Category: COVID-19

COVID-19

2021 Changes to Tax Provisions Related to Health Care Costs by Adam Cohen, CPA


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 […]

UPDATED – Did COVID-19 Layoffs Trigger a Partial 401(k) Plan Termination? by Melissa Fleitas, CPA


Posted on January 12, 2021 by Melissa Fleitas

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 […]

What’s in the New COVID-19 Stimulus Bill for Businesses? by Andrew Leonard, CPA


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 […]

Companies Gain Legal Ground in COVID-Related Business Interruption Insurance Claims by Daniel Hughes, CPA/CFF, CGMA, CVA


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 […]

New Guidance Issued on Deductibility of PPP Loan Expenses by Andrew Leonard, CPA


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 […]

Protecting PPP Loan Recipients from Civil and Criminal Investigations by Richard Fechter, JD, CAMS, CFE


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 […]

Businesses Surprised to Receive ACA Penalties by Adam Cohen, CPA


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 […]