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June 4 Update

House Bill H.R. 7010 passed the Senate and is now on its way to the President to sign. In addition to amendments relating to the PPP loan program, the bill provides that the deferral of employment taxes is now available even for taxpayers who have PPP loans that re forgiven under the CARES Act. This will allow taxpayers who obtain PPP loans and intend to apply for loan forgiveness to also defer the applicable employment taxes.

 

April 30, 2020 Update

The IRS has issued Notice 2020-32, which provides further guidance on some certain tax consequences associated with PPP loans. In particular, the IRS has confirmed that expenses paid with PPP loans will not be deductible to the extent attributable to the portion of the loan forgiven.

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On March 27, 2020, the federal government enacted the CARES Act. The Act includes a $349 billion dollar stimulus package available to small businesses in the form of a Small Business Administration 7(a) loan, known as a Paycheck Protection Program Loan. The loan is forgivable, and amounts to grant, if certain conditions are met. Below is a summary of the Paycheck Protection Program Loan terms and conditions along with a summary of a few other loan related provisions in the Act.

1.      Paycheck Protection Program Loan under 7(a) (NOTE: use of this loan may preclude eligibility for tax credits and payroll tax deferral under CARES Act)

Continue Reading COVID-19: Understanding the SBA Paycheck Protection Program Loan under the CARES Act

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The Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, along with the Florida Department of Revenue, have extended deadlines for certain entity and tax filings, including payment requirements, including the following:

  1. Annual report filings for entities registered with the state of Florida has been extended to June 30, 2020 (normal deadline is May 1st).
  2. Property taxes for 2019 payment deadline has been extended to April 15, 2020 (normal deadline is March 31st).
  3. For sales and use tax, as well as other related tax returns and payments:
    • Taxpayers who were unable to meet the March 20th due date for taxes collected in February will have penalty and interest waived, if the taxes are reported and remitted by March 31, 2020.
    • Taxpayers who have been adversely affected by COVID-19 have an extended due date to April 30, 2020 for such taxes collected in March.
    • Taxpayers who have not been adversely affected by COVID-19 are required to continue to file and remit taxes no later than the normal due date of April 20, 2020.
    • An adversely affected taxpayer is defined as a business that:
      1. closed in March 2020 in compliance with a state or local governmental order and following the closure, had no taxable sales transactions as a result of such closure; or
      2. experienced sales tax collections in March 2020 that were less than 75% of March 2019 sales tax collections; or
      3. was established after March 2019; or
      4. is registered to file quarterly.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you should have any questions regarding the above.

#FlattenTheCurve

Continue Reading COVID-19: Florida Extends Deadline for Certain Entity and Tax Filings

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The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced on March 25, 2020, an extensive series of steps to help taxpayers on a number of issues, including easing payment guidelines and postponing compliance actions, through the enactment of the People First Initiative.

People First Initiative

The People First Initiative is designed to help people facing uncertainty over taxes and is expected to take effect April 1 and run through July 15. Below are some of the notable aspects (for the complete list, click here): Continue Reading COVID-19: IRS unveils the new “People First Initiative”

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March 28 Update

Please note that the original post has been updated in its entirety to provide a more comprehensive and final review of the CARES Act tax-related provisions. 

On March 25, the Senate unanimously passed a $2 trillion stimulus package to help individuals, states and businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. On March 27, the House passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act” or the “Act”), and later that day, the President signed it into law.

Below are some of the notable tax-related impacts the CARES Act will provide: Continue Reading The Impact of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act

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On March 24, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued the first guidance related to the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It answered a few questions of general interest, but a lot of questions that relate to small businesses (by that, I’m talking about businesses with under 50 employees) are still up in the air. The DOL further indicated that we should not hold our breath for any regulations before the enactment date. Instead, regulations are promised sometime in April.

New effective date

The biggest surprise was the DOL announcing that the law is now going to become effective on April 1 rather than April 2. Taking advantage of some flexible language in the Act, the DOL obviously decided that it made the most sense to make a pay-related law effective on the first day of most employers’ pay periods, rather than on the second day, which was likely to create payroll nightmares. So, April 1 it is.

