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Financial Relief Information Kit
For Individuals and Businesses as a Result of COVID-19
We are all navigating in unchartered waters right now – both with our health and money. At Campbell & Company, Wealth Advisors & CPAs, we’ve put together a summary to help you better understand what’s available to you as an individual and business owner – from loans, unemployment, taxes, and retirement provisions. This kit makes it easy to help get you through the difficult time. It has been an unusual season in our lives as a result of a worldwide pandemic.
The U.S. government is trying to relieve some of the hardship that Americans are carrying right now, encourage the economy to spring back, and aid small businesses. Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act were recent tax acts recently passed to offer tax and financial relief for individuals and small businesses including Loan Relief Provisions. Keep in mind the exact amounts, details, and qualifications may change as this develops.
INDIVIDUAL TAX RELIEF PROVISION
$1200 Single & $2,400 Married Filing Jointly plus $500 each dependent under the age of 16
Phases out if your Adjusted Gross income (AGI) exceeds $75,000 for Single, $112,500 Head of Households and $150,000 Married Filing Jointly Returns
No rebate if your Adjusted Gross income (AGI) over $99,000 or $198,000
Based on 2018 return data unless 2019 filed is filed. If non filed or direct deposit or check not received, will take as a credit on 2020 Income Tax Return
FAQ
A dependent of another who filed tax return is not eligible to receive a check.
If you make more than those limits, the check amount would be $5 less for every $100 that your income goes over the limit.
The government’s goal is to get checks into the hands of Americans within three weeks of the bill passing and then again another six weeks later—if we’re still under a national emergency then.
2. Charity Donations
The CARES Act allows for an above-the-line deduction up to $300 for cash contributions to certain charities for those who do not itemize deductions.
Also, the Act increases the limitations on deductions for “qualified contributions” by individuals who itemize by suspending the 50% of AGI limitation, meaning up to 100% of AGI may be claimed as a charitable itemized income tax deduction.
A “qualified contribution” is a contribution paid in cash during calendar year 2020 to an organization described in section 170(b) (1) (A) and the taxpayer has elected the application of this section with respect to such contribution. A “qualified contribution” does not include a contribution to an organization described in section 509(a) (3) or to a donor advised fund.
3. Student Loans
The Act suspends student loan payments (principal and interest) through September 30, 2020 without penalty to the borrower for federal student loans. No interest will accrue on these loans during this suspension period.
4. Unemployment Insurance Provisions
The Act creates a temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program through December 31, 2020 to provide payment to “covered individuals” who are not traditionally eligible for unemployment benefits, such as self-employed individuals, independent contractors, and those who have limited work history because they were unable to work as a direct result of the coronavirus public health emergency.
“Covered individuals” include those who are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits and provide self-certification that the individual is otherwise able to work but for:
The Act also provides an additional $600 per week to each recipient of unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for up to four months. There will also be an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020 to help those who remain unemployed after state unemployment benefits are no longer available.
5. Treatment of Net Operating Losses (NOL):
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 significantly pared back the ability of businesses to carry forward/carry back Net Operating Losses. This was widely criticized at the time by some experts because NOLs had traditionally been used as a tool to provide tax relief when a business loses money.
Prior to the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Service allowed businesses to carry net operating losses (NOL) forward 20 years to net against future profits or backwards two years for an immediate refund of previous taxes paid. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the two-year net operating loss (NOL) carryback provision and allowed for an indefinite NOL carryforward period. The CARES Act substantially liberalizes the NOL rules as set out in the chart below:
6. Retirement Plan Provisions
IRA Contribution Deadline
The deadline for filing an individual’s 2019 income tax return is extended to July 15, 2020. In an FAQ, the IRS stated “Contributions can be made to your IRA, for a particular year, at any time during the year or by the due date for filing your return for that year. Because the due date for filing Federal income tax returns has been postponed to July 15, the deadline for making contributions to your IRA for 2019 is also extended to July 15, 2020.”
Withdrawals from Qualified Retirement Plans and IRAs, and Plan Loans
The CARES Act provides tax relief for retirement plan and IRA “coronavirus-related distributions” up to $100,000 taken by individuals on or after January 1, 2020 and before December 31, 2020.
