contributions, SBA, loan forgiveness, Stimulus, Employee Payroll Tax Deferral, PPP2
The pandemic relief law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided an unprecedented $2 trillion in economic aid to American families, workers and small businesses affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Congress anticipated that the amount of money that would be involved, and the parameters for the different assistance programs established by the CARES Act would require some additional monitoring. Hence, the reason for the creation of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR), an independent federal law enforcement agency charged with the oversight.
Topics: COVID-19, CARES Act, disaster relief, SIGPR
With the imminent expiration of the expanded unemployment benefits in the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Senate Republicans released on July 27 their $1 trillion proposal for the next phase of coronavirus relief legislation. The proposal includes a bevy of nine separate bills that are collectively referred to as the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act. The timing and nature of this legislation stands in contrast to the House legislation — the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act — which was released in May as a single $3 trillion bill. Although the HEROES Act is not likely to be considered formally in the Senate, the HEALS Act in many regards is a counterproposal that borrows similar proposals. As Congress debates the HEALS Act proposals, its key provisions would ultimately represent the fourth phase of emergency legislation in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The details for each of the separate bills under the HEALS Act are summarized below.
Topics: IRS, Taxes, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Heals Act
The upheaval around the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back federal tax day, and now that the extended filing deadline is here, it may be time to do a final check of your tax strategy. Legislative updates over the past eight months bring new opportunities to minimize what your organization may owe for 2019. Here’s a summary of the major business tax updates that have occurred, and a checklist of timing evaluations to consider.
Topics: IRS, Taxes, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued three notices that provided welcome guidance on provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was signed into law on March 27, 2020.
Topics: IRS, Taxes, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
While the business interruption impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit virtually all companies in the second quarter, the financial impact from the coronavirus will still be felt through the third quarter. The economy is starting to reopen, but the pace of returning to business as usual is going to be slow and bumpy, particularly in the parts of the country that experienced a high number of COVID-19 cases.
Topics: COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, lending, Lending Relief
