IRS Confirms Employee Payroll Tax Deferral Is Optional
The IRS has confirmed that the payroll tax deferral for employees is optional, according to a report in Bloomberg Government. “Employers may, but are not required, to utilize the relief,” according to Kelly Morrison-Lee, an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service, said during the agency’s monthly payroll industry teleconference. The Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, made similar comments last month.
Background and Resources on the Payroll Tax Deferral Executive Memorandum
On Saturday, August 8, 2020, the President issued an Executive Order dealing with payroll taxes. On August 28, 2020, the IRS issued guidance on the implementation of the payroll tax deferral.
Coronavirus In Colorado
The Numbers: According to today's data release (4 PM), in Colorado there have been 710,923 people tested, 57,424 positive cases, 7,028 hospitalized, 1,945 deaths among cases (1,849 deaths due to COVID), 604 outbreaks at residential and non- hospital health care facilities, and 63 of 64 counties with positive cases. In Adams County we have 7,507 cases and 197 deaths.
https://covid19.colorado.gov/data
COVID19.COLORADO.GOV
COVID-19 data | Colorado COVID-19 Updates
6 Tips To Make It Harder For Coronavirus To Spread Around Indoors: Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, groups like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance intended to protect people from certain kinds of transmission: respiratory droplets spread when an infected person sneezes or coughs near you and through surfaces contaminated with the droplets. Now, at the urging of scientists like Jose-Luis Jimenez, a chemistry professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who’s studied aerosols for two decades, those organizations have added another critical piece to the puzzle: the spread of airborne particles — also called aerosols — that linger in the air. That also explains a lot about why indoor transmission is significantly higher than outdoor transmission, and why in recent months, public health officials have turned their focus to having people take precautions like masks indoors. Outside, those same particles are dispersed by wind and the virus is killed off by ultraviolet rays. More from CPR below.
https://www.cpr.org/2020/08/03/6-tips-to-make-it-harder-for-coronavirus-to-spread-around-indoors/
CPR.ORG
6 Tips To Make It Harder For Coronavirus To Spread Around Indoors
IRS Releases Guidance on Recapturing Excess Employment Tax Credits
This week, the IRS issued a temporary regulation and a proposed regulation to reconcile advance payments of refundable employment tax credits and recapture the benefit of these credits when necessary. The regulations authorize the assessment of erroneous refunds of the credits paid under both the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act. For more information click here.
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-tax-relief-for-businesses-and-tax-exempt-entities
IRS.GOV
Coronavirus Tax Relief for Businesses and Tax-Exempt Entities | Internal Revenue Service
Here’s What The Numbers Tell Us About Colorado Coronavirus Unemployment: About one in 10 Coloradans are out of work, and women and young adults make up the largest groups of Coloradans filing for unemployment claims. Women’s initial filings for unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic increased by 30 percent, and Asian Americans’ claims more than doubled compared to all of 2019. Claims from young adults ages 20 to 24 also more than doubled. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment publishes demographic data only for initial claims, which may differ from the unemployment rate. The data show who, by race and gender, filed for unemployment from March 15 to July 4, the months most affected by social distancing and stay-at-home measures, and compares them to the average weekly initial claims data from 2019. More from CPR
https://www.cpr.org/2020/07/28/what-the-numbers-tell-us-about-colorado-coronavirus-unemployment/
CPR.ORG
What The Data Tells Us About Colorado Coronavirus Unemployment
The $600 Federal Unemployment Benefit Is Ending.
Here’s What That Means For Out-Of-Work Coloradans: For many out-of-work Coloradans, life will change after Saturday. That’s when the extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits from the U.S. government ends in Colorado, even as many hotels, restaurants, bars and other businesses have not fully reopened due to coronavirus restrictions. As of July 11, Colorado has paid out $1.92 billion in this Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, or PUC. But there are roughly 227,300 Coloradans still unemployed, more than triple the number during the Great Recession. More from The Colorado Sun here.
The SBA just release a new PPP loan forgiveness form for borrowers with loans of $50,000 or less.
SBA began approving PPP forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to PPP lenders for PPP borrowers on October 2, 2020. SBA is that it will continue to process all PPP forgiveness applications “in an expeditious manner.”
simpler loan forgiveness application.
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-10/PPP%20Loan%20Forgiveness%20Application%20Form%203508S.pdf
SBA.GOV
www.sba.gov
Coronavirus In Colorado; The Numbers: According to today's data release, in Colorado there have been 911,426 people tested, 70,536 positive cases, 7,568 hospitalized, 2,051 deaths among cases (1,960 deaths due to COVID), 770 outbreaks at residential and non- hospital health care facilities, and 64 of 64 counties with positive cases. In Adams County we have 9,359 cases and 227 deaths.https://covid19.colorado.gov/data
COVID19.COLORADO.GOV
COVID-19 data | Colorado COVID-19 Updates
U.S. to Start Forgiving PPP Loans After Borrowers Complained
Wall Street Journal (09/29/20) Hayashi, Yuka
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced that it will begin forgiving loans granted to small business owners under the Paycheck Protection Program. Banks and borrowers have complained that the process has been bogged down. The government expects to approve and pay forgiveness requests by late this week or early next week. Applications generally are expected to be approved quickly, but loans above $2 million will face greater scrutiny.
