Well, the calendar is about to turn – Phew!

This year of years has been quite a roller coaster, but hopefully the continued distribution of vaccines and the eventual signing of the latest stimulus package will keep the light at the end of the tunnel shining and coming ever closer.

That stimulus package helped highlight how our work realm was far from immune from 2020’s twists and turns. Between individual payments and PPP forgiveness, we answered questions surrounding, and tried to provide guidance through, areas that we never imagined would exist when the year began.

But it is coming to an end.

So as we prepare for 2021, I first wanted to take some time to acknowledge those who did not make it through the year because of the pandemic. No matter one’s politics, it is strikingly said that more than 330,000 people have lost their lives in the US because of COVID-19. That number is more than one in every 1,000 people in the country and more than the populations of the cities of St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The year’s slow slog has made it difficult to appreciate the enormity of the situation at times, but it has added up to a large number and should be noted.

For those of us lucky enough to have made it through, hopefully we can at least find some solace in that, and possibly even some power. We have not traveled an easy path, but it has also not been impossible. Times of tragedy also present times of surmounting immense obstacles and helping others scale them. It often takes many good stories to outweigh the power of one bad tale, but those good stories do still exist.

Let us rally around that while also helping it pushes us toward a year that has to go better than the last one.

It has to, right?

So as you do whatever you need to do to send 2020 on its way, also lift yourself up to what may be coming. 

In this year of all years, we are finally approaching the end. The close of the year usually comes with celebrations and gatherings, but now, well, 2020.

It is easy to let this drag one down for there are few of us who will be enjoying the holiday season in exactly the way that we have in the past. In a time when everyone is missing something, other things are being added to that list.

My wish for you, though, is that this situation hands you the power to do something new that you will love. All those traditions that we normally enjoy started somewhere, right? There is always a year one, so instead of making 2020 a footnote or afterthought in the way we do things, why not make it a beginning?

Chances are you still have some extra time (and quite likely a bit more over the holidays) to do with as you wish. So do something that you have been wishing to do. Have a game you have been wanting to play, do it. Have a holiday special you used to love but have not seen in years, watch it. Ever look back on the year and wish you read more, grab a book.

And if through all of this you find yourself wishing you were spending more time with some people, draw them in. Many of these are things that can still be enjoyed together from afar. Embrace that, enjoy it with someone else. Before you know it, you may have started a new tradition that helps you grab some joy in future holiday seasons.

That joy is our wish for you this December no matter what or how you celebrate. It is something that everyone deserves and something we all owe it to ourselves to find.

Happy Holidays! 

We have all been holding too much weight on our shoulders for almost the entire length of this year. No matter what we believe, what political party we are in, or how deeply the pandemic affected us personally, everyone felt it. Now, vaccines are arriving during the holiday season as a gift that hopefully is helping many start to feel a little bit less of that weight.

And since I believe this is a time period that we will eventually learn a lot of lessons from, maybe this is a chance to start doing that. Because doesn’t the removal of that little bit of weight feel so good?

Almost all of us are carrying more than we need to even in the best of the times. You know that thing that lingers in the mind that you wish you didn’t have to do? Well, of course, that often means we don’t do it as soon as we could even if just getting it out of the way would remove the strain that it is placing upon us.

So yes, an easy lesson is that ending procrastination can help make things feel better. But of course, we all know that already. That is an easier-said-than-done situation.

But what if you could think of it in another way? What if instead of thinking about how you should get it done but just don’t have the will for it, you had someone else do it? I know most will read that and also file it under easier said than done, but I wager that if you’re doing that, it is easier to do than you realize.

For something that we have definitely learned this year is how many people have the means to work from home. You can take advantage of this with such online freelancer marketplaces as Fiverr or Upwork. And of course, there are some tasks that are sensitive enough that you will not feel comfortable offering them up in such arenas, but there are many other tasks you are spending time on that could be handled there.

Those tasks that feel too sensitive for a freelancer do not automatically still have to be done by you, though. You can still partner with someone who has the skills to handle the pieces of business that you hate doing. Do you never quite get those marketing plans implemented? Well, there are many out there who know how to do that and love doing it. Do you never quite get around to getting your books or tax situation in order? Well, we certainly can guarantee that you know someone who can help you there.

Consider shifting those tasks to someone else a holiday gift to yourself – one you very much deserve. You got through this year after all, right?

Last week was National Tax Security Awareness Week and you can be forgiven if you forgot to include that as part of your holiday season celebrating. You can also, however, be forgiven if you used it as an excuse to have some cake, because, well, cake.

Let’s start with just accepting the fact that this happened as good news. The IRS and state tax agencies remain constantly vigilant about securing data and retaining confidence in their transactions and activities. And sure, one could be cynical and say this is in their own best interest, and it is, but it is also in the interest of every taxpayer. So in the interests of continued security, I wanted to hit upon a few highlights brought up during the week that all should keep in mind.