The CARES Act permits in-service distributions, provides an exception to the 10% early distribution penalty – the , exempts the distribution from the mandatory 20% withholding applicable to eligible rollover distributions, allows the individual to include income attributable to the distribution over a three-year period, and allows the for the recontributing of the distribution to a plan or IRA within three years.
The CARES Act provides that for plan loans made during the 180-day period beginning on the date of enactment and December 31, 2020 the maximum loan amount is increased from $50,000 or 50% of the vested account balance to $100,000 or 100% of the vested account balance. The due date for any repayment on a loan is delayed for one year (normally five years).
To be eligible for the withdrawal and loan relief, an individual must fall within one of the following categories:
• The individual is diagnosed with COVID-19 by a test approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
• The individual experiences adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, being furloughed or laid off or having work hours reduced due to COVID-19, being unable to work due to lack of child care due to COVID-19, closing or reducing hours of a business owned or operated by the individual due to COVID-19, or other factors as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Plan administrators may rely on an employee’s certification that the employee meets these requirements.
7. Required Minimum Distribution’s (RMDs)
The CARES Act suspends RMDs for 2020. This allows account owners to suspend their first RMD if they were required to do so in 2019, and had not taken it as of April 1, 2020; As well as suspend their 2020 RMD.
If you have already taken your 2020 RMD, you will still receive a 1099-R there is no provision in the bill that allows someone to put back a distribution taken in 2020. The distribution will be treated as such and therefore taxable, so you may take it if you wish. However, if you have taken your RMD within the last 60 days and do not need it, you may still be eligible to process a 60 day rollover and not have those funds treated as a taxable distribution in 2020.
Inherited IRAs which were required to distribute their accounts within five years of their inheritance will now get an extra year, giving them six years to distribute the account if one of the five years was 2020. There are no RMDs or 10 Year Distribution rules in effect yet for those that were aware of the new SECURE Act.
8. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and workplace-based retirement plans
Deadlines for Contributions to your IRA for 2019 is also extended to July 15, 2020.
9. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs)
If you are eligible, deadlines for Contributions to your HSA or Archer MSA is now July 15, 2020,
BUSINESS TAX RELIEF PROVISIONS
The bill creates a refundable payroll tax credit for 50 percent of wages paid by employers to employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The credit is available to employers whose (1) operations were fully or partially suspended, due to a COVID-19-related shut-down order, or (2) gross receipts declined by more than 50 percent when compared to the same quarter in the prior year.
The credit is based on qualified wages paid to the employee. For employers with greater than 100 full-time employees, qualified wages are wages paid to employees when they are not providing services due to the COVID-19-related circumstances described above. For eligible employers with 100 or fewer full-time employees, all employee wages qualify for the credit, whether the employer is open for business or subject to a shut-down order. The credit is provided for the first $10,000 of compensation, including health benefits, paid to an eligible employee. The credit is provided for wages paid or incurred from March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
2. Delay of Employer Payroll Taxes:
Employers generally are responsible for paying a 6.2% Social Security tax on employee wages, and the bill allows employers and self-employed individuals to defer payment of the employer share of the Social Security tax they otherwise are responsible for paying to the federal government with respect to their employees. The provision requires that the deferred employment tax be paid over the following two years, with half of the amount required to be paid by December 31, 2021 and the other half by December 31, 2022.
3. Employer Student Loan Payments.
Employers are allowed to provide a limited student loan repayment benefit to its employees on a tax-free basis. Specifically, employers may contribute up to $5,250 annually to each employee on a tax-free basis. The annual limitation applies to both the new student loan repayment benefit as well as other educational assistance provided by the employer under current law (ex. tuition, fees, books, etc.). The provision applies to student loan payments made after the enactment date and before January 1, 2021.
4. SBA Loan, Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) – With Loan Forgiveness
Small employers with 500 employees or fewer, as well as those that meet the current Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards; Self-employed individuals and “gig economy” individuals; and Certain nonprofits, including 501(c)(3) organizations and 501(c)(19) veteran organizations, and tribal business concerns with under 500 employees.
The size of the loans would equal 250 percent of an employer’s average monthly payroll. The maximum loan amount would be $10 million. Covered payroll costs include salary, wages, and payment of cash tips (up to an annual rate of pay of $100,000); employee group health care benefits, including insurance premiums; retirement contributions; and covered leave.
