COVID 19 UPDATES, Financial Planning, Newsletters

EIDL Loan and Advance Programs Reopen to All Eligible Small Businesses

January 29, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced it has reopened the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance program portal to eligible businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses can receive long-term, low-interest loans and emergency grants. This will help them recover from the disruptions that took place in their businesses. They can use the loan for paying rent, mortgage, vehicle leases, payroll, and other bills.

The second round of COVID-19 EIDL assistance also comes with improvements to the application and loan closing process. This includes deploying new technology and automated tools. The application process has been streamlined and the SBA says it should take you two hours and ten minutes or less to complete. Some $197 billion is available through the EIDL for working capital funds to small businesses.

EIDL Loans and Advance Programs Open to More Businesses

With the EIDL businesses can borrow up to $2 million to provide working capital for expenses such as fixed debt and payroll costs. Eligible applicants can also get up to $10,000 ($1,000 per employee) in funds of emergency economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing temporary hardships.
The loans have an interest rate of 3.75% for small businesses. And to keep payments affordable they come with long repayment terms of up to a maximum of 30 years. This includes the deferment of the first payment for one year.
With EIDL businesses can borrow up to $200,000 without a personal guarantee.
First-year tax returns are not required, and approval can be based on credit score.
Loans of $25,000 or less require no collateral. For loans above $25,000, you can use general security interest in business assets. Collateral can be machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, and others.

More Covid-19 Relief in the Future?

Since the declaration of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the SBA has approved over 3.6 million loans through the EIDL program in the first round. The deadline for the second round of EIDL runs till December 31, 2021. A further COVID-19 relief assistance amounting to $1.9 trillion is undergoing debate in Washington. This follows Congress’ previous passing of a $900 billion relief measure.

COVID 19 UPDATES, WZ WEBINARS

WZ WEBINAR-Highlights of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021-RECORDING 1/21/2021

January 21, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

Dear Clients, Business Associates and Friends:

In case you missed the webinar on 1/21/2021 you can watch it here.

And pdf’s of the presentation materials is also available below:

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2021 1.21.21

Forgiveness Reduction Formulas 1-21-21-MASTER

3508 – FOR BORROWERS THAT DO NOT QUALIFY TO USE 3508EZ OR 3508S

PPP–Loan-Forgiveness-Application-and-Instructions–Form-3508-1192021

3508-S – FOR BORROWERS IF THE BORROWER RECEIVED A PPP LOAN OF $150,000 OR LESS

PPP–Loan-Forgiveness-Application-Instructions–Form-3508S-1192021

3508-EZ – FOR BORROWERS WHO ARE SELF EMPLYOED WITH NO EMPLOYEES OR FOR BORROWERS WHO DID NOT REDUCE EMPLOYEE WAGES (BY 25%) & HOURS OR BORROWERS WHO REDUCED BUSINESS ACTIVITY DUE TO COVID-19 GUIDELINES & DID NOT REDUCE EMPLOYEE SALARIES BY 25%

PPP–Loan-Forgiveness-Application-Instructions–Form3508EZ-1192021

As always, Wagner & Zwerman are available to answer any of your questions and concerns and we are committed in providing you with the most updated information as it becomes available.

Best,

WZ Partners

Blog, Tax and Financial News

New Form 1099-NEC Replaces Form 1099-MISC

January 20, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

January 19, 2021

Dear WZ Clients, Business Associates and Friends,

IMPORTANT REMINDER

NEW FORM 1099-NEC REPLACES FORM 1099-MISC BOX 7

The filing deadline to file Forms 1099 is January 31^st. As a reminder, the IRS released a new reporting form, Form 1099-NEC to report nonemployee compensation. In past years, such amounts were reported on Form 1099-MISC, box 7. We urge everyone preparing Forms 1099 to ensure you are properly using form 1099-NEC to report these amounts. Other amounts previously reported on Form 1099-MISC (such as rent payments) will continue to be reported on that form.

For more information, please review the instructions provided by the IRS (https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099msc) to confirm payments are properly reported.

Should you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

AS ALWAYS, WAGNER & ZWERMAN IS HERE TO ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY

IF YOU HAVE MISSED ANY PREVIOUS WZ COMMUNICATION IN REGARDS TO COVID-19, PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEBSITE**

Best,

WZ Partners

Blog, Tax and Financial News

IRS Delays Start of Tax Season to Feb 12th

January 18, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

January 18, 2021

Dear WZ Clients, Business Associates and Friends,

The IRS is delaying the start of the 2020 tax filing season to Feb. 12, according to an announcement Friday from the agency.

On that date, the IRS will start accepting and processing last year’s tax returns.

Normally, the agency opens tax season in late January.