A big one is the increase this year of people who are working from home and how this could add some new vulnerabilities. If you always worked in an office where there were company measures being taken to protect sensitive information, you may have never given a thought to how that protection takes place. If now you are handling this at home, you must take on some of the onus to maintain safety. So make sure you have given some thought to this, and if you have not, ask your employer what steps you should be taking on your personal machines to make sure all is as it should be.

When it comes to thinking of one’s machines, too, this does not only mean computers. If you are looking at company email on a cell phone, it is also a machine where information is passing through. A simple thing to remember here is that when those annoying notifications pop up to upgrade your phone’s software, do it. These almost always will include some increased security measures and help you at least stay a little bit ahead of the game.

On the more personal protection side, give a little extra attention to where your computer is pointed when you shop online. If you are going to complete a credit card transaction on a site, make sure it has a web address that begins with “https” (the S is for secure communications) and look for the padlock icon in the address bar.

This time of year lends itself to some other schemes, too, as we shop more online. Recently I read about people receiving calls from scammers claiming to be from Amazon speaking of large charges on their account and using this a way to get information out of them. And how many of us don’t have some activity going on in Amazon? This makes us already primed (pun fully intended) to think it’s not that wild that something is going on with our purchasing on the site.

Finally, do not do any of this shopping or viewing of potentially sensitive information over public wi-fi networks. This an area you may not realize is a possible weak spot, but if you’re getting information over a network that did not require a password to access, assume that someone can see the information going through that network also without a password.

Well, it’s officially December. That means 2020 is almost over, right?

It may indeed mean that, but it also means that it is time to start thinking about filing taxes. (I know, right, didn’t we just do this?)  And there are a few things special to this year that one should keep in mind.

First, I have mentioned it in the past, but I would again like to note that even if you do not itemize deductions, there is a $300 charitable donation deduction available to everyone this year. So if you have the means to give, let the tax bonus be a little extra push to help someone else.

As always, keep an eye on your mailboxes as the calendar turns. Forms will start arriving and even if you are not ready to file immediately, keeping all those things together in the same place will save some time when you are ready. Beyond that, there are probably some things that you know you’re going to need that may not come in the mail and/or that you already have (receipts, bank statements, etc.), so why not throw them in a folder and get things started.

Before any of those forms arrive, too, keep in mind that any money you make is most likely taxable. So be sure to have records of all that, no matter in what form it came. For too many this year, that means remembering that unemployment income is taxable.

This also includes money earned in freelance gigs. Those who worked a lot in this area have become accustomed to receiving a Form 1099 reporting that money but remember that this has changed this year and you should instead be watching for a Form 1099-NEC this year. (Although there are still other reasons you may get a 1099, so do not just toss it in the garbage if you get one.)

Also new for this year, keep a hold on that Notice 1444 that you may have received along with any Economic Impact Payment this year. Of course, that came months ago and you may not have the notice anymore. If this is the case, at least be sure to note down how much you did receive so we have the numbers to work with.

For even that simple act is one of the things that can save some time and headache in a couple months. Most of the individual actions you need to do to get ready to file your taxes do not take much time, when you let them all build up and try to do it all in one morning, though, then it feels very heavy. A little prep work helps with that and couldn’t we all do with having things feel a little lighter right now?

 

In this time of thanks, I understand how many are having a difficult time finding that feeling.

In this time when we are supposed to be gathering with family and loved ones, many of us only have a virtual connection to them.

In this time of year that is supposed to bring holiday cheer, many are wondering how they will pay their bills through the end of the year.

In this time when so much feels in constant flux, I know that I do not hold the power to set anything right with these words.

But know still that this is a general wish for your wellbeing and success. Know that there is someone out there wishing you well and hoping things turns around for you.

For we are starting to see some lights at the end of this tunnel. Just as this point on the calendar feels nothing like it did last year, the same point next year also holds the promise of difference. In time, this will be a year we tell stories about, stories that may even define us, because of how much we went through and still came out the other side.

Until then, may your holiday season start with some peace. May you be able to find that feeling in whatever space (no matter how small) it lives, and may you be able to take a moment to take it in and gain the perspective that comes with calm.

 

Things kind of feel like they are in a holding pattern right now. Joe Biden is president-elect, but not quite everyone is fully accepting that, and he won’t take power for another two months no matter what. Good news is rampant with treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, but cases are rising quickly at the same time. It is difficult to know just where the country stands on, well, anything.

I am certainly not here to pretend that I have any answers to these issues. What will happen in any political transition probably has as much to do with how the Senate runoffs go in Georgia than who works in the Oval Office and although that light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is shining brighter, it is still difficult to put a timeline on when we will reach it. That does not mean, however, that this can’t be a time of learning. And the biggest lesson we should learn is to not overreact.