Since the U.S. Small Business Administration launched an online portal for loan forgiveness in early August, the agency has received more than 96,000 applications from businesses seeking to have their loans forgiven—but none have been approved, William Manger, SBA’s chief of staff and associate administrator, recently told U.S. House lawmakers.
I am recommending a review and revision to your existing policies and procedures to permit continued flexibility in these situations And, knowledge of state and local laws is crucial. Examples:
• Colorado’s COVID-19 Health Families and Workplaces Act provides up to 48 hours of paid leave for issues related to public health emergencies, including the need to care for children if schools are closed.
• Nevada’s Paid Leave Law requires employers to provide up to 40 hours of paid time off for any reason, and now can be used for COVID-19 related leaves as well.
• Los Angeles’ recent Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law requires paid leave where an employee needs time off to care for a family member whose school or care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19.
• San Francisco’s Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance requires employers to engage in a formalized process to provide flexible and predictable schedules due to family obligations, including the need to care for children who are not in school.
• Cook County, Illinois’ Earned Sick Leave Ordinance requires paid leave of up to 40 hours of leave per year for several reasons, including if the employee’s school or place of care is closed by a federal, state or local public official.
Colorado Guidance on Emergency Paid Sick Leave
On December 23rd, the Colorado Division of Labor and Employment (CDLE) issued updated guidance on three types of emergency paid sick leave available during 2020 and 2021, as follows:
• Up to 80 hours of COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave (CO-EPSL), expires 12/31/2020;
• Up to 48 hours of paid sick and safe time (PSST) effective 1/1/2021; and
• Supplemental public health emergency paid sick leave (PHEL) (up to a maximum of 80 hours) effective 1/1/2021.
The latest Interpretive Notice & Formal Opinion (“INFO”) #6C is available here.
https://cdle.colorado.gov/sites/cdle/files/INFO%20%236C%20%2812-23-20%29%2C%20How%20HFWA%20Differs%20by%20Year%20%26%20From%20Other%20Laws.pdf
CDLE.COLORADO.GOV
cdle.colorado.gov
Two Weeks Until The End Of Unemployment Benefits For 150,000 Coloradans And Counting:
Last week was an extra bad week for Coloradans who lost their jobs at the start of the pandemic. We just ended week 39 — the maximum number of weeks one is eligible for unemployment pay currently. Last spring, ski and resort workers were the first to be impacted by Gov. Jared Polis’ March 14 order to close ski resorts, and were joined within days by restaurant and bar employees as in-person dining was banned across the state. But benefits will run out on Dec. 26 for most people anyway, unless Congress moves on a new COVID-19 relief plan. The latest Colorado Department of Labor and Employment data, which is a few weeks old, shows as of Nov. 28: 90,867 people on regular unemployment (up to 26 weeks available with no deadline); 63,694 on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (ends after 39 weeks or Dec. 26); 70,031 on Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (ends after 13 weeks or Dec. 26); 16,000-ish on State Extended Benefits (ended Nov. 28); Unknown — The number of people who’ve already used up their benefits but are still unemployed (nobody seems to know this number.) Add up all those who will have lost or will lose their benefits in two weeks, and that’s almost 150,000 people, as of last month. More from The Colorado Sun https://coloradosun.com/2020/12/12/unemployment-benefits-cares-ppe-safety/.
COLORADOSUN.COM
What’s Working: Two weeks until the end of unemployment benefits for 150,000 Coloradans and counting
KEEPING TELEWORKERS ENGAGED
It has now been nearly a year since many of our employees have been working from home due to COVID 19, so it is more important than ever to keep people engaged. A recent article from the US Chamber of Commerce website has advice to do just that.
• Keep everyone updated with consistent communication, with multiple ways to keep in touch.
• Maintain your regular staff meetings using video conferencing tools. Ask everyone to leave their cameras on for better interaction.
• Avoid checking in constantly with your team members so they don’t feel micromanaged and untrusted.
• Replace friendly in-person workplace water cooler talk with virtual coffee chats, allowing people to take a little break now and then rather than not talking to co-workers for hours at a time.
• Solicit feedback from employees to understand the mood of your remote office.
This sound advice will help all of us to continue to work as a team even though we can’t be together.
Understading a PEO
OSHA Fines Increase
For 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule setting forth the following adjustments to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) civil penalty amounts based on cost-of-living adjustments:
• OSHA’s maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from $13,494 per violation to $13,653 per violation.
• The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $134,937 per violation to $136,532 per violation.
• Posting violations increased from $13,494 per violation to $13,653 per violation.
• Failure to abate violations increased from $13,494 per day to $13,653 per day.
These OSHA civil penalty adjustments became effective January 15, 2021.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/14/2021-00018/department-of-labor-federal-civil-penalties-inflation-adjustment-act-annual-adjustments-for-2021
FEDERALREGISTER.GOV
Department of Labor Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments for 2021