The cost of participation in the program would be reduced for both borrowers and lenders by providing fee waivers, an automatic deferment of payments for one year, and no prepayment penalties.
Loans would be available immediately through more than 800 existing SBA-certified lenders, including banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions, and SBA would be required to streamline the process to bring additional lenders into the program.
The Treasury Secretary would be authorized to expedite the addition of new lenders and make further enhancements to quickly expedite delivery of capital to small employers. The maximum loan amount for SBA Express loans would be increased from $350,000 to $1 million. Express loans provide borrowers with revolving lines of credit for working capital purposes.
To determine whether a business is eligible for this program, the CARES Act require lenders to ascertain:
(3) Whether the business was substantially impacted by COVID-19. The legislation also gives more authority to lenders regarding eligibility determinations without having to run those determinations through the normal SBA approval channels.
The CARES Act says that the allowable uses of 7(a) loans include salary, wages, and commissions, tips, paid leave, healthcare payments and retirement benefit payments. Allowable payroll costs do not include compensation to an individual employee in excess of an annual salary of $100,000 as prorated for the covered period.
Qualified sick leave or family leave wages for which a credit is allowed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act are not included in the allowable uses. It also does not include any compensation of an employee whose principal place of residence is outside of the United States. .
The terms of:
Interest Rate: During the covered period, a covered loan shall bear an interest rate not to exceed 4 percent
Payment Deferment: 6-12 month of deferment including principal, interest and fees
Origination Fees: Lender reimbursed by the SBA
The maximum amount of a PPP loan available to each borrower is equal to the lesser of: (a) $10 million, or (b) 2.5 x its average total monthly payroll costs, as defined in the Act. Unlike most typical SBA loans, the PPP Loans are unsecured loans requiring no collateral, no personal guarantee, and no showing that credit is unavailable elsewhere. The PPP loan, to the extent not forgiven, has a maximum 10-year term and the interest rate may not exceed 4%. PPP loans will be made available through SBA-approved lenders, who must offer a 6-12 month deferment on payment of principal, interest, and fees.
One of the most important aspects of the program is the way in which loan principal can be forgiven. A borrower of a PPP loan is eligible for loan forgiveness for amounts spent during the 8-week period after the origination date, subject to proper documentation, on
Any amounts forgiven will be reduced proportionally by any reduction in the number of employees retained compared to the prior year and reduced by the reduction in pay of any employee beyond 25 percent of their prior year compensation. Borrowers that re-hire workers previously laid off will not be penalized for having a reduced payroll at the beginning of the period. Most importantly, indebtedness cancelled will not be included in the borrower’s taxable income.
5. SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance – up to $10,000 Loan Forgiveness
In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000, Funds will generally be made available within three days of a successful application, and this loan advance is eligible for forgiveness if used for Rent, Mortgage, Utilities or Payroll Costs.
6. SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)-No loan forgiveness
The SBA offers many favorable terms in their EIDLs:
Loans are up to $2M
The term is 30 years
Interest Rates are 3.75% for small business and (2.75% for non-profits)
The first month’s payments are deferred a full year from the date of the promissory note.
The EIDLs expanded provisions include:
EIDLS can be approved by the SBA based solely on an applicant’s credit score (not repayment ability and no tax return is required). Prior bankruptcy doesn’t disqualify you.
EIDLS smaller than $200,000 can be approved without a personal guarantee. They are also not requiring real estate as collateral and will take a general security interest in business property.
Borrowers can receive $10,000 in an emergency grant cash advance that can be forgiven if spent on paid leave, maintaining payroll, increased costs due to supply chain disruption, mortgage or lease payments or repaying obligations that cannot be met due to revenue loss
It expands access to sole proprietors or independent contractors, as well as tribal businesses, cooperatives, and ESOPs with fewer than 500 employees and all non-profits including 501(c)(6)s.
You apply for these loans directly through the SBA at www.SBA.gov/disaster.
There are no loan fees, guarantee fees or prepayment fees.
As of March 30, the new streamlined online application is up and running. Make sure to apply for Economic Injury for the Coronavirus, rather than physical damage due to another disaster (that is a different declaration number).