In the political arena, vast importance (and probably rightfully so) was placed on the outcome of the presidential election. But should it really get all the importance? Even with Biden in power, Democratic control of the Senate is far from assured, making sweeping changes much more difficult to achieve. So yes, there were significant differences that had to be weighed between Trump and Biden, but it was still far from the only piece of the political puzzle.

In the pandemic arena, we have been on a push-and-pull cycle since March. The economy took a vast dip, has seen a good rate of recovery since, yet remains far from a complete comeback, and now things feel less stable than they have in months with rising infection numbers and renewed fears of possible lockdown measures.

That knife’s edge feels much sharper for some than others. Let’s not forget there are many who returned to work and now feel that sharp pang of fear that the current situation could push them out of work again. Let’s not forget that there are still substantial numbers of people who have been complete without work through these months.

It is tough to tell someone not to overreact when they live with such fear. But we do not make good choices when they are based in fear. Even when it feels like there are no good choices, we must make calculated decisions to make our present the best we can while taking what steps we can to help ensure the future.

It is a little easier to tell someone not to overreact when they are gambling on where these situations will take us, though. After all, when you take a nine-month view of where we have been this year, we can easily see times when our guesses as to what was coming were right, and we can even more easily see when our guesses were very, very wrong.

Definite answers have been more difficult to come by than ever this year. We must keep doing the best we can in the situation we are in. This does not mean simply throwing up our hands and taking the trip without any navigation, but it does mean making attempts to not be ruled by in-the-moment emotion and to accept that there are forces beyond us that make an ultimate answer impossible to determine.

So here is to wishing you comfort in these uncertain times.

 

Well … it’s been a week.

And if there is one thing the past week has shown us, it is that there is often two sides to a story. For everyone thrilled that Joe Biden is now president-elect, there are almost as many people upset about the outcome. No one is necessarily wrong, there are just two possible answers. That is what voting essentially is, after all.

The same thing can often happen in the financial realm. On Monday, Pfizer released news that it had a vaccine against COVID-19 that was more than 90% effective. Great news, right? Of course, and if you look at the stock market’s overall numbers in the wake of the news, it agreed.

Well, unless you looked at some individual stocks, ones for companies like Zoom and Peloton. Heck, even giants like Amazon and Netflix saw a downtick because we may be seeing the light where we are not all at home all the time anymore.

This is something to remember as now move forward. What will Biden’s election mean for the country’s economy? What will it mean for tax policy?

Well, it is all guesswork now, but suffice to say there will be some change. And when that change happens, it is going to mean good things to some people, and it is going to mean bad things to other people. And heck, just what is going to happen may depend more on the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia than it has to do with Biden anyway.

The calendar timing means this all comes at the end of the year just as many people start to look toward their tax picture and finding what the numbers will say when it comes time to file next year. So, like I often counsel, we can only work under the rules that we currently have to the best of our ability. Even when those rules change, we will do what we can to help everyone work under the current rules and make them work in the possible way for their situation. And again, of course, that will be a good thing for some and a bad thing for others.

But everyone will get another chance to say how they feel about that, and everything else that happens, in four years. First off, may those years prove to be easier to travel than 2020. And next off, let us all remain committed to respect, civility, and lawfulness over that time. We have lived under rules and leaders we enjoy, and we have lived under rules and leaders we do not enjoy. We have thrived under both and we can continue to do so.

 

With the way that 2020 has been hitting the world with disaster, I do not really want to talk about another one. In the wake of the pandemic, wildfires, and hurricanes, though, scams have popped up to try to take advantage of those most unfortunate situations. This then is a reminder to remain vigilant.

One thing to keep in mind to protect yourself is that most scams start with contact out of nowhere. For instance, there are many instances of individuals posing as representatives of fake charities. Now, when is the last time a charity you did not have a relationship with actually called you out of nowhere?

Of course, this isn’t an unheard-of occurrence, but it is rare. So, if you get a call soliciting money and you do not know how they got the means to contact you, it is a good idea to not immediately open your wallet.

This is not to say you shouldn’t donate, though. In fact, if you felt compelled by the pitch to give money – give it. Just spend some time online doing some research to find a reputable organization and to give it to. But when it comes to being online, also beware of suspicious email queries. Those often come with a link to a website, and these can sometimes be set up to look very legitimate, and even very like the sites of actual charities, but a peek in the web address bar can often tell you whether you are in a location you can feel safe about or not.

Scammers do not only pose as charities though, and another prevalent strategy they use is to present themselves as employees of an agency that sounds frightening. Posing as an IRS agent has long been used in this arena and recently there is a spate of calls out there of people claiming that your social security number is going to be canceled.

And of course, hearing such things can be frightening, because if they were true, they would not be easy to deal with and could have far-reaching negative consequences. Big problems, though, rarely come out of nowhere. I mean, many of us have had to deal with such difficult-to-handle issues, but we knew why, they were not complete surprises.

