Ideas & Insight

According to a recent survey by CNBC, 22% of U.S. businesses have been forced to lay off workers or employee furloughs as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Although most employers regard these actions as a last resort, it’s important to know your responsibilities, particularly if you furlough workers. Following are the answers […]

The economic impact of the COVID-19 has been enormous.  Some estimates suggest over 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits as a result of this economic impact. Normally when applying for unemployment, you would be eligible to receive a certain percent of your prior wages for up to 26 weeks, subject to a maximum […]

On Wednesday night, the U.S. Senate passed The House bill called the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act and sent it to President Trump, who is expected to sign it. This bill changes things on the Paycheck Protection Program. Here is a summary of main points of the legislation: You now have 5 years to repay the […]

Chances are, employers don’t need the force of law to make them care about the health of their employees, especially during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. But it’s still important to know what the federal worfplace safety agency – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – has to say about employees returning to their […]

Even while conditions in some states have improved enough to allow some workers in exile to begin returning to their workplaces, life isn’t likely to return to normal for a long while, thanks to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. First, some employees worried about the chances they could become infected might balk at the idea […]

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused difficulties for millions of businesses — from family-owned restaurants and niche manufacturers to multinational airlines and oil companies. As the economy slowly reopens across the country, old ways of doing things clearly won’t work for most business operations. It may be time for businesses to develop a pivot strategy. […]

If you’re still expecting to receive a stimulus payment from the IRS in the form of a paper check, there may be a surprise coming in your mailbox soon. The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that the IRS will begin sending out four million stimulus payments on prepaid debit cards instead of mailing paper checks. […]

The short answer: No. The stimulus check payment or economic impact payment, as the IRS calls it — is technically a refundable tax credit for 2020. As explained by the IRS: “No, the payment is not income and taxpayers will not owe tax on it. The payment will not reduce a taxpayer’s refund or increase […]

The IRS recently released the 2021 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). HSA basics An HSA is a trust created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the “qualified medical expenses” of an “account beneficiary.” An HSA can only be established for the benefit of an “eligible individual” who is covered under a […]

The IRS has issued guidance clarifying that certain deductions aren’t allowed if a business has received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Specifically, an expense isn’t deductible if both: The payment of the expense results in forgiveness of a loan made under the PPP, and The income associated with the forgiveness is excluded from gross […]