COVID-19 UPDATES

At the end of 2020, Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a new law that provides for additional relief related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, 2021), includes a second draw of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans (PPP Second Draw Loans). It also allows businesses to deduct ordinary […]

Tax provisions made permanent (without other changes). The TCDTR makes permanent without other changes (1) the railroad track maintenance credit and (2) the exclusion of the aging period in determining the mandatory interest capitalization period in producing beer, wine or distilled spirits. Tax provisions extended (without other changes). The TCDTR extends the following tax credits without other […]

In a Revenue Procedure, the IRS has provided a safe harbor allowing a taxpayer to claim a deduction in 2020 for certain otherwise deductible eligible expenses if the taxpayer received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan which (1) at the end of the taxpayer’s 2020 tax year the taxpayer expects to be forgiven in a […]

The IRS has issued a new draft of Form 941-X (Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund). The new draft adds 14 new lines that are based on lines that were added to the recently-issued Form 941 (Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return), to reflect credits that were enacted earlier this year to […]

On Friday, May 15th, the SBA released the much anticipated PPP Loan Forgiveness Application. The application and related instructions do not provide as much guidance and detail as we expected, but there are still several key takeaways as outlined below: Alternative Payroll Covered Period: For administrative convenience, Borrowers with a biweekly (or more frequent) payroll […]

In a Notice, the IRS has clarified that no deduction is allowed for an expense that is otherwise deductible if both (1) the payment of the expense results in forgiveness of a loan made under the Paycheck Protection Program and (2) the income associated with the forgiveness is excluded from gross income pursuant to Coronavirus […]

The Ohio Senate unanimously passed the much-anticipated House Bill 197 to address several items during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. Some of the key tax provisions include: The extension of the state and school districting income tax returns for individual filers from April 15th to July 15th to mirror the federal deadlines The extension […]

On March 25, 2020 the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will inject roughly $2 trillion of economic stimulus into the economy designed to provide relief from the devastating toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. The final obstacles for the CARES Act are a vote by the House of Representatives, […]

On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the FFCRA into law. In general the FFCRA requires employers with less than 500 employees to provide a certain amount of paid leave to employees impacted by the coronavirus (COVID 19) and provides a tax credit to employers to mitigate the costs of providing the mandated leave. The […]

The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering small businesses and private, non-profit organizations loan assistance to help alleviate the economic injury caused by COVID-19.  In accordance with the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that was recently signed by the President, an Economic Injury Disaster Loan can be applied for through the SBA. Economic […]

The IRS has announced that a health plan will not fail to be a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) under IRC Sec. 223(c)(2)(A) merely because it provides health benefits associated with testing for, and treatment of, the COVID-19/Coronavirus without a deductible, or with a deductible below the minimum deductible (self only or family) for an […]