Welcome to our new insurance agency blog!
 
This is our very first post. We're not quite sure what we're going to write about here, but the plan is to create helpful content for customers and prospective clients about information that is relevant to you.
 
We hope you'll come to view this as a top resource for keeping your family and your finances safe.
 
Here are a few of the topics we may be writing about:

• Answers to clients' frequently asked questions.
• Helpful information about insurance shopping.
• Safety and Health Tips and Ideas.
• Local Community Information.

 
Stay Tuned!

​​Continued from previous post
Child Care Leave (Paid Family Leave)
Under the Act employers with fewer than 500 employees are required to pay up to 12 weeks of employer-paid childcare leave for any employee who has employed by the employer more than 30 days.

• Employee Qualifications - To qualify the employee must be unable to work, or work from home, because the employee must care for their child under 18 years of age, due to school or childcare closures related to a COVID-19 emergency.
• Duration of the Leave – The maximum duration of the leave is 12 weeks.
• Family Leave Benefit – Two-thirds of their normal rate of pay but limited to $200 per day and a maximum of $10,000.
• Note: Where the need for childcare is anticipated an employee should provide their employer with as much advance notice as possible. However, advance notice is not required.

Employee Retention:

• 25 Employees or More: Employers with 25 or more employees must allow their employees to return to work after the leave.
• Less Than 25 Employees: Employers with fewer than 25 employees must allow their employees to return to work after the leave unless the position no longer exists as a result of changes in economic or operating conditions related to/resulting from COVID-19 and the public health emergency. Even so, the act requires employers to do their best to return an employee to an equivalent position if available for up to a period of one year.
• State Family Leave Programs – Some states provide family leave benefits and it will take time to see if there is nexus between the federal emergency benefits and state benefits. For example, CA has a paid family leave program compensated by the state.

Questions:  email: [email protected]

The IRS has automatically extended the income tax filing due date (deadline) from April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020 because of the national emergency declared by President Trump on March 13, 2020.  Any taxpayer can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020 without penalties & interest, regardless of the amount owed.  This includes individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers including those who pay self-employment (SE) tax.  

No additional forms or notifications of any kind are required by taxpayers to take advantage of the new tax filing deadline July 15, 2020.   Individual tax payers who need additional time beyond the July 15, 2020 can request an extension by filing form 4868 and businesses that need additional time can request an extension by filing form 7004.  Everyone is encouraged to file taxes as soon as possible especially if a refund is due because the refund will be issued within 3 weeks or 21 days after filing.  
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The IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically with direct deposits to get a refund quickly.  Critical departments of the IRS are open for business during this national emergency and they will process tax returns and refunds as quickly as possible.  Stay tuned for more guidance from the IRS on any further tax relief during the COVID-19 national emergency.   Contact us at [email protected] to get your taxes prepared and filed to the IRS.  

SBA is very specific about who in your business should be included while calculating payroll costs for the PPP Loan.  Businesses applying for the PPP loan should include employees' salary, wages, commissions, and/or tips.  All benefits paid to the employee which include sick leave, paid time off, health coverage, 401k or other retirement plan funds, state & local taxes, and any other allowance for separation or dismissal should be included.  The application requires businesses to submit form 940, payroll expenses report from Jan 1 to Feb 15, 2020, some banks require bank statements if you don't have an existing relationship, some require both form 940 from 2019 & W3 filed for 2019.  
Self-employed individuals, who are generally independent contractors or sole proprietors are not part of the payroll calculations because they are not employees.  They should apply for their own PPP loan with their SBA lender and provide appropriate documentation such as 1099 or their bank statements as proof of income.

SBA also excludes any payroll costs to individuals who do not have a principal place of residence as the United States, any compensation greater than $100,000 per year is excluded from calculating payroll costs for the loan, federal income taxes withheld, including FICA, Railroad Retirement Act taxes (both employee and employer's share) are excluded from feb 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020.  Qualified Sick leave and family leave wages for which a credit is allowed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act is also excluded.  
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The interest rate will be 1% or 100 basis points on the PPP loan, the maturity is two years with a maximum maturity of up to ten years from the date the borrower applies for loan forgiveness.  The first payment is due six months from the date of disbursement of the loan, however, interest will continue to accrue on the PPP loan during the six-month deferment period.  The borrower can apply for loan forgiveness for which the full principal amount can be forgiven based on how much of the loan was used for payroll costs.  There will be more guidance issued on forgiveness by the SBA.  Email at [email protected] with questions.

According to the Federal Register, vol 85, No. 63 published on April 1, 2020 under Rules and Regulations, the SBA has modified the eligibility and the loan approval deadline and extended this pilot program that was introduced as a pilot program on Oct 16, 2017.  After the declaration of a national emergency by President Trump on March 13, 2020 that adversely affected all states including DC, the SBA expanded the EBL program eligibility to all businesses nationwide adversely impacted by COVID-19.  The deadline for approval for this loan is extended from Sept 30, 2020 to March 13, 2021.  This 6 month extension of the deadline will allow small businesses that may experience delayed effects from the COVID-19 emergency.  The EBL pilot program authorizes SBA express lenders to provide a streamlined and expedited SBA-guaranteed bridge loan financing on an emergency basis for up to $25,000 for the communities affected by Presidentially-declared disasters.  This is a bridge loan because businesses apply and wait for long-term financing through the SBA's direct Disaster Loan program if they are eligible.  SBA express lenders only make EBL loans to eligible businesses with an established banking relationship on or before the date of the disaster or emergency declaration.  Please visit www.sba.gov for more detailed information on EBL loans. Please send questions to [email protected]

On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for all states, territories, and the District of Columbia due to the ongoing COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic.  The severity and the magnitude of this rapidly spreading pandemic led to a worldwide threat to health, travel, and commerce.  The state of emergency allowed the Federal, State and local public health officials to take measures to minimize the public's exposure to the novel Coronavirus.  The measures included a mandatory nationwide closure of restaurants, bars, gyms, cancellation of sporting events, large gatherings and restrictions on travel outside the United States.  Businesses of all sizes are experiencing an economic hardship as people stay home to keep safe distance from other, stay-at-home orders were mandated, and all non-essential businesses were ordered to close until further notice.