Benefits are not retroactive

Continue Reading DOL’s Initial Families First Guidance Throws Some Curveballs; Effective Date Now April 1

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We know business owners and HR professionals have questions and need answers quickly to rapidly changing laws concerning the coronavirus (“COVID-19”).

Grab a cup of coffee, login in and join me for a complimentary webinar on Monday morning, March 23, at 10:00 a.m., as I share information on:

  • Families First Coronavirus Response Act
  • Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
  • Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act
  • Emerging ADA/FMLA issues

Click here to register:  https://bit.ly/COVID-19HRLawUpdate.

If you have any questions you would like addressed, please email them to our Marketing Director Gail Lamarche at gail.lamarche@henlaw.com or me, at scott.atwood@henlaw.com. In the interim, have a good weekend and be well.

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March 21, 2020 Update from Sara Qureshi:

Today, the IRS announced the removal of cap limit:

Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. This deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax.”

March 20, 2020

Some good news for taxpayers. This morning, Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury announced via Twitter that taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties. Tax Day will now be extended from April 15 to July 15. Taxpayers should still ensure timely filing of their returns or extensions by the new due date.

Also in light of the national-emergency declaration, the IRS has exercised its authority to extend the April 15th tax deadline for payment of taxes by individual taxpayers of up to $1M for 90 days, waiving penalties and interest during that would otherwise accrue during period.  For corporations, a similar extension will apply for payment of taxes of up to $10M.

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It took a little longer than expected, but the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) is now law. Initially expected to go before the Senate on Monday, the House bill met with much industry resistance. The House then made some “minor technical corrections” (if 75 pages of corrections is minor) on Monday before sending it to the Senate on Tuesday. On Wednesday, March 18, the Senate approved the Act 90-8 (two Senators, one of whom was Sen. Rick Scott, were missing from the vote — self-quarantined due to possible exposure) and the President signed the Act into law a few hours later.

The final Act differs quite a bit from the initial House bill. Below is a summary of the major provisions that apply to employers.

March 20, 2020 Update

On March 20, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department, IRS, and the U.S. Department of Labor officially announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of the two new refundable payroll tax credits immediately. This relief would allow these employers to be fully reimbursed, dollar-for-dollar for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees.

The Act becomes effective April 2, 15 days from the date it was signed into law. There are two subsets of the Act:

  1. The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act; and
  2. The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.

Continue Reading President Signs Emergency Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employment Laws

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If you are an employer wondering what’s going to happen as a result of the coronavirus, be prepared for some potentially big changes.

On Monday afternoon, March 16, the Senate will consider the House’s emergency bill to temporarily expand the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). If passed — and the general consensus is that it will pass with minor modifications on March 16, and be signed into law the same day – it will significantly expand FMLA coverage for the short term.

Please remember this is only a bill, not a law yet. We will update you when the President actually signs the bill into law (likely tonight), and let you know the final provisions of the law.

Continue Reading Employers – Get Ready for Emergency Coronavirus Employment Laws

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In light of the developing situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19), we have decided to postpone the 28th Annual HR Law & Solutions, originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 26, 2020.

We believe this is a prudent decision to keep our friends, clients, and colleagues safe and healthy. The program will be rescheduled to Thursday, September 10, 2020, and will take place at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa with all of the same speakers and agenda. Click here to download the seminar brochure. We will, of course, update the agenda with any additional cases/topics that arise in the interim.

Registered Attendees

If you are currently registered for the seminar, your registration (and payment) will be automatically carried over to the new date of September 10. If you cannot make the new date, please let me know as soon as possible.

COVID-19 Resources

There are numerous resources available to help employers in numerous industries, including:

If you have any questions or concerns or need to change your registration, please email me at gail.lamarche@henlaw.com or call 239-344-1186.

If you should have any HR or employment law questions concerning the impact of COVID-19 on your business, please feel free to contact Scott Atwood, Chair of the firm’s Employment Law Group at scott.atwood@henlaw.com.