We don’t usually comment on pending legislation because of the uncertainty of its passage. However, a tax bill is being fast-tracked through Congress that includes…
As expected, the President has now signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which passed the House last week and the Senate late yesterday. It’s anticipated that there will be additional legislation providing guidance and relief as we navigate these unprecedented times.
Tax Payment Due Dates
First, additional information about what we told you yesterday. The IRS has now issued Notice 2020-17, which makes it official – tax payments due April 15 can be deferred 90 days to July 15 with a waiver of applicable penalties and interest. This includes not only payments due with the April 15 filing deadline, but also estimated tax payments due April 15.
The due date for filing your tax return remains April 15, though there is lobbying from industry groups to extend that deadline as well. We’ll keep you posted if anything changes, but for now assume an April 15 filing deadline.
At this time there is no relief for June 15 estimated tax payments, but that may come at a later time.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act
The legislation passed yesterday includes the following provisions:
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Emergency Paid Sick Leave
- Pays employees for 10 days/80 hours for full time employees (prorated for part time employees based on an average number of hours worked) if they are experiencing one of the following situations:
- Subject to a federal, state or local quarantine/isolation order
- Advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine
- Experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a diagnosis
- Caring for an individual in any of the above situations
- Caring for a child if their school or day care has been closed or is otherwise unavailable due to COVID-19
- The payment to the employee should replace all the employee’s wages up to a maximum of $511 per day. If the employee is caring for another individual the benefit must replace 2/3 of the employee’s wages up to a maximum of $200 per day.
- Pays employees for 10 days/80 hours for full time employees (prorated for part time employees based on an average number of hours worked) if they are experiencing one of the following situations:
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Public Health Emergency Leave
- It covers employees who have worked for the company for at least 30 calendar days who are unable to work or telework due to the need to care for their child if their school or day care has been closed or is otherwise unavailable due to COVID-19
- This leave pays employees for up to 10 weeks over a 12-week period. The first 10 days of this leave can be unpaid (but appears to be able to be covered under Emergency Paid Sick Leave provisions above)
- The payment to the employee is not less than 2/3 of the employee’s regular rate of pay for the number of hours the employee would normally be scheduled to work during the period not to exceed $200 per day or $10,000 in the aggregate
- Businesses with fewer than 500 employees are subject to this provision
- The Department of Labor is preparing a notice employers should post in the place of business along with other employment-related posters.
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- Payroll Credit for Required Paid Sick Leave. Employers can claim 100% of the mandatory sick leave paid to employees as a credit against the employer’s portion of payroll taxes. We’re waiting for guidance, but the IRS has indicated that employers can recoup the cost of providing leave by offsetting their 941 deposits each pay period. Self-employed individuals are also able to claim this credit against payroll taxes. Employers with 500 or more employees are not eligible for the credit.
- Group health plans must now provide full coverage for COVID-19 testing. Such coverage must be provided without cost sharing and extends to related items or services furnished by the health care provider that resulted in COVID-19 testing.
- Recently, the IRS also issued guidance allowing high deductible health plans (HDHPs) to pay for COVID-19 testing and treatment without violating required deductibles or eligibility for health savings account (HSA) contributions.
Kansas-Specific Items
Here’s some COVID-19 relief specific to Kansas individuals and businesses, effective until May 1, 2020 or until the statewide State of Disaster Emergency proclamation expires, whichever is earlier:
- Governor Kelly has suspended the practice of disconnecting utility services. Utilities include all electrical, natural gas, water, telecommunications and internet service. You can read Executive Order 20-05 signed 3/17/20 by clicking here.
- Governor Kelly has also directed financial institutions in Kansas to temporarily suspend the initiation of mortgage foreclosure efforts or judicial proceedings and any commercial or residential eviction efforts or judicial proceedings. Read Executive Order 20-06 signed 3/17/20 by clicking here.
We’ve heard from some of our clients who have been forced to lay off employees due to the slowdown of their business. The Kansas Department of Labor has a couple of options available:
- The Shared Work Program allows for a partial work week and providing partial unemployment benefits to employees. More information is available at www.dol.ks.gov/employers/shared-work-program or by emailing KDOL.SharedWork@ks.gov.
- Employers forced to temporarily lay off employees can assist their employees with filing an application for unemployment benefits by submitting a spreadsheet listing affected employees. Employers who utilize this option will have the ability to communicate directly with the Employer Relations Administrator instead of waiting to speak with a representative at the Unemployment Contact Center. Additionally, instead of receiving an Employer Notice for each employee that files for unemployment insurance benefits, the employer will receive one listing of all claims filed off the spreadsheet. For more information and to download the spreadsheet, click here.
DOL Resources
And lastly, the federal Department of Labor has created a Q&A page specific to the pandemic, which can be accessed here. One question we’ve heard recently is the payment of salaried employees – note that if a salaried employee works at all during a week, they must receive their full salary for that week. However, exempt salaried employees are not required to be paid their salary in weeks in which they perform no work.
This is just a brief overview of recent developments, and obviously everyone’s personal and business situation is different. Much more will develop and remains to be learned in the coming days and weeks. We will continue to communicate key points to you as we become aware of information that may be particularly relevant to our clients.