If you ever find yourself in a situation then that feels instantly overwhelming because of surprise, the best gift you can give yourself is time. If the communication is legitimate, it is not as if you are going to have five minutes to handle it. You can take the time to wrap your mind around the situation while ensuring it is legitimate. Only when you give quickly to something illegitimate will a result come about where it could be too late to fix.

 

We have reached it, the last blog I will write before Election Day. It is a time when so much feels wrapped up in the choice we will make that it touches every aspect of life. As such, I have written recently in this place about what some of the financial and tax picture aspects of the decision could be. And whichever way one leans, it is now time to make a choice.

I try my best to remain nonpartisan in this space because when it comes to policy and what it means for one’s finances, there are genuine debates to be had over what is fair, what is necessary, and what should be done. It then becomes our job to help our clients work within the ground rules that are set. This does not have to be done with great emotion – we have worked under different rules in the past, we work with one set of rules now, and we will work under different rules in the future.

This does not mean, however, that one should not hold passionate beliefs about what those rules should be. Again, there are some genuine differences in belief that cover a wide range. I believe that everyone owes it to themselves to be informed in a way that allows them to make an educated decision on policy matters.

Part of seeking that information should then necessarily involve knowing where the other side falls and what evidence informs their final answer. You do not then become obligated to agree with their decision, but you at least then can appreciate how someone arrives to it.

So no matter where things fall, let us embrace that spirit of understanding. True ignorance only lies in thinking there is only ever one undeniably correct answer. If that were the case, we would have been able to find it in a history of thousands of years of democracy. Instead, different times call for different actions.

It is easier – and flashier- to look at extremes and find how much those views can polarize those on the opposite end. In between those, however, is much more that draws us together that pushes us apart. Let us embrace that instead of the division and try to make it ring as loud as the differences.

For no matter how you feel about who gets elected, and you can feel it strongly, you are going to have to deal with some people who disagree with you. And in that relationship, a little respect can go a long way.

 

The tax season without end has finally ended. The deadline of October 15 passed last week for those who got an extension on their taxes. And you know what that means now? There are fewer than three months left until 2021 (yes, we are all that ready to leave 2020 behind that the countdown can begin). And you know what that means now? Time is running short to make some changes to your tax picture for next year.

Just what can you do to make those changes? Well the answer to that depends upon who you are and what you are trying to do. In this year of all years (even if that has been achieved through a horrible ranking), though, I think it is a time when more people than ever should be asking that question.

Through the year’s series of endless debacles, many people are in a different financial situation than is shown on their 2019 tax return. In many cases, this means things have taken an unfortunate turn. It could then be possible to put less away for taxes over the final months of this year and still have fulfilled your tax obligation. In this time of financial stress for many, any chance to get a little more money into your bank account can be of great benefit.

But even for those who have been lucky enough to move in the other direction and are in a better financial situation, you also want to make sure that your tax obligation is being fulfilled. In this year when life have proved it can massively change in littles time, you don’t want to end up in a precarious situation with an unexpected tax bill that you can not afford to pay.

In either case – and really in any case when it comes to your finances – planning and preparation are key. We cannot foresee every twist and turn that life will take. After all, I certainly never expected to be writing an article like this a year ago, trying to help people navigate a struggling economy due to a pandemic would have seem alarmist. Taking action is what helps you get through those times, though. A wait-and-see approach sometimes turns out to be okay, and can even result in favorable outcomes, but why not just know the good outcome is coming? Making moves is a can’t-lose situation because it sets you up in the best possible situation. There is empowerment to be had by doing it, too, and feeling empowered is something that can be difficult to find in this time when so much is out of our hands.

As I am sure everyone is only all too aware, we are deep in an election season with less than a month to go until votes start being counted for president. As always, the economy ranks high when people are asked what they weigh when deciding their vote, so I thought it was worth spending some space here to go into what a vote for each side could mean in a financial sense.

One of the biggest accomplishments of President Trump’s time in office has been the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that gave the country’s tax system a large overhaul. This largely shows Trump’s financial outlook and how he prefers to steer the economy. It may be impossible to say that Trump would be able to extend, or even continue, all the cuts in his original plan if reelected, as spending has already greatly increased due to the coronavirus pandemic, with both political parties talking about how further aid will still be needed.

From the other side, though, Joe Biden has already stated that he would plan to raise tax rates on the wealthy (those with an adjusted gross income of more than $400,000). He also has other differences in tax policy beyond the income tax, looking for increases in other areas, as well. If you want to get into deeper details on that, click through to this article from Accounting Today.

On the surface, when only one of two major candidates is running on increasing taxes, that would not seem to bide too well for Biden. The Democrats’ nominee, though, got a rather surprising nod from the financial sector last week, when Goldman Sachs released a note that said if Biden was elected in a ‘blue wave’ that also resulted in Democratic control on Congress, it would likely result in faster economic growth as the country recovers from the pandemic.

