The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that passed in March 2020 allowed businesses to defer paying their employer share of Social Security (OASDI) taxes through the end of that year. This allowed businesses to hold on to a portion of their tax liability to get through any cash-strapped times caused by COVID-19 and basically, have an interest-free loan for a long period of time. The deferred tax would then become due in two equal installments, with half due on December 31, 2021 and the remainder due on December 31, 2022. Here we are at the start of…
Posts published by “Romeo Chicco”
Last December, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which included $1.4 trillion to fund the government through fiscal year 2021, as well as a number of important tax provisions. One of the little-known and under-utilized benefits in that Act is the extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) through December 2025. The WOTC provides a general business tax credit of up to $9,600 to employers that hire and retain individuals from certain targeted groups, such as veterans, ex-felons, summer youth, SSI recipients, long term unemployed and more. This month, the Internal Revenue Service even reminded employers…
The subject of workers’ compensation is an expansive topic that we will tackle in a series of blogs. Part I will cover who is covered, and future articles will tackle wages, audits, and more. Workers’ compensation insurance is a requirement for just about every business operating in the U.S. There are few exceptions, which are determined at the state level; for example, Florida, where the requirement is four or more employees, including business owners who are corporate officers or Limited Liability Company (LLC) members, in a non-construction industry business. For a construction industry business operating in Florida, you only need…
The SBA just announced this week the opening of their Direct Forgiveness Portal at https://directforgiveness.sba.gov/ that will launch on August 4, 2021 for loans of $150,000 or less. The borrower’s bank will need to opt in to this program and so far, over 600 banks have elected to participate. This will enable about 2.17 million borrowers to apply through the portal, which represents 30% of loans $150,000 or less that have not yet submitted for forgiveness. The SBA has put in place a customer service team to answer questions and directly assist borrowers with their forgiveness applications, whether they are…
If you are a business that started after February 15, 2020, you, unfortunately, discovered that there was not much government support available to you. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) and other help were only available to businesses that started prior to that date, reason being that the government figured that you knew what you were getting into if you started after that date, therefore, you did not need any relief. On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, which extended support to existing businesses and also included…
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985 gives workers, and their families who lose their health benefits, the right to choose continued group health benefits provided by their group health plan for a limited period of time under certain circumstances such as voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce and other life events. Qualified individuals may be required to pay the entire premium for coverage up to 102% of the cost to the plan. The law generally applies to all group health plans maintained by private-sector employers with 20 or…
While I do not necessarily write about benefits for individuals, this one happens to affect the employer, or should I say, their previous employer, which could be you. The ARP Act allows involuntarily terminated employees under Subtitle F – Preserving Health Benefits For Workers to receive premium assistance on their COBRA. The premium assistance is in the form of 100% paid for health insurance for the separated employee and their dependents for the coverage period beginning April 1 to September 30, 2021. Newly terminated employees just entering eligibility for COBRA are eligible for the premium assistance, as well as those…
I have not been asked about this topic in my previous 25 years, yet in the past few months, I have received at least half a dozen inquiries. I am not sure of the reason this has become a hot topic lately; maybe it is COVID-19, but here are the details and considerations: Paid time off, whether it is Vacation, Sick, PTO, or whatever a company may call it, is a great benefit to its employees. It is there in the event that the employee cannot, or maybe just does not want to go to work, yet receives their pay…
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was the first COVID-19 Act passed by Congress on March 18, 2020. Back then, the belief was that COVID-19 would be a short-lived inconvenience where an employee may need to take a couple weeks off from work, and this Act was to allow them that benefit without cost to the employer. Here we are, a year later, still feeling the effects. The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2021, passed on December 27, 2020, extended this federal paid leave until March 31, 2021, and we now find further extension and expansion in the recently-passed American…
Attention Restaurants! More relief is in sight with $26.8 billion allotted to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, with $5 billion reserved for small establishments with less than $500,000 in revenue for 2019. The process will open ‘within weeks’ at sba.gov. As soon as the official web page is released, I will publish it, and funds will be available on a first come, first served basis. Although, during the initial 21 days, the SBA will prioritize grants to women-, minority-, and veteran-owned businesses. This Fund is not only for restaurants, but also includes bars and “similar places of business in which the…