Due to unprecedented temporary closings of offices and businesses and stay-at-home orders issued across the United States during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many businesses have implemented temporary work at home options for employees. As a result, the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) announced temporary relief regarding a business’s establishment of South Carolina state tax nexus solely because an employee is temporarily working in a different work location due to COVID-19, and also provided guidance with respect to employer withholding ...
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into the law the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) containing $1.9 trillion in financial stimulus. Though not highly publicized, the ARPA provides important relief related to plan funding for both single employer and multiemployer pension plans. This article will focus solely on the single employer pension plan provisions of the ARPA.
Pension plans are required to maintain certain funding levels. Funding levels are determined by a series of complex calculations usually performed by actuaries hired by plan sponsors. These ...
The Economic Aid Act authorizes new PPP loans for first-time borrowers, as well as applications for a Second Draw PPP Loan for those that already received a loan last year. This alert addresses the requirements and issues for the self-employed and sole proprietors with no employees, who wish to apply for a Second Draw PPP Loan under the new law.
Requirements:
If you are self-employed/or a sole proprietor, with no W-2 employees, and you report income from your business on your personal tax return (Form 1040/Schedule C), and if you qualified for a First Draw PPP Loan and would continue to ...
Among the many employee benefit deadlines extended due to the pandemic by joint action of the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service are the deadlines for making a Cobra election and paying the Cobra premiums. For purposes of these deadlines, the COVID-19 “outbreak period” is disregarded. President Trump declared COVID-19 as a national emergency as of March 1, 2020, which is the beginning of the “outbreak period.” The national emergency will end when the President declares it ended. The end of the “outbreak period” is 60 days after the end of the national ...
PPP loans under the CARES Act are being audited by the SBA. All PPP loans over $2 million will be audited, and many more under $2 million will be audited as well. Applying for forgiveness of a PPP loan increases the likelihood of an audit.
An audit or “review” by SBA of a borrower and its PPP loan can result in an SBA determination that the borrower (1) was ineligible for a PPP loan; (2) was ineligible for the PPP loan amount received or used the PPP loan proceeds for unauthorized uses; (3) is ineligible for PPP loan forgiveness in the amount determined by the lender in its full or partial ...
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”) became law on April 7, 1986. For most of its nearly 35-year history, litigation involving COBRA has been relatively quiet. Most COBRA claims are tag-alongs, added as an afterthought to various sorts of discrimination claims, and a few cases involving the definition of “gross misconduct” (essentially the one narrow exception where an offer of COBRA coverage is not required).
In the wake of the pandemic, this is changing. Recently, there have been a number of cases filed (most filed as class actions) involving ...
A lot has happened since the final regulations revising the hardship distribution rules were issued on September 23, 2019 (the “Hardship Regulations”). The Secure Act was enacted in December 2019, followed by the Cares Act in March 2020, along numerous extensions of various deadlines related to employee benefit compliance. On top of that, the country is in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in widespread business and employment disruptions. Needless to say, it would not be a surprise if the Hardship Regulations and the amendments necessary to implement them have ...
Many South Carolinians who have been furloughed or laid-off from work have received unemployment benefits from the South Carolina Department of Workforce. These benefits have been increased under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and where an individual can be paid up to $926/week for 33 weeks.
The CARES Act significantly expanded unemployment benefits for workers impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. For unemployed workers, the CARES Act funds the following additional benefits under South Carolina’s unemployment ...
The Payroll Protection Program (PPP) under the CARES Act can provide eligible businesses with a forgivable loan from the government to be used to keep and pay employees, and for certain other purposes, and to help businesses, their owners, and their employees get through this difficult COVID-19 pandemic. However, the amount of a PPP loan – and the amount that potentially can be forgiven - may depend on the type of legal entity under which a business operates.
For example, partnerships/limited liability companies and self-employed individuals (including an individual operating ...