This forecast essentially comes down to how that blue wave outcome would allow the Democrats to push through a large fiscal stimulus package to help jumpstart the economy. For even as Republicans also currently work toward something in that area, the packages authored by Democrats promise to be larger. No matter the final numbers, though, getting anything passed would be a boon to the country over the current government impasse. And again, if anyone wants to get deeper into this projection, read this article from Business Insider.

Beyond that, even if you do not care to get any deeper into either of these issues, please read other articles about the issues you care about and read them from multiple sources. We all have instinctual feelings that we want to be true when it comes to politics and the future we hope it brings. There are enough people publishing information out there, that a Google search can uncover an article to back up any of those first-wave feelings. Do not stop there, though, and keep reading. Find pieces written from a nonbiased point of view and find pieces written from the opposite point of view. Only then can we be confident that we are voting in the way we should be, after having weighed various viewpoints and evidence.

 

  

Last week the New York Times wrote a story concerning President Donald Trump’s taxes, and well, quite a bit has happened since then to push that to the background of the national conversation.

There was no great revelation of wrongdoing in the report. The issues one could have with it are more with the system than the actions taken within it. What story one extrapolates from there can vary depending on where you want it to go. Does this show someone who is not a strong businessman, has racked up continuous losses, and now stands on the verge of everything bursting? Does this show someone who knows how to work the system and has his money going in the right directions so that he pays as little in income tax as possible while keeping a strong overall portfolio?

There is probably a real answer somewhere between the two, but we do not have any actual financials from the president and were not sitting in any board rooms when decisions were made. Without that information, it is very possible that what appears to be a giant loss in some aspect of business could have been a strategic plan to offset numbers somewhere else.

Either way, there are good lessons that can be taken from this situation. First, this shows the importance of good tax planning. Trump’s tax returns did not come together by looking at the numbers once at the end of the year when it came time to file. They happened because of many willful actions. And sure, most people do not have the means to make THAT many moves, but there is always something to be done to your advantage.

Another lesson is how much you need to make a business plan that fits your needs and goals. I mean, Trump has had a level of success in business that is more than minimal and undeniable. What he has accomplished did not happen by pure accident. Again, there is room in the story for mistakes to have been made, but it also seems he is doing a lot of what he wants to be doing in the way he wants to do it.

Business owners should make choices that fit the vision they have for where they want to go. Working within the system to get the results you want is how you get to the pinnacle of success – you just have to decide what you want your pinnacle to be. One way to get there is to surround yourself with those that can help you accomplish those goals and share in your vision. So if there is anything we can do facilitate your journey, let us know.

 Remember back in July when you got an extension to file your taxes and October felt so far away? Time has been all out of whack for most of the year, right? Three months was SO much time. Well, we reach that 10^th month next week, so it is time to start to get things ready to fill out your return and get it filed.

That means that now it is time for the regular spiel when it comes to the tax extension deadline. And it starts with, what are you waiting for? If you are expecting a refund, wouldn’t it be nicer to have it in your pocket than letting the government hold onto your money? If you are expecting to have to pay, wouldn’t’ it be better to get that under control and stop having to worry about it? Furthermore, if you are in that situation of having to pay, remember that your extension was only an extension to file, not an extension to pay any taxes owed, so you are probably already gathering penalties and interest that also must be paid. The quicker you get on those, the less they can be.

That deadline is rapidly approaching, but there is deadline news all over the place and it feels like it pulls in many directions, again like the rest of this year.

For instance, for those who had to file on September 15 and missed that deadline, it’s possible that penalties for late filing could be avoided by writing “COVID-19” across the top of the tax return. This is not necessarily a hard and fast rule, but communication with the IRS indicates that those who are making good-faith efforts to file in a difficult time could received some forgiveness. (Read more about that here).

Now, will this also carry over to individuals who will be filing on the October 15 deadline? It seems to be setting a precedent that there are some situations where that could be the case, but again, that is not set in stone, so I recommend still making all possible efforts to get it done on time.

But of course, this banner year of 2020 could not be satisfied with just a pandemic, so it has also thrown the wildfires at many on the west coast. There, the IRS has offered some concrete help, extending many deadlines for three more months. If you want more information on that, you can read the agency’s news release here.

Beyond immediate deadline talk, though, is just filing taxes for next year, too, which is just another few months away for starting, so I wanted to include a final link that could have meaning in that period. There you can see what the new Form 1099-NEC will look like for those who receive nonemployee compensation as part of their income (largely those who earn income as a contractor and not an employee). This is a new form this coming year and will replace the 1099-MISC form for many.

 

A lot of times when one thinks of owing the IRS money for the year, the only thought is of this happening on April 15 (you know, in regular years anyway). However, the agency may be expecting money up to four times a year, and there can be penalties if they are not getting it as they wish.

