A recently extended tax credit could make it easier for some businesses to expand their payrolls again after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act, part of the 2021 appropriations bill that was signed into law on December 27, 2020, includes a five-year extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).

At Sweeney Conrad, we feel extremely fortunate to be a part of such a vibrant, generous, and supportive community. To that end, in late 2016, we developed our One Good Deed Program to give back, thank our referral sources, and nurture our referral relationships.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 brought about many tax changes, including a reduced deduction amount for meals and entertainment. In general, most meals were 50% deductible.

Positive news today! With complete bipartisan support, the Washington State House and Senate have both unanimously approved House Bill 1095, exempting all government or government-funded programs related to the pandemic emergency from the State’s Business and Occupation (B&O) tax. Some examples:

If an auditor detects discrepancies or deficiencies while performing an employee benefit plan audit, the auditor will communicate these to the plan sponsor in a management letter included with the audit.

As you get ready for tax season after another BTC bull run, if you have acquired, sold, transferred, or held cryptocurrency then you and your CPA should have a discussion to make sure everything is above board with the IRS. The Department of the Treasury has listed virtual currency compliance as a top issue. So here’s a list of questions you should be able to answer.

The time has come to start thinking about those 2020 taxes. At this point, tax documents have probably started showing up in your mailbox. While it may seem like there is plenty of time, the sooner and more organized you can make your documents, the smoother the process will be.

Just like last year, we thought it might be helpful to create a checklist for easy organizing of your documents that will help to streamline the process for your accountant:

• • Make sure to fill out the questionnaire located towards the front of the organizer at a minimum.
  • Update your address, phone and email address as necessary.
  • Original tax documents are preferred to copies or photos.
  • Provide one copy of your 1099's. You can keep any duplicate copies.
  • Do not use highlighters on your tax documents.
  • No need to tear apart tax documents if they are perforated, just keep them together.
  • Avoid post it notes. Write notes and questions on a separate piece of paper or on the tax organizer.
  • If you are grouping documents together, avoid stapling and taping them; this will make it easier when your documents are being scanned.
  • For charitable deductions, make sure to send us the thank you letters and donation receipts for donations over $250. You can summarize donations less than $250.
  • If you are summarizing your medical expenses, do not send us the receipts, just keep them in your files.
  • If you are summarizing your expenses for Schedule C or your rental, do not send us the receipts.
  • Stack all supporting documents behind the organizer. They do not need to be organized within the organizer.
  • When in doubt, send us the document. Your accountant will review and determine if it needs to be included in your tax return.
  • Last but not least, please contact us if you have any questions.

Effective January 1 of this year Dave Miniken, Sweeney Conrad Shareholder and Director of our Client Accounting Services department,  became the Board Chair of the Bellevue Downtown Association (BDA). We sat down with Dave to find out a bit more about his BDA involvement.

Recently, President Trump signed the second COVID-19 stimulus bill, which includes some rather special benefits for small businesses (i.e., companies with 100 employees or less). The new bill allows for both retroactive and prospective changes to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). It is now possible for businesses that received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan in 2020 to potentially also benefit from the ERC. You may recall, prior to these changes, a business could either get a PPP loan or take the ERC. They could not have both. In addition, the new bill extends the ERC period to cover the first two quarters of 2021. The extended period now covers wages from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021. The rules for the 2021 credit are significantly different and could provide opportunities for employers that did not previously qualify for the ERC.

Congress has passed new COVID relief including stimulus payments and tax relief.  The bill awaits the President’s signature, which is expected shortly.  We’re providing some highlights here, but details of many of these provisions are not yet known since the bill is over 5,500 pages in length and will take time to digest.