T&K Tax Knowledge

Estate Planning Dos and Don’ts During a Lockdown

Posted by Bill Mureiko, Eric Reis, Barbara Ferguson, Sarah Marks, and Rachel Deming

   

During these unprecedented times, many people may be wondering about the status of their estate plans and, in particular, whether it is possible to make changes to their estate planning documents.  Our estate planning group has prepared a client alert with a few “Dos and Don’ts” to help people think through what can and cannot be done while sheltering in place.  Click here to read the client alert.

Please contact any of the above authors or the TK tax attorney with whom you regularly work if you have any questions or need assistance.

Potential Business Tax Relief in COVID-19 Legislation

Posted by Dean Hinderliter

    

The Senate and the House have each released proposed legislation to be Phase 3 of the COVID-19 economic stimulus package. This legislation, although not yet enacted, proposes the following important tax provisions in an effort to assist businesses:

Claiming Payroll Tax Credits Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Posted by Neely Munnerlyn

     

The IRS has issued Information Release 2020-57 announcing that employers can begin taking advantage of the two new refundable payroll tax credits created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. 

The Information Release says that under guidance to be released next week, eligible employers who pay qualifying sick or child care leave will be able to retain an amount of the payroll taxes equal to the amount of the qualifying sick and child care leave that they paid, rather than deposit those taxes with the IRS.  The payroll taxes that are available for retention include withheld federal income taxes, the employee share of FICA taxes, and the employer share of FICA taxes.

IRS Extends Filing Due Date to Match New Payment Due Date

Posted by Abbey Garber

     

After previously announcing an extension for paying income taxes, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin tweeted this morning that “we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.”

Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Posted by Neely Munnerlyn 

On March 14, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6201, entitled The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”).  The House approved certain technical corrections to the Act on March 16, 2020, and the revised version was approved by the Senate on March 18, 2020.  The Act, which has been signed into law by President Trump, requires covered employers to provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave to employees for absences related to Coronavirus/COVID-19 (“qualified sick leave benefits”).  It also amends the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to provide temporary additional reasons for leave related to Coronavirus/COVID-19 and requires covered employers to provide pay for such FMLA leaves that extend beyond two weeks at a reduced rate (“qualified FMLA benefits”).  For purposes of private employers, the Act applies only to employers with fewer than 500 employees.  It becomes effective no later than 15 days after enactment and expires on December 31, 2020.

Taxpayers May Delay Paying IRS 90 Days

Posted by Abbey Garber

     

The Secretary of the Treasury announced on March 17 that individual taxpayers may defer payments to the IRS of up to $1 million (and corporations may defer paying up to $10 million) from the statutory deadline of April 15 to July 15, without being liable for interest or penalties.  This announcement was made by Secretary Mnuchin during the daily coronavirus task force press conference at the White House.  It is important to note that the filing deadline was not extended from April 15.