First, I don’t want to use scare tactics here. If you get a majority of your income as a regular employee in a job where you receive a W2 at the end of the year, then you likely are having enough taxes withheld from your paycheck that there is no need for extra payments. So, if that’s the case and your situation hasn’t significantly changed since last year, then you need not pay attention to this.

Beyond that, though, the situation of many people HAS changed this year. A great number are making money in new ways, and some of those are doing so as contractors, which means taxes are not automatically being withheld from that income. The IRS does not always like when that’s the situation.

Overall, if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file your taxes for the year, the IRS expects some of that as the year goes on. Again, if enough is being withheld from your paycheck, there are no worries. It also doesn’t take all that much income from other places to reach this mark, though. Unfortunately, there is no easy and quick answer as to what puts you in this situation. Taxes are complicated, so there are no absolutes like ‘If you made X amount of dollars as a contractor and paid no taxes, you will owe Y amount of dollars in taxes.” These answers are dependent on individual situations.

If you then want to get a handle on your individual situation, you can find some information and links here from a recent IRS release about making estimated tax payments. And if you need more than that, as always you can set up an appointment with us and we can make plans to help mitigate whatever tax situation you are in.

It is not only contractors who may end up with surprising numbers come tax time, as many are also receiving unemployment compensation for the first time. It may hurt to think that these funds, which are being received to help one through a difficult time, will be taxed.  It may hurt even more, though, if one doesn’t realize that withholding taxes from those funds when they are received is voluntary and must be opted into. The IRS has another release about that situation here.

These aren’t going to be the only two new situations that people find themselves in this year. So, in this time where everyone is battling more difficulties than they deserve, it can pay to try to get a grasp on the tax implications of all that newness before receiving another unpleasant surprise next year.

 

As we come out of the summer, the hope of life returning to a ‘normal’ level continues to receive some basis for optimism. A lot of this came from the job market in August, which saw payroll numbers rise as unemployment fell (read more here), where large companies were a big part of adding jobs during the month (as seen here), and some areas are seeing small business growth (as stated in this article). At the same time, many schools across the country are opening or using hybrid models, and even though there are also stories of this not always going well, it does help with that sense of normalcy.

Although all of this feels great, let it not make us complacent. There are still many industries that are waiting for their resurgence (restaurants, airlines, etc.) and this can only be achieved when the pandemic is under control. So, things aren’t as bad as they have been this year, but they’re not as good as we want them to be. Continue taking steps to control the spread and transmission of the virus as we take the uplift from good news when it comes.

Not all the payroll news is fully good, though, as President Trump’s executive order deferring payroll taxes is being largely ineffective. Much of this is due to the limitation of the office of president. The president can defer such taxes, but it takes an act of Congress to forgive them. And even though that deferral could have started at the beginning of the month, it is not being universally used.

A big reason for this is that it is a voluntary move that an employer opts in to. At the same time, though, if an employer does that, it gains a headache in making sure that the numbers are properly recorded, paid back by the end of April next year, and remaining on the hook for any taxes not paid by employees no longer with the company at the end of that period.  If you want to get more in-depth on this, you can read this article, but that is the basic layout for why it is easy to see why employers are choosing not to engage in this program.

So who knows what we can expect over the new few months. Hopefully people will steadily keep going to work and the numbers of those infected with and dying from COVID-19 will continue to decline. But will that lead to people continuing to take measures to hold off the spread or will it make things more lax? Will there be government action to create goodwill before the election or will the two sides just get further entrenched? As has felt the case for the last six months, answers are not always easy. But we remain here to help in any way we can as we continue to travel the road forward together.

 

This week, I want to look at some numbers I saw in a recent article, even if they come from a study that says a little over half of tax clients are not positive that their tax preparer fully minimizes their tax payment.

I would like to hope that we do better than that here. And I assume if you are reading this, you are either a client who does like what we do or someone looking for advice from elsewhere. So hopefully that means you are either on the positive side of this question or looking to join us and get there (and if that’s the case, please contact us!)

To dig into the article a little more, I find it interesting that it also points out that 46% of people were disappointed with the size of their tax refund. It may not feel like it on first read, but that question does not necessarily reflect upon the tax preparer at all. We could do a great job for someone on their tax return, the best job even, and they still can end up disappointed with the final number.

Without fail, every tax season comes with passing along bad news to some clients. Some were expecting a large refund and get a smaller one, some were expecting a refund and end up paying, some were expecting to pay a little and end up paying more. Even with that disappointment, though, I think those are the people who should leave our office with the most confidence in the work we have done. Even if they are unhappy with the outcome, they should know we gave them the best outcome they can (legally) obtain.

These tend to be the clients with whom we have the most conversation during a return. They are surprised and they want to know what happened. Those whose final number on their return is around what they expected, though, don’t always end up delving into what we did. I suspect that in here lie most of the respondents from the article who are not sure they had their tax situations maximized. Instead, things were not surprising and that makes it ‘good enough.’