This year, however, the IRS will need more time to prepare after the COVID relief act that took effect in late December. And yes, the tax filing deadline is still April 15.

“If filing season were opened without the correct programming in place, then there could be a delay in issuing refunds to taxpayers,” the IRS said in its announcement.

“These changes ensure that eligible people will receive any remaining stimulus money as a recovery rebate credit when they file their return,” the agency said.

The recovery rebate credit is a new addition to the federal income tax return, and it’s available to filers who didn’t receive the full amount of stimulus they’re entitled to.

“While I am disappointed that this year’s filing season will begin later than usual, I recognize that the IRS has faced extraordinary challenges throughout the COVID crisis,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass.

“It’s a relief to know that despite contending with the distribution of two rounds of economic impact payments, facility closures and other disruptions, the agency will be able to begin accepting returns within the next month,” he said.

The IRS is recommending that taxpayers submit their returns electronically and use direct deposit as soon as they’re ready.

Refunds in March for some

Early filers who claim certain tax credits will be waiting until the first week of March to get their much-needed refund. The IRS said this would still be the case if the filing season opened in late January.

Low-income taxpayers who receive the earned income tax credit or the additional child tax credit generally can’t receive a refund before mid-February.

That’s because an anti-fraud law requires the IRS to use the additional time to review those returns to prevent refunds from being issued to scammers.

The agency expects filers who claim the earned income and additional child tax credits will collect their refunds the first week of March – assuming they file electronically and there are no issues with their returns.

Having your return flagged by the IRS can result in significant delays.

Last year, IRS fraud filters caught 5.2 million returns that were claiming refunds, according to a recent report from the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an IRS watchdog.

For about a quarter of those returns flagged for income verification, refunds took longer than 56 days.

About 2 in 10 of the returns flagged for identity verification had delays of more than 120 days.

Normally, the turnaround time for a refund is about 21 days if a tax return has no problems.

Headaches for tax pros and clients

Companies distribute Form W-2 to their employees in January. These documents spell out how much workers have earned, as well as what they paid in income and payroll taxes during the year.

“You can’t get your refund until the IRS opens filing, and there are people who get refunds who are used to filing as soon as they open up,” said Ed Zollars, CPA and partner at Thomas, Zollars & Lynch in Phoenix and an instructor at Kaplan Financial Education.

Taxpayers who submit their returns in paper format are risking delays. The IRS accumulated a large backlog of mail last year amid the pandemic, and returns have taken a longer time to process.

There were still 7.1 million unprocessed individual returns and 2.3 million processed business returns as of Nov. 24, the Taxpayer Advocate Service found.

“If you, for any reason, think that a paper return makes sense for you, reconsider,” Zollars said.

AS ALWAYS, WAGNER & ZWERMAN IS HERE TO ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY

** IF YOU HAVE MISSED ANY PREVIOUS WZ COMMUNICATION IN REGARDS TO COVID-19, PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEBSITE

Best,

WZ Partners

Blog, COVID 19 UPDATES

New York Will Not Tax Forgivable PPP Loans

January 18, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

January 18, 2021

Dear WZ Clients, Business Associates and Friends,

NEW YORK WILL NOT TAX FORGIVABLE PPP LOANS

Since New York “decoupled” from the federal tax regulations last March (meaning it no longer automatically follows Washington’s tax policy), New York had to separately issue their own regulations on the treatment of forgivable PPP loans.

New York tax department spokesman James Gazzle stated that New York was going to conform to the federal guidelines and not tax forgivable PPP loans. He further stated that the expenses associated with the PPP loans are deductible on the state tax returns.

If you have not already done so, if you have completed your “covered period” and spent the entire PPP loan on qualifying expenses, you should be now be determining if you qualify for forgiveness and contacting your bank or other financial institution that provided the loan about the process of applying for forgiveness. For those taxpayers whose PPP loan exceed $150,000, you can immediately apply for forgiveness. For those taxpayers whose loans were $50,000 or less, you need to wait another week before submitting the application for forgiveness as we are still waiting on the SBA to issue the new one page certification to obtain forgiveness (meaning less paperwork to submit to obtain forgiveness).

As always, WZ is here to assist in the application process to obtain forgiveness on your loans.

AS ALWAYS, WAGNER & ZWERMAN IS HERE TO ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY

** IF YOU HAVE MISSED ANY PREVIOUS WZ COMMUNICATION IN REGARDS TO COVID-19, PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEBSITE

Best,

WZ Partners

Blog, COVID 19 UPDATES

PPP Reopens to Small Lenders on 1/15/21 and all Lenders on 1/19/21

January 14, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

January 14, 2021

Dear WZ Clients, Business Associates and Friends,

The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department, will re-open the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan portal to PPP-eligible lenders with $1 billion or less in assets for First and Second Draw applications on Friday, January 15, 2021 at 9 am ET. The portal will fully open on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 to all participating PPP lenders to submit First and Second Draw loan applications to SBA.

