Blog

Bellevue LifeSpring is making a huge impact on our community during this time of uncertainty and economic struggle. We caught up with Executive Director, Jennifer Fischer to learn more about their mission.

In the past few months, COVID-19 has made our world feel like it was turned upside-down. From the way we socialize to the way we work, almost everything has changed in a very short amount of time. I’m sure you have read about accounting firms that are no longer recruiting (or even worse - doing layoffs), or have friends who have had their internships canceled. Sweeney Conrad is thrilled to still be welcoming our summer interns in about a month, and currently planning how to best train them for a work-from-home internship. We anticipate having our normal recruiting levels this fall, and we are attending as many online career fairs and college events as we can!

Today, May 13th, the Treasury released FAQ #46, which provides that any borrower where they, together with affiliates, received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of less than $2 million are deemed to have met the economic uncertainty test. This decision comes on the heels of extensive discussion regarding how businesses that received PPP loans could verify that, due to economic uncertainty, they needed the funds to support their ongoing operations.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was signed into law in late March is a massive piece of legislation that’s more than 880 pages long and carries a price tag of at least $2 trillion.

Employee benefit plan sponsors are facing many questions due to the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19. One of the most important is simple: What is your fiduciary duty during the coronavirus crisis?

On April 24, the President signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, providing $310 billion in additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), $10 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL), as well as funding for other critical healthcare needs.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide cash to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds can be used to pay employees, along with other expenses such as health insurance premiums, rent or mortgage payments, and utilities. Loans under the PPP will be 100% guaranteed by U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the full amount of the loans and any accrued interest may qualify for loan forgiveness.

In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS announced last month that taxpayers have until July 15, 2020 to file and pay federal income taxes that were originally due on April 15. This extension comes with no late-filing penalty, interest, or late-payment penalty.

The IRS recently announced special Federal income tax return filing and payment relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the IRS, these are some of the most common questions taxpayers are asking in regards to these recent changes.*