So this is a plea for communication. If you think you might qualify for something that we are unaware of, tell us. If you think you might be able to get a deduction that we are unaware of, tell us. I mean, nothing will get worse by asking. If the answer is no, you are not going to have to then pay more. And in turn, we hope to communicate well enough that you are confident you are submitting a tax return with the best possible result. We are in this together, after all.

 

“Cooking the books” is a term that most people have heard, but few really understand what it means. Of course, the obvious implication is it occurs when a company provides misleading (or flat out incorrect) financial information to make their position look better than the reality. But just how does it happen?

Well, for those really interested, here is a recent article that gives some of the ins and outs of how it is usually pulled off. For those that aren’t interested in diving that far into it, I think a good summation of it is that this does not happen by accident. To make a big difference, it takes the knowledge of multiple people to make it happen. One person in a sizable corporation, for example, cannot suddenly decide to report a bunch of income at another date and not have someone else notice that it happened. This is also why it doesn’t take much for these schemes to fall apart. The more people involved in the scheme, the more people who can ruin it.

We work with smaller businesses than those with their own accounting departments, but all the same rules apply, including the potential for everything crashing down around you.

To see this, one must think about just what financial information is meant to show. To many, this may just be that you need to pass along numbers to someone at the end of the year so they can file your taxes. But that sounds like it’s not quite enough, doesn’t it? They must do more, right?

Yes, they do more than this and your financial information should be the place you go to when making decisions about your business. Are you spending too much money in any area? Are you earning enough money on all your services? Is the money you’re spending resulting in increased revenue? If you are keeping good records, you can answer these questions and those answers can move your business forward.

If you are fudging numbers to make yourself feel better (or have that tax return be more beneficial to you), you are still only a small step away from everything falling down around you. After all, what you do to make things seem better today is going to come back and get you tomorrow. That tax return may look better at the moment, but you have probably shifted things that are going to make the next one worse.

There is power in those numbers and there is power in being honest with them. The more you stay on top of them, the quicker you can fix things so that those distant moments of comeuppance do not have to come. So in this time when there are many going through the worst times their business has seen, if you legitimately operate the best you can, you are setting yourself up for long-range success.

 

We may just be coming off the tax season that would never end (hey, those extra three months felt like a long time), but it has left some loose ends that still need to be tied up.

First, the IRS is letting people know that it still has a backlog of mail to go through. This means if you mailed a payment to the agency and it has not yet been cashed, do not cancel the check, and ensure funds are still available to pay it. The chances are higher that the agency just hasn’t opened your envelope yet than that the check got lost in the mail. The IRS also promises that you will receive credit for the payment on the day it was mailed and not on the day that that mail actually gets opened.

And if you try to call the IRS to find out about any payments, the chances are also high you are going to be waiting an annoyingly long time to get anyone on the line. (The mail is not the only part of the agency still playing catch-up, after all.) Many questions about payments (and you can even make online payments) can be done via the internet on the webpage, www.irs.gov/payments.

Conversely, if you filed by mail and are waiting for a refund check or deposit, that backlog of envelopes means you may have to just keep waiting a little longer. Electronic filing is not experiencing the same level of delay, so if you did things that way and are still waiting on your money, the easiest way to check on the status of any refund is also done online at www.irs.gov/refunds.

Also still at a bit of loose ends is the receiving of some Economic Impact Payments. One of the big issues still lingering is many people not receiving the $500 per child that was to be part of the payment. If you have missed out on part of this payment, the IRS is allowing certain people (“Those eligible to provide this information include people with qualifying children who receive Social Security retirement, survivor or disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Railroad Retirement benefits and Veterans Affairs Compensation and Pension (C&P) benefits and did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019.”) to use the non-filers tool through September 30 to get this money. It is expected that these catch-up payments will be made by mid-October.

If you have any other questions on where the agency stands with its operations during this time, the IRS is maintaining an extensive webpage here. This is also a good resource to use no matter the question you have concerning the agency, for it will point you to the best places to attempt to get the information you need in the fastest manner.

The last week was certainly not a good one for getting definite answers as to the direction the government is taking as we continue to weather the coronavirus pandemic. It went from Congress talking about a new stimulus package, Congress being unable to reach agreement on a deal, to the president passing some measures himself, and then some inevitable sniping against a background of two sides that still say they want to pass major legislation.

The biggest news out of this for many people is that there are no current plans for another stimulus payment check. This does not mean one will never come (both Democrats and Republicans say they want this to be part of a larger package) but it means it is not something you can currently count on.

For people then looking for a little extra bit of money elsewhere, the president’s executive order to delay collection of payroll taxes for those making less than approximately $100,000 a year could sound great. This may be a good temporary band-aid, but it must also be acknowledged that this does not mean those taxes will never come due. So sure, if someone needs money now to keep the lights on or put food on the table, that little bit of extra money can help. Just keep in mind that it will be owed at some point in the future, so save for that as soon as possible to try to keep the issues from snowballing.

