If you’re getting close to retirement, you may wonder: Are my Social Security benefits going to be taxed? And if so, how much will you have to pay? It depends on your other income. If you’re taxed, between 50% and 85% of your benefits could be taxed. (This doesn’t mean you pay 85% of your benefits back to the government in taxes. It merely that you’d include 85% of them in your income subject to your regular tax rates.)

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, students are going back to school this fall, either remotely, in-person or under a hybrid schedule. In any event, parents may be eligible for certain tax breaks to help defray the cost of education.

Here is a summary of some of the tax breaks available for education.

President Trump has signed a five-week extension of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), after unanimous agreement by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, in an effort to continue providing relief for small businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

Just last week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it has reopened the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance program to eligible applicants still struggling with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As you may have heard, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act allows “qualified” people to take certain “coronavirus-related distributions” from their retirement plans without paying tax. So how do you qualify? In other words, what’s a coronavirus-related distribution?

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced the Minnesota Small Business Relief Grants Program last week. The program, which was approved by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by Governor Tim Walz, will begin accepting applications on June 23 through 5:00 p.m. on July 2.

On June 10, 2020, the AICPA released guidance, to address how borrowers of Payroll Protection Program (PPP) Loans should account for these loans in their GAAP financial statements. The legal form of the PPP loan is debt, however, some believe that the loan is, in substance, a government grant. These conflicting opinions have led the AICPA to provide PPP Loan borrowers with options to account for the PPP Loans. Borrowers can account for the PPP Loans as:

On June 10, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an updated interim final rule for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in response to the PPP Flexibility Act passed on June 5, 2020. The updated guidance accounts for revisions made to the covered period, usage of funds changes, extended safe harbors, and more.

Here is a quick rundown of the changes made by the PPP Flexibility Act.

On May 28, 2020, in a nearly unanimous vote, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend certain provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide small businesses with relief in the timeframe and use of their PPP loan funds. While President Trump has encouraged changes to PPP, and the Senate had been developing a plan of its own, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act is the first to pass its branch.

On May 23, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that included the loan forgiveness application guidance released May 15, as well as other updated guidance.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has released its long-awaited Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness form for borrowers. The release on May 15 brought with it significant changes to the interpretation of some components of forgiveness that were not previously known.  

The CARES Act allows all employers to defer the deposit and payment of the employer’s share of social security (SS) taxes (6.2%) and self-employed individuals to defer payment of certain self-employment taxes.  The timing of the deferral will depend in whether or not the employer receives a loan under the Payroll Protection Program

Do you want to save more for retirement on a tax-favored basis? If so, and if you qualify, you can make a deductible traditional IRA contribution for the 2019 tax year between now and the extended tax filing deadline and claim the write-off on your 2019 return. Or you can contribute to a Roth IRA and avoid paying taxes on future withdrawals.

Many companies have been significantly impacted by the downturn in the economy caused by the COVID-19 fallout.  As such, the impact on your operation should be documented to support the need for the PPP loans.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected many Americans’ finances. Here are some answers to questions you may have right now.