AS ALWAYS, WAGNER & ZWERMAN IS HERE TO ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY

** IF YOU HAVE MISSED ANY PREVIOUS WZ COMMUNICATION IN REGARDS TO COVID-19, PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEBSITE

Best,

WZ Partners

Blog, Financial Planning

Alert!!! Secure Act

January 14, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

January 13, 2021

Dear WZ Clients, Business Associates and Friends,

ALERT!!!

SECURE ACT ALLOWS FOR QUALIFIED RETIREMENT PLANS TO BE SET UP IN 2021 FOR 2020

When reviewing your business’ 2020 tax position, a tax- deductible retirement plan contribution is an effective way to lower your taxable income. If your business has not already adopted a qualified retirement plan, we wanted to inform you that the SECURE Act has changed the timing rules for the establishment of these plans. You are NOW able to adopt a new qualified plan for the prior calendar year up to your tax filing deadline, and this includes extensions. This change in timing, means there is still time in 2021 to adopt a plan that is effective for 2020 that will enable you to make a contribution that is tax deductible against your 2020 income. WZ is here to assist you so please do not hesitate to call us.

AS ALWAYS, WAGNER & ZWERMAN IS HERE TO ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY

** IF YOU HAVE MISSED ANY PREVIOUS WZ COMMUNICATION IN REGARDS TO COVID-19, PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEBSITE

Best,

WZ Partners

COVID 19 UPDATES, Tip of the Month

Looking Ahead to 2021: Hope is Not Canceled

January 12, 2021 Bistra Zwerman

Despite the fresh start that a new year promises, our world hasn’t changed much since last March. We’re still living in a new normal. We’re masking up, working (and schooling) from home, and social distancing. Furthermore, scores of community events and activities have been canceled. However, there is something that’s never been canceled: it’s called hope. Here are a few things to embrace that can lift your spirits and help you navigate all the uncertainty.

Be Happy: The COVID-19 Vaccine is Here

This is incredible news. To date, there are two vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Those who receive the Pfizer-BioNTech shot will be given two injections, 21 days apart. Those who receive the Moderna shot also will be given two injections, one month (28 days) apart. Both are given in the muscle of the upper arm and can cause mild side effects. However, clinical trials for both have shown a high level of efficacy. The vaccine will be rolled out in phases. Healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities will be offered the first doses. The fact that we even have a vaccine available might well be the very definition of hope.

Feel Refreshed: Take a News Break

Since most of us are isolated to some degree, it’s only natural to turn to our devices. Games and social media both have the potential to take your mind off of the pain in our world. However, if you tend to veer toward newsfeeds that feature nothing but bad news (which can be addicting), perhaps it’s time to take a break. According to Verywell.com, a constant stream of sensational or disaster reporting, whether you are exposed actively or passively, can elevate stress levels and trigger symptoms like anxiety and sleep troubles, robbing you of your well-being. So, unplug. Step away from your laptop. Give your phone to a family member, partner, or friend. Get outside and soak in some vitamin D. Re-claim that part of yourself that sees the glass half full.

Ditch the Guilt: Plan Your Cheat Meals

If you’ve been looking to food for some much-needed comfort over the past year, you’re not alone. Being at home just a few feet away from a fully stocked kitchen is tempting every minute! Perhaps some of you have banished any guilt about indulging, but for those who just can’t seem to shake it, choose your moments to indulge. Satisfy your cravings a few times a week or just on the weekends. The less you do this, the more you’ll enjoy it. And when you want to splurge, why not support a local restaurant by ordering takeout? You’ll feel better in no time.

Chill Out: Spend Time Doing Nothing

With everything that’s going on and all the responsibilities of living life and crossing things off our lists, stopping to do nothing might seem counter-intuitive; but often, it’s the best remedy for eliminating stress and restoring your sanity. Carving out time to sit with the feelings you’re experiencing – whether that’s irritation, anxiety, or sadness – can help dissipate them. Take some advice from Winnie the Pooh who said, “Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.” When you give yourself permission to let go and empty your mind, you’ll be rejuvenated and ready to begin again.

Even though the happenings of 2020 were unprecedented, the truth is you do have a new year ahead. One that can be anything you want it to be. Just grab hold of something that has always been there and will never be canceled: hope.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines.html

https://stephanieyounger.com/blog/love-hope-kindness-and-community-have-not-been-canceled

https://www.verywellmind.com/is-watching-the-news-bad-for-mental-health-4802320#:~:text=A%20constant%20stream%20of%20sensational,like%20anxiety%20and%20trouble%20sleeping.