You have to have been in business by January 31, 2020 to qualify, so you can’t start a business now and receive this kind of grant. The SBA also offers other information and programming at www.sba.gov/coronavirus.
How long will it take to get the money? There are some 30 million small businesses in the United States. In a busy year, the SBA processes 800,000 applications. If the 3.3 million unemployment numbers show anything, there will be a lot of demand for this relief (and systems may be overloaded). Apply as soon as you can.
The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. The loan advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue.
7. Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program
The Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program is currently available to small business owners located in all Florida counties statewide that experienced economic damage as a result of COVID-19.
These short-term, interest-free working capital loans are intended to “bridge the gap” between the time a major catastrophe hits and when a business has secured longer term recovery resources, such as sufficient profits from a revived business, receipt of payments on insurance claims or federal disaster assistance.
The Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program is not designed to be the primary source of assistance to affected small businesses, which is why eligibility is linked pursuant to other financial sources. Note: Loans made under this program are short-term debt loans made by the state of Florida using public funds – they are not grants. Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loans require repayment by the approved applicant from longer term financial resources.
All Florida counties statewide per Executive Order 20-52.
Applications will be accepted by qualified for-profit, privately held small businesses that maintain a place of business in the state of Florida. All qualified applicants must have been established prior to March 9, 2020, and suffered economic injury as a result of the designated disaster. Qualified small business applicants must employ 2 to 100 employees.
Up to $50,000 per eligible small business. Loans of up to $100,000 may be made in special cases as warranted by the need of the eligible small business.
1 year.
Only one loan may be made per eligible business. All previous bridge loans received MUST be paid in full.
Loans will be interest-free for the loan term (1 year). The Interest rate will be 12% per annum on the unpaid balance thereafter, until the loan balance is repaid in full. Loan default is subject to a normal commercial collection process.
Applications will be accepted by qualified Florida small businesses under this program through May 8, 2020, contingent on the availability of funds.
8. COVID-19 and Disaster Relief Payments
Code Section 139 was enacted in 2002 as a response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. The primary purpose of Code Section 139 is to allow employers to make “qualified disaster relief payments” to its employees in a manner that is tax-free to the employee but deductible to the employer.
In general, Code Section 139 is triggered when the employer makes payments that are designated as “qualified disaster relief payments” which generally include any amount paid to or for the benefit of an individual to reimburse or pay reasonable and necessary personal, family, living, or funeral expenses incurred as a result of a “qualified disaster” to the extent the expense is not covered by insurance or is otherwise reimbursable. Recently, the IRS issued Notice 2020-18 which appears to indicate that the shelter in place orders and other governmental actions taken in respect of COVID-19 meets the definition of a qualified disaster for purposes of Code Section 139.
Code Section 139 treatment does not apply to all payments made by an employer. Generally, if a payment is made to replace lost income (such as payments for sick leave or family medical leave) it is not eligible for Code Section 139 treatment. In contrast, payments made by an employer to help an employee pay expenses related to rent, groceries, and other household expenses that are attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic (and are not otherwise covered by insurance) may qualify.
We note that Code Section 139 has never been used for a national pandemic and, historically it has only been used for local disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. We are continuing to examine the availability of Code Section 139 as an opportunity for employers to make “qualified disaster relief payments” to their employees in a manner that is tax-free to the employee but deductible to the employer and will issue a separate “client alert” once this analysis is complete.
References
Keebler, R. G. (n.d.). The CARES Act Decoded. What Wealth Advisors Must Know for Client Education. Retrieved from https://www.thewealthadvisor.com/article/cares-act-decoded-what-wealth-advisors-must-know-client-education
Thompsn, B. (n.d.). Getting Cash For Your Small Business Through the CARES Act. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianthompson1/2020/03/29/getting-cash-for-your-small-business-through-the-cares-act/#c4749f343a0a
US Small Business Administration. (n.d.). Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources. Retrieved from www.sba.gov: https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources
Disclaimer: Campbell & Company 2020-The information in this document is general in nature and the information is changing rapidly and there may be updated information as it becomes available from federal, state and local governments. We inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachment) is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties or promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed.
Monica Haberlin EA, Senior Partner
352) 683-7365
MyCampbellandCo.com
7211 Hiawatha Pkwy, Spring Hill, FL 34606
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