Presently, many human resource departments are scrambling to address issues raised by the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act” collectively with the FFCRA hereinafter referred to as the “COVID-19 Legislation”). While many of the provisions of the COVID-19 Legislation are straightforward, the COVID-19 Legislation contains provisions that implicate a number of employee benefit requirements that could get overlooked. This article reviews two disclosure ...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers have furloughed some or all of their workforce in South Carolina. Furloughed employees may now be entitled to receive unemployment benefits, and enhanced by $600 per week by the federal government through the CARES Act.
In South Carolina, unemployment benefits paid to unemployed workers are funded by the South Carolina Unemployment Insurance Tax (UI Tax). The UI Tax – also known as South Carolina’s version of “SUTA” – is imposed on employers and paid to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) and which ...
While the Coronavirus has delayed tax season by a few months, Congress’s response may have created the first ever refund season in the recently passed and much discussed relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or “CARES Act” for short. While the Act employs various relief techniques, Congress’s most effective and tried-and-true relief method – amending the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) – may ultimately play the most significant role.
On that note, the CARES Act amends many tax-related provisions, including ...
In the late hours of March 25, 2020, the United States Senate met to vote on a third “Coronavirus” bill to provide relief to the American people. The Senate ultimately passed H.R. 748—the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or “CARES Act.” Two days later, the House followed suit and sent the bill the President for his approval. The Act contains many stimulus provisions, even some that affect recently-amended Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) sections. This post covers an important amendment to Section 172, which governs the use of “net operating ...
On March 27, 2020 the the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act or Act), H.R. 748, became law. The Act provides eligible employers a tax credit against employment taxes equal to 50% of qualified wages. The credit is determined quarterly and effectively capped at $5,000 per eligible employee.
Eligible employers include any employer that was carrying on a trade or business in 2020 whose operations were impacted by the Coronavirus crisis. Two tests are used to determine whether a business was impacted by the Coronavirus. The tests are applied quarterly. The ...
The CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020, includes several provisions that change the rules for employee benefit plans, ranging from providing greater access to retirement benefits and HSA funds to offering funding relief to single-employer pension plans.
The CARES Act adds a new tax-favored withdrawal option that applies to the following types of retirement plans: IRAs, qualified plans (e.g., profit sharing and 401(k) plans), 403(a) and (b) plans, and 457(b) governmental plans. The withdrawal is permitted only if it is a Coronavirus-related distribution, which is defined as a ...
The COVID-19 or Coronavirus has disrupted demand in many industries and is wreaking havoc on budgets and cash flow projections. On March 27, 2020 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act or Act), H.R. 748, became law. The CARES Act seeks to incentivize employers to retain their employees and to provide enhanced unemployment benefits for employees who are not retained. The CARES Act contains a number of tax related provisions to assist employers.
Paycheck Protection Program
The Act establishes a forgivable loan program (the Paycheck Protection Program ...
On March 17, 2020, the South Carolina Department of Revenue announced, through SC Information Letter #20-3, that all South Carolina tax filing and payment deadlines starting on April 1, 2020 were extended to June 1, 2020. Penalties and interest are waived by SCDOR during this period. This includes not only state income taxes, but also sales taxes, admission taxes, and other taxes administered by SCDOR.
The IRS had initially announced that the due date for 2019 federal income tax payments was extended to July 15, 2019, but that the April 15th tax return filing date was not extended. The ...
On March 18, 2020 President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act) to provide relief to employees and small and midsize businesses. The Act is effective until December 31, 2020. The Act requires covered employers, except those with fewer than 50 employees who receive an exemption,[1] to provide the following:
- Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick time at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or ...
In response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Tuesday that Americans will have until July 15th to pay their 2019 federal income taxes – and without late payment penalties or interest during this extended payment due date. No special filing with the IRS is required for this payment extension. The announced payment extensions are limited, however. Individuals can defer payment of up to $1 million in taxes, and corporations can defer payment of up to $10 million, and without penalties or interest. Individuals and businesses with 2019 ...