1. TOPICS / COVID-19

Advocacy & Tax Relief

Employee retention credit changes leave practitioners with questions

The IRS issued guidance on two aspects of the employee retention credit — how to claim the credit when filing the fourth quarter Form 941 when the taxpayer knows its loan under the PPP will not be forgiven and how the newly extended and amended employee retention credit will apply.

IRS explains extended payroll tax due dates

The IRS issued updated procedures for the deferred employee portion of employment tax payments, which were further extended from April 30, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021, by year-end legislation.

Taxpayers need clarity on coordination of ERC and PPP loans

The AICPA asked the IRS and Treasury to clarify that the filing of a Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness application is not an election by the taxpayer to forgo the employee retention credit for wages reported on the application exceeding the amount of wages necessary for loan forgiveness.

Tax season preview

COVID-19 relief measures confront return preparers with novel predicaments. [Updated with tax provisions from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the COVID-19 relief package signed into law in late December 2020.]

COVID-19 relief bill addresses key PPP issues

The $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed Monday provides $284 billion for a revised Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and clarifies that businesses can claim tax deductions for expenses paid for with forgiven PPP loans.

Many tax provisions appear in year-end coronavirus relief bill

The year-end coronavirus relief and spending bill passed by Congress includes many tax provisions, including pandemic-related relief, extensions of expired provisions, and a large number of miscellaneous items, including temporary 100% deductibility for business meals.

AICPA and trade associations ask Congress to fix PPP loan deductibility

In a letter to Congress, dated Dec. 3, hundreds of national trade associations and their state and regional affiliates asked that legislation be enacted before the end of 2020 reversing the IRS’s position that amounts forgiven in loans under the PPP be nondeductible business expenses.

AICPA mobilizes members to push for deductibility of PPP-funded expenses

The AICPA is asking its members to write to their senators and representatives in Congress in support of legislation that would mandate that anyone who receives a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program can deduct business expenses even when payment of those expenses results in loan forgiveness under the CARES Act.

IRS commissioner: Penalty relief will not be 'blanket'

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig told attendees at the AICPA National Tax & Sophisticated Online Tax Conference not to expect blanket penalty relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he addressed other effects of the pandemic on the agency.

IRS announces help with tax debt

The IRS said it was revising its procedures to help taxpayers who cannot pay their taxes because of the pandemic. The new program is called the Taxpayer Relief Initiative.

Guidance on deferred employee payroll tax issued

The IRS issued guidance to employers and employees on reporting deferred Social Security tax on Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, under the Aug. 8 Presidential Memorandum authorizing the deferral.

SPONSORED REPORT

Get your clients ready for tax season

Upon its enactment in March, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) introduced many new tax changes, some of which retroactively affected 2020 returns. Making the right moves now can help you mitigate any surprises heading into 2022.

100th ANNIVERSARY

Black CPA Centennial, 1921–2021

With 2021 marking the 100th anniversary of the first Black licensed CPA in the United States, a yearlong campaign kicked off to recognize the nation’s Black CPAs and encourage greater progress in diversity, inclusion, and equity in the CPA profession.