Recently Released PPP Loan Forgiveness Updates – Adam Sweet, Eide Bailly. “The government has released several updates to its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness guidance over the last few weeks. These recent updates further clarify the types and amounts of qualified expenses included in a borrower’s tentative forgiveness calculation.”
Some of the much-awaited guidance centered on owner employees and self-employed individuals. This guidance included rules for specific entity types:
- C corporation owner-employees: employer health insurance and retirement contributions are eligible additional expenditures, but the retirement costs cannot exceed 2.5/12 of 2019 amounts.
- S corporation owner-employees owning at least 2% of the S corporation: employer health insurance contributions are not included, but employer retirement contributions do count (the retirement costs cannot exceed 2.5/month of 2019 amounts).
- Self-employed individuals and general partners: employer health insurance and retirement contributions are not included as eligible expenditures.
INSIGHT: Financing Innovations in Emerging Technologies With R&D Tax Credits – Yair Holtzman and Joseph Lally, Bloomberg Tax. “To help fuel the cycle of innovation, U.S. companies are eligible to take advantage of key funding opportunities offered by the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit. The credit rewards companies for their investment of employees, time spent from the conceptualization through implementation phases of development.”
Interested in an R&D tax credit? Eide Bailly’s R&D Tax Incentives team can help.
Payroll Tax Deferral for Federal Employees Prompts Criticism – Jonathan Curry, Tax Notes ($). “A government notice indicating that President Trump’s temporary payroll tax deferral will go into effect for federal employees sparked alarm from observers, who say the move may be illegal.”
“That is shocking and lawless, for several reasons,” Seth Hanlon of the Center for American Progress told Tax Notes. According to Hanlon, the timing alone creates legal issues. Trump’s memo has no legal authority on its own, he said, and any legal authority there might be for the deferral rests with Treasury, which has yet to issue any guidance.
Samantha Jacoby of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities agreed, remarking that she was surprised to see a federal agency take action before Treasury’s guidance was finalized. Federal agencies are going to face many of the same implementation challenges that private sector employers will deal with, and there are “necessary details” that remain unknown, like what happens when the deferral period is over, and what happens if an employee leaves in the middle of the deferral period, she said.”
Being Examined By The IRS? Don’t Waive Your Rights By Burying Your Head In The Sand – Guinevere Moore, Forbes. “Taxpayers who are afraid to open IRS mail and therefore delay doing so - or even worse, never do - waive important rights that, if exercised on time, provide taxpayer protections and may possibly result in a favorable outcome for the taxpayer.”
IRS Mistakenly Sent Penalty Notices To Businesses Claiming COVID-Related Tax Credits – Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes. “The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that a “small population of employers” may have received notice that they were being assessed a failure to deposit penalty - even though the penalty doesn’t apply.”
Tools to help nonfilers receive economic impact payments – Alistar M. Nevius, J.D., Journal of Accountancy. “The IRS has provided tools for tax practitioners to use to reach out to taxpayers who do not normally file tax returns and are eligible to receive economic impact payments. The Service also announced that it will soon send economic impact payments to individuals whose payments were diverted to pay their spouse's past-due child support.”
Businesses, Accountants Press for Remote Worker Relief – Jad Chamseddine, Tax Notes ($). “A coalition of businesses and CPAs is calling on Congress to finally enact a provision to standardize the taxation of mobile and remote workers.”
Pelosi Suggests Biden Win Would Bring Release of Trump Returns – Alexis Gravely, Tax Notes($) “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that an Election Day win by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would set the House Ways and Means Committee up for success in obtaining President Trump’s tax returns.”
FDA: Make sure you aren’t drinking hand sanitizer even if it’s in a beer can – Click Orlando.
“The FDA issued a warning this week about alcohol-based hand sanitizers being packaged in containers that may look like food or drink items. According to the agency, “some hand sanitizers are being packaged in beer cans, children’s food pouches, water bottles, juice bottles and vodka bottles.”
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