Blog

Employee Retention Credit – Better than PPP?

by cafeccountant, posted in Business taxes

The Employee Retention Credit is a refundable tax credit up to 70% of $10,000 in wages per employee paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19

Effective January 1, 2021, employers are eligible if they operate a trade or business during January 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021, and experience either:

•A full or partial suspension of the operation of their trade or business during this period because of governmental orders limiting commerce, travel or group meetings due to COVID-19, or

•A decline in gross receipts in a calendar quarter in 2021 where the gross receipts of that calendar quarter are less than 80% of the gross receipts in the same calendar quarter in 2019.

Retroactive to the March 27, 2020, enactment of the CARES Act, the law now allows employers who received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to claim the ERC for qualified wages that are not treated as payroll costs in obtaining forgiveness of the PPP loan.

Qualified sick & family leave credits

by cafeccountant, posted in Individual income taxes 2020, Business taxes

Self-employed & stuck with kids in 2020 due to lack of child-care? Were you unable to conduct business because you were subject to quarantines, including self-quarantines as advised by a healthcare provider? Or were you unable to work/telework to care for family members for reasons related to the coronavirus? Then you may be able to refundable credits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act – the key word is “self-employed.”

These credits may also be available to certain partners and others who received qualified sick or family leave wages. With regards to the Family Leave credit, according to the DOL, child-care provider include individuals paid to provide child care, like nannies, au pairs, and babysitters. It also includes individuals who provide child care at no cost and without a license on a regular basis, such as, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or neighbors. Day care facilities, preschools, before and after school care programs, schools, homes, summer camps, summer enrichment programs, and respite care programs also count.

Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021: PPP & EIDL funded expenses

by cafeccountant, posted in Uncategorized, Business taxes
  • The bill clarifies that Gross income does not include any amount that would otherwise arise from the forgiveness of a PPP loan, emergency EIDL grants and certain loans & repayment assistance, as provided by the Cares Act.
  • Deductions are allowed for otherwise deductible expenses paid with the proceeds of a PPP loan that is forgiven, as well as for business expenses paid with emergency EIDL grants and advances.
  • Tax basis and other attributes of the borrower’s assets will not be reduced as a result of those amounts being excluded from Gross income. Partner’s tax basis would be adjusted by the distributable share of the deductions attributed to forgiveness.
  • A similar treatment is also applicable to the Second Draws of PPP loans, effective for tax years ending after the date of enactment of the provision.
  • For additional reading, click here

Earned Income Tax Credit 2020

by cafeccountant, posted in Earned Income Tax Credit, Individual income taxes 2020

Have you experienced a job loss or lower income in 2020? Collected unemployment and wondering if you would qualify for the Earned income tax credit? Thanks to a temporary rule provided in the The Coronavirus Response & Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, you may be able to increase your EITC and the Additional Child Tax credit based on your 2019 tax filing.

The special temporary rule would allow lower-income individuals to use their earned income from tax year 2019 to determine the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit (i.e., the Additional Child Tax Credit) in the 2020 tax year.

This will help workers who experienced lower earned income in 2020, due to the pandemic, to get a larger refund based on the look-back to a prior filing season.

To learn more about the COVID-19 Relief package, click here