Nadine G. DeCarli, CPA An Accountancy Corporation

It's nice to be appreciated.

President signs COVID-19 relief orders ~ ~ ~ On Saturday, August 8, the President signed four executive actions providing additional COVID-19 relief. However, questions have been raised about whether the President has the authority to take all the actions listed below. We will keep you posted as this issue develops. The three memorandums and one executive order signed by the President do the following:... Direct the Secretary of the Treasury to use his authority to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the employee’s portion of Social Security taxes paid from September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The deferral will be available to any employee whose wages are generally less than $104,000 per year; Authorize an additional $44 billion from the Department of Homeland Security’s Disaster Relief Fund to assist states to continue to pay expanded unemployment benefits of up to $400 per week, with the federal government paying $300 and states paying up to $100. States are called upon to use amounts allocated to them out of the Coronavirus Relief fund to pay their $100 share of the expanded unemployment benefits. Each state will manage this individually, so at this time it is unclear how each state will handle it; Provide for the continued temporary cessation of student loan payments and a waiver of all interest on student loans held by the Department of Education until December 31, 2020; and Direct various administrative agencies to take all lawful measures to prevent residential evictions and foreclosures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The order does not contain any specifics for these directives.

You may have heard the joke, Last year, I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven’t met yet. It’s a funny joke, but tax procrastinators help make tax season a very busy season and quite honestly stressful for both the preparer and the client. Why not eliminate the stress and frustration by gathering your information and having your returns prepared as soon as possible. Corporate extended returns are due: September 15th... Individual extended returns are due: October 15th

~ ~ ~ Does my business qualify to receive the Employee Retention Credit? ~ ~ ~ Quarterly payroll tax returns are due 7/31/20. I received two phone calls today from employers that prepare their payroll in house, asking if they qualify for the Employee Retention credit reported on Form 941. Here is some information regarding qualifications. First and for most if you received PPP Care money you DO NOT qualify for the Employee Retention Credit. The credit is available to all em...ployers regardless of size, including tax-exempt organizations. There are only two exceptions: State and local governments and their instrumentalities and small businesses who received small business loans (i.e. PPP). Qualifying employers MUST fall into one of two categories: 1. The employer's business is fully or partially suspended by government order due to COVID-19 during the calendar quarter. 2. The employer's gross receipts are below 50% of the comparable quarter in 2019. Once the employer's gross receipts go above 80% of a comparable quarter in 2019, they no longer qualify after the end of that quarter. These measures are calculated each calendar quarter.

How should I spend my PPP Loan if I want it to be forgiven in full? Use 100% of your PPP funds within your Loan Forgiveness Covered Period Use 60% or more of your PPP funds on eligible payroll costs ... Use up to 40% of your PPP funds on other eligible non-payroll costs Please note that your total forgiveness amount depends on other criteria as well. For example:~ salary, wage or headcount reductions during the Loan Forgiveness Covered Period (or, if applicable, your Alternative Payroll Covered Period) may reduce the forgivable amount for some borrowers.

Many business are preparing their PPP loan forgiveness applications. Step One ~ ~ ~ KNOW YOUR COVERED PERIOD. The Loan Forgiveness Covered Period generally begins on the date you received your PPP funds from your lender. For loans made on or after June 5, 2020, your Loan Forgiveness Covered Period is 24 weeks. For loans made before June 5, 2020 you may elect to use either an 8-week or a 24-week Loan Forgiveness Covered Period. ... Loans are considered to be "made" on the date the SBA assigned a loan number to your PPP loan. Your lender can provide you with this information For example, if you received your PPP loan funds on Monday, April 20, the first day of your Loan Forgiveness Covered Period is Monday, April 20. Since your loan was made before June 5, 2020, you may elect to use either an 8-week or 24-week Loan Forgiveness Covered Period. Your Loan Forgiveness Covered Period ends at the end of the 8 or 24 weeks, but must end by December 31, 2020 at the latest. Note that you may be able to choose an Alternative Payroll Covered Period solely for the purpose of calculating payroll and certain required reductions.

It was a tax season like no other and. WE SURVIVED! Thank you to all our AWESOME clients for working with us through this unprecedented COVID-19 time. We couldn’t have done it without you! And thank you to Andy Carlson at Edward Jones for all your support and the cool coffee mug. Edward Jones - Financial Advisor: Andy Carlson

~ ~ ~ Common Tax Scams ~ ~ ~ A friend of mine received a tax scam telephone call yesterday stating that her social security number had expired. This prompted me to post this information... Every year it seems that scammers are adding new twists to tax scams. Here is some helpful information: Email Scams The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. Taxpayers should report IRS, Treasury or tax-related suspicious online or email phishing scams to [email protected]. You should not open any attachments, click on any links, or reply to the sender or take any other actions that could put you at risk. Phone Scams The IRS and its authorized private collection agencies will never: Leave pre-recorded, urgent or threatening messages. Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying, deported or revoke their licenses. Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. The agency doesn’t use these methods for tax payments. Ask for checks to third parties. Demand that taxes be paid without giving the taxpayer the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed. Criminals can fake or spoof caller ID numbers to appear to be anywhere in the country. Scammers can even spoof an IRS office phone number or the numbers of various local, state, federal or tribal government agencies. If a taxpayer receives an IRS or Treasury-related phone call, but doesn’t owe taxes and has no reason to think they do, they should: Hang up immediately. Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to report the call. Report the caller ID and callback number to the IRS by sending it to [email protected]. The subject line should include IRS Phone Scam. Report the call to the Federal Trade Commission.

~ ~ ~ Delayed by COVID-19, Tax Day Is Tomorrow ~ ~ ~ After a three month delay the deadline for filing your income tax returns is tomorrow July 15th. Because of the pandemic many individuals and business owners have not been able to file. If you are unable to file your returns don’t forget to file an extension. ... Late filing penalty is 5% of your unpaid tax every month or part of a month that is goes unpaid.

Received these lovely silk scarfs from a client. It is humbling to be so appreciated. Thank you to all the wonderful clients we are honored to serve.

HOW WILL STOCK SALES AFFECT YOUR TAXES ~ ~ ~ If you’re like most taxpayers you don’t like surprises. Too many taxpayers are negatively surprised by the affect their stock sales have on their taxes (i.e. capital gains). Most brokers are willing to work with your CPA in providing some tax planning. If you are considering selling stock GET YOUR CPA INVOLVED and avoid capital gain surprises. Short-term capital gains tax is a tax on profits from the sale of an asset held for o...ne year or less. The short-term capital gains tax rate equals your ordinary income tax rate your tax bracket. Long-term capital gains tax is a tax on profits from the sale of an asset held for more than a year. The long-term capital gains tax rate is 0%, 15% or 20% depending on your taxable income and filing status. They are generally lower than short-term capital gains tax rates.

Millions of taxpayers are taking advantage of the IRS decision to push back the tax filing deadline due to the coronavirus pandemic. But with the new tax filing deadline of July 15 just weeks away, those taxpayers need to take some important steps now to get their returns filed and payments made. If you are unable to meet the filing deadline of July 15th you can request an extension of time to file until October 15th. Please know this IS NOT an extension of time to pay any balance due. In order to avoid penalties and interest you must pay your 2019 income tax liability by July 15, 2020.

Received this lovely gift via UPS. A beautiful coffee cup which included coffee, tea and yummy little snacks along with a beautiful prayer journal. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and appreciation!