Tax Warrior Chronicles

Among the many issues created by the pandemic, local income tax withholding in Pennsylvania caused administrative headaches for Pennsylvania employers over the last several months (as explained in our previous blog). In today’s blog, we will discuss the Philadelphia Wage Tax Refund process for 2020.

By: Ashley Hampton, MPA

2020 was an extraordinary and challenging year. In fact, a Stanford University study found that roughly 40 percent of the U.S. work force now works from home full time due to COVID-19. This has led many to question the effect this has on their taxes. Do you now qualify for the home office deduction? Did the CARES Act account for this wave of remote workers? Does my state follow the federal tax law? Continue reading to find your answers.

As guidance in this area is being released regularly, we recommend you read all of our blogs on this subject.  All the blogs in the Paycheck Protection Program series are here: Updates #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7,#8,#9,#10,#11,#12,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18,

#19, #20, #21, #22

Is it already February? The 2020 filing season is here and this year brings new challenges compared to other filing seasons. In PPP Update #19, we discussed the federal change to deductibility of expenses using Payroll Protection Program (PPP) funds, but what about states and localities? As we have become accustomed to, the PPP bares unique issues.

By: Elizabeth M. K. Witko, MAcc, MSF, and Robert N. Polans, CPA, MT, PFS

The tax impact of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act’s 10-year limited stretch can be a “keep you up at night” concern for individuals who have amassed substantial qualified retirement accounts. Often, these individuals have a substantial portion of their investment portfolios accumulating and growing in tax-deferred retirement accounts, and as a result of the SECURE Act, could be passing down a massive income tax liability to their heirs.

By: Irina Moyseyenko, CPA, MT

The recently passed legislation, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), made changes to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). This credit, created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, provides a refundable payroll tax credit to businesses that were fully or partially shutdown in at least one quarter or had a significant drop in gross receipts in any quarter in 2020 as compared to 2019.  Today we will discuss how the CAA affected the ERC.

by: Steve Rossman, CPA, MT, and Chris Catarino, CPA, MT

Last week, the IRS issued Notice 2021-10, which provides several extensions for Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) investors and other QOZ provisions in response to COVID-19. This is the second round of COVID-19 relief provided to QOZs after IRS issued Notice 2020-39 in June of 2020, which you can read more about here. Today, we’ll give an overview of the extensions.

By: Olivia M. Seneca, MBA

President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 (CAA) into law on December 27, 2020. This bill is one of the largest ever enacted at $2.3 trillion, which combines $900 billion in COVID-19 stimulus relief and a $1.4 trillion 2021 federal fiscal-year spending bill. This is the first bill to address the pandemic since March 2020 and contains numerous tax provisions and extenders to the CARES Act. Today’s post is part one of a multi-blog series and will focus on the Individual Provisions of the CAA. We will write about other key provisions and extenders in detail in the coming weeks. 

By: Brandon Caine, CPA

The coronavirus pandemic has affected our nation’s economy in many ways. Most notably, millions of citizens applied for and received unemployment compensation during 2020. As we head into the 2020 tax filing season, today we will provide a summary of the tax impact of receiving unemployment compensation.

As guidance in this area is being released regularly, we recommend you read all of our blogs on this subject.  All the blogs in the Paycheck Protection Program series are here: Updates #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7,#8,#9,#10,#11,#12,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18,

#19, #20, #21, #22

On January 8, 2021, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released a procedural notice to provide guidance on the recent changes to how the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) Advances impact PPP loan forgiveness. Prior to the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the Act), discussed in PPP Update #19, PPP borrowers were required to reduce any requested PPP loan forgiveness by any EIDL

April 15th always seems to sneak up, and surely this year will be no different. While there’s no escaping the tax deadline, this year will be the easiest tax season ever. Use the following tips to streamline the tax return process and minimize stress.