Posted on January 13, 2021
by
Adam Cohen
The COVID-19 pandemic and long-awaited rollout of FDA-approved vaccines this year highlight the importance of planning for rising medical costs and taking advantage of tax breaks, when available, to help you cover some of those expenses. Following are the IRS’s annual cost-of-living adjustments for various provisions of the tax code that relate to health care […]
The Consolidations Appropriations Act of 2021, signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020, provides 401(k) sponsors with welcome relief from partial plan terminations that may have otherwise occurred in the wake of COVID-19-related workforce reductions. Background Under longstanding IRS rules, businesses that lay off 20 percent or more of employees covered by a defined-contribution plan in a […]
Posted on January 07, 2021
by
Kevin McNally
The second round of COVID-19 stimulus signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020, temporarily lifts the 50 percent limitation on deductions for business meal expenses that was first introduced in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Effective for tax years 2021 and 2022, businesses may fully write off 100 percent of the […]
Posted on December 28, 2020
by
Andrew Leonard
On December 27, President Trump signed the $900 billion economic-assistance package approved by Congress earlier in the week to help Americans weather the ongoing financial strains of the COVID-19 health crisis. The legislation calls for direct stimulus payments to qualifying taxpayers, an additional 11-weeks of federal emergency-unemployment benefits and greater flexibility for taxpayers to qualify […]
Posted on December 22, 2020
by
Daniel Hughes
It has been nine months since millions of businesses were forced to shut down due to COVID-19 only to learn that their insurers would not payout claims for business interruption losses. While the courts have dismissed a significant number of legal actions filed by policyholders against insurers for breach of contract, it appears the tides […]
Posted on December 08, 2020
by
Rick Bazzani
If you are struggling to pay an outstanding tax liability under the financial pressure of the COVID-19 health crisis, help has arrived. On November 2, the IRS unveiled a Taxpayer Relief Initiative, offering new tools and payment options for individuals and businesses to settle unresolved tax debts. The IRS has always offered taxpayers different options […]
Posted on December 01, 2020
by
Andrew Leonard
The IRS and Treasury Department recently released guidance clarifying how Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) participants must treat loan expenses when they have not received loan forgiveness by the end of the 2020 tax year. Under Revenue Ruling 2020-27 and Revenue Procedure 2020-51, businesses that “reasonably believe” the SBA will forgive their PPP loans in the […]
Posted on November 23, 2020
by
Richard Fechter
As millions of business owners and independent contractors seek forgiveness of much-needed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans they received in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are surprised to find themselves the subject of fraud investigations by the federal government. Last week, the Justice Department announced it already has publicly charged more than 80 […]
Posted on November 16, 2020
The people have spoken and elected Joseph Biden to serve as the 46th president of the United States. Under a Democratic administration, there is a very real possibility that existing tax policies will change in the near term, and high-net-worth families, in particular, may see their tax bills increase. With just two months until the […]
Posted on October 26, 2020
by
Adam Cohen
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law in 2010 and effective for tax years beginning in 2014, continues to be a source of political and legal contention. Today, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting business closures and job losses, Republican lawmakers and business owners in 20 states prepare to argue before the Supreme Court […]