COVID-19 / Corona virus – Stimulus and Economic Relief

On Friday, March 27^th President Trump signed the CARES Act. The 2.2+ trillion-dollar act has within it a host of stimulus and relief provisions to help the country respond and rebound from the economic calamity brought upon by the pandemic.

Here, we will try and cover the most pertinent of the impact to our business client-base – surely there is a tremendous amount more out there… but we are doing our best, while in the midst of a challenging tax-season, with kids at home due to school closures and our own attempts at social-distancing and staying healthy, to bring this information to you just as timely as possible ~ given that it has been coming at us fast and furious.

1. Tax Filing and tax payment dates have been extended to July 15^th – both Federal and Massachusetts.
   1. Executive summary – April 15^th was picked up and moved to July 15^th…
      1. we can still file an extension up to July 15^th which will take your extended due date out to October 15^th.
      2. balances due for 2019 are now able to be paid July 15^th – penalty and interest free.

• IRA and other retirement contributions tied to your filing deadline are also now pinned to July 15^th.

2. Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) – provides for paid sick and family leave. DOL Summary is here.
3. SBA Economic Disaster Injury Loans – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). A full write-up and additional resources can be found here.
4. Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) included the Paycheck Protection Program. This is a unique – two step – program whose purpose is to help you retain your employees, at their current base pay. A full write-up and additional resources can be found here.

All of these programs aim at keeping the economy from faltering completely and the country falling further into a recession (we’re there now – but could go deeper). These are significant initiatives and come with them their own set of challenges to the applications and achieving the funding – we encourage each of you to review all of this information thoroughly and then we would suggest getting on the phone so we can have a productive conversation about your companies unique circumstances and what relief and / or stimulus may be available to you.

Be well and stay healthy.

Stephan