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Keeping people safe in the pandemic requires a comprehensive approach, as explained by Aaron E. Carroll, a pediatrics professor at Indiana University. By taking the pandemic seriously, “far from posing a risk to its host city or town, a university could become—by supplementing behavioral measures such as masking and social distancing with widespread surveillance testing—a model for detecting and suppressing the virus.” By the time IU’s 87,000 students return to campus later this month, testing capacity will be at 50,000 per week. They developed a contact tracing team that could identify the source of a COVID-19 infection in about an hour. Using these approaches, they kept the infection rate on campus low in the fall semester, even as the pandemic surged throughout the rest of the state.

Working together will be the key to keeping everyone healthy and whole, and to bringing our economy back!

I am so grateful that the NYC Vaccine Portal, it’s patient Pod has been updated to allow eligible NYC residents to schedule their vaccines.  Click through for the latest news, eligibilityinformation and if applicable make your appointment using the appointment scheduler.

There are no “snow days” during tax season, but I convinced Raquel to bundle up and check out the “sun, surf, sand and snow”.  Of course it was high tide…

STIMULUS UPDATES

Economic Impact Payments

Because the second round of payments was pushed out so quickly, some payments went to people who weren’t eligible. This includes people whose income is too high, those claimed as dependents on someone else’s tax return, people without valid Social Security numbers, and deceased persons. If this applies to you, this article in CNet explains what to do to return the payment. If you received a paper check, the simplest way to return the money is simply to mail it back to the IRS. Instructions for how to return payments received via direct deposit or debit card are on the IRS website.

By now, most people have received their stimulus payment. However, a few have not. If this is your situation, new FAQs from the IRS explain what to do. First, check with the IRS Get My Payment tool to see how and when your payment was made. If you have received Form 1444 or Form 1444-B from the IRS with your payment amount but the payment has not been received within the timeframes specified by the IRS for receiving it, you may need to request a payment trace.

If you’re eligible for a payment, but don’t receive it by the end of January, you may have to claim it as a Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return. If you’re eligible for a bigger payment than you received, you can claim the difference on your 2020 tax return as well. So please make sure to keep those 1444 and 1444-B forms as we will be referring to them when filing your 2020 personal income tax return and reconciling your credit.

Progress on Another Plan?

A group of Republican Senators will be meeting with President Biden to discuss a smaller stimulus proposal. Like Biden’s previous $1.9 trillion proposal, this plan extends enhanced unemployment benefits and nutritional assistance and includes funding for vaccines, PPE, and help for schools. However, this plan imposes needs-based limits on stimulus payments. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning on introducing a bill to move the Biden plan through the budget reconciliation process, which would only require a simple majority to pass.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

In the new round of PPP loans, the SBA processed more than 400,000 loans with an average loan amount of $87,000, between January 11 and January 24, according to an SBA report. The new round of funding is not without problems. First, the SBA is asking lenders to resolve data mismatches identified in the first round before recipients can receive a second round of funding. Next, the American Bankers Association has sent a letter to the SBA and the Treasury Department requesting that the SBA fix technical problems with the SBA’s portal. Currently, the portal is not allowing second round applications from borrowers whose forgiveness application is still pending, among other incorrect error messages.

This time around our firm is using a portal system as sponsored by the AICPA in conjunction with the fintech bank Biz2Credit and are working through the system to follow the application progress and supply any additional requested documents.  The system updates over the past two weeks have been working and our clients are seeing the funds in their accounts.

More details are available at the SBA website.

Grants for Shuttered Venues

A provision of the last stimulus program offers grants for entertainment venues that were shuttered due to the pandemic. The SBA released guidance and a set of FAQs for this program last week, but has not yet established a start date for this program. Grants of 45% of a venue’s 2019 gross earned revenue, up to $10 million, are available to venues that lost significant income. The program will progress in phases in the order of revenue loss, with the earliest two-week window being open to venues that lost 90% or more of their income. The FAQs delve into the details of eligibility, including the interaction of this program with the PPP. Funds will be disbursed through the federal government’s System for Award Management which requires applicants to have a DUNS number, so interested parties are encouraged to register for this number as soon as possible.

Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)

The most recent stimulus program includes funds for another round of EIDL grants. These new grants will be targeted to reach recipients that really need it, unlike the first round, which was essentially open to anyone who requested one. To be eligible in the initial round of grants, businesses must be located in low-income communities and demonstrate a revenue decrease of at least 30% during an eight-week period after March 2, 2020. The first grants are reserved for businesses that previously received a grant of less than $10,000 or that applied but received nothing because the funds were already exhausted. These recipients do not need to do anything – the SBA will contact them directly. More information is available at the SBA website.

TAX ISSUES

We have seen instances of identity theft over the years, but this year for the first time, our clients are receiving fraudulent unemployment benefit notices.  Just the other day AccountingToday’s morning briefing included an article “The IRS Warns of Identity Thieves Stealing Unemployment Benefits”. My recently published article in the Intuit Tax Pro Center “Awareness of ID Theft and Cybersecurity Precautions for Tax Professionals” includes information, suggest and links to many resources.

I   received comments, calls and emails from people with similar experiences after my Monday morning social media post calling attention to this issue.

This tax season we are anticipating seeing both correct and fraudulent unemployment benefit tax form 1099-G.  This form reports unemployment benefits must be reported on the recipient’s tax return . If you receive a 1099-G for benefits you did not receive please contact your state unemployment office to alert them to this and obtain a corrected 1099-G.

LIVING WITH THE PANDEMIC

With the pandemic, many of us quickly switched to working from home. But now that some workplaces are beginning to slowly open up, this may be the time to ask your boss for more flexibility at work. This article in Fast Company describes several types of flexibility, and five steps to making flexible work a viable option. Flexibility can be in the form of where (in the office or at home), when (start earlier or skip lunch), and how (add a monitor or standing desk) you do your job as well as what you do in your job. A prerequisite to requesting flexibility is stellar performance before you ask for options. Specific requests (I want to come in an hour earlier so I can leave an hour earlier) work better than a vague request for “flexibility.” Considering the needs of the business and your team members is another way to improve your chances of getting more flexibility at work.

Giving constructive feedback can be challenging under the best circumstances, and the remote world makes it even more difficult. This article in Harvard Business Review has strategies to make it easier to give clear feedback to remote employees. Asking questions to get the employee’s point of view regarding the problem at hand is always a good start, as is beginning the conversation with positive feedback or praise for a job well done. Finishing up the conversation by asking for the employee’s top three takeaways ensures that they understand the feedback.

GENERAL RESOURCES

• Our Covid-19 Resource Center with relevant blog posts, videos and prior weekly newsletters
• Payroll, HR and benefits company Gusto has put together An Employer’s Guide to Navigating the Coronavirus
• Accounting Today has a special page for articles on COVID-19
• The best source for up-to-date and accurate health information is the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
• The CDC also has recommendations for businesses and employers
• Intuit QuickBooks has a dedicated page to help small businesses
• Entrepreneur put together a listing of free tech resources for remote work
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has warnings about COVID-related scams
• Fast Company has a listing of the best productivity apps for 2020
• The New York Times has an online newsletter on K-12 and higher education
• The Wall Street Journal has a collection of articles on education
• The Atlantic has a state-by-state coronavirus tracker

We sincerely hope that you and your family are well and remain well. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are all in this together!