This deferment of taxes could turn into complete forgiveness (and there is language in the executive order saying that doing this should be explored), but until that becomes official, one should not count on it happening.

The rules for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) have also not been good for definite answers, having changed many times since the program was first instituted, and there is certainly a chance that they will change again. The Small Business Administration has put out a recent series of FAQs concerning the program, though, (which you can access by clicking here), so this is the best place to go for the latest word on how forgiveness will be calculated.

Granted, some of this is not the easiest read and probably qualifies as legalese, but it is always good to have access to source information and not just utilize another’s interpretation of it. And to that end, the White House runs a web page where you can view the actual text of all executive orders.

All these issues point to how we have to live within the rules that are in operation at any given time. This can become very frustrating when they keep changing as often as they do, but it also prevents you from running into a tough situation at the end of the road. And when you commit to operating as well as you can during difficult times, that is when such moves as receiving stimulus money stand the best chance of really helping you move forward.

In closing, here is to hoping that you are doing the best you can in this current situation and may a combination of grace, common sense, and good policy carry us further forward. 

It is very fulfilling to work in a profession where we can be the go-to place for someone to come to when they have questions about their finances – one of the most important and potentially difficult facets of life. It can also be very disconcerting, as well, to be helping people with their financial picture in a time when that part of one’s life feels as precarious as it ever has.

With so many people currently in such a difficult position, it is no wonder that so many are paying close attention to Congress as it attempts to hash out another round of stimulus funding. It is great to hear the amount of a trillion dollars being thrown around as a starting point, but it feels like it does not help much if it does not affect you personally and debate overshadows action. This feels especially strong as the $600 federal unemployment enhancement runs out this week just as a federal moratorium on evictions also ends. It then becomes all too easy to see this becoming a tragic situation for people affected by a situation completely beyond their control.

In situations like this, there are no winners. The most that many are hoping for is just to get by. So policy aside, I want this writing to stand as a hope for wellness, financial and otherwise, for as many people as possible as we continue to push through a difficult situation. From our end, we will continue to monitor the situation as legislation is passed and do all we can to be able to give the best advice for your personal situation to try to help you find that positive place.

To reach that end, this is also a plea for those who have been less adversely affected to do what they can to help others who are suffering. A lot of the discussion concerning this next round of stimulus includes another round of individual payments. For those in desperate need of that money, please take it and help your family keep pushing through. For those still afloat, though, please consider donating some of it (if and when it happens). If everyone in such a position passed along just a small portion of that money, we can continue to help push things in that needed positive direction.

Now that (nearly) everyone has filed their taxes, it is a good time to look back and find out what you could have done better. After all, I have many tax prep meetings with business owners during which they come to the realization that they could be deducting more expenses than they are.

The best way to keep this from happening is to be diligent about recordkeeping. After all, it’s one thing to have a receipt from a meal that you claim is for business, but if you can’t tell someone who you dined with and what you discussed that was business related, the IRS could disallow it as a deduction.

Even though tax season had me thinking about some of these things already, this recent article also highlighted some of the same issues  In that story, a taxpayer believed he was keeping good track of his mileage by having a Microsoft Outlook calendar where he recorded his travels. And on the surface, this sounds great. It is a living document that he can both add to and look back upon when needed. Unfortunately, the purpose of all those travels was not also recorded, instead making it largely useless.

When thinking about best practices here, there is no clear answer. After all, the digital calendar idea sounds great, but failed. It would have been outdone by a notebook in a car’s glove compartment with a log of dates, odometer readings, and purposes for the trips. Digital records may seem safer and more ready-to-use, but they are no good if not used correctly.

Start then with thinking of a system that you can diligently follow. If the immediacy of the notepad in the car works for you, use it. It still may be a good idea to convert it to something digital on a regular basis, but taking information down as you actually do it helps make sure you are recording all of those possible deductions and not missing anything. If you can’t imagine being so analog, though, your phone has a spot for notes on it, too, and you can use that as a notepad.

Granted, if you are doing a lot of business travel, you are not going to want to hand a notepad to your tax preparer as a final document. This information can be moved to a spreadsheet or other financial software, though, to become more manageable and usable. A lot of the breakdowns I see, though, are due to a lack of that immediacy in recording so that middle step can still be helpful. When you are attempting to recreate travels through receipts, you are bound to miss something.

And sure, this all sounds like a pain.  But what causes more pain, doing some good recordkeeping (and once you establish a habit out of, it won’t even feel that bad) or seeing a bill come tax time that you know you could have lessened?

We have finally arrived at the end of tax season, even if three months later than usual. This first requires some quick-hits style notes:

1.      If you intended to file an extension and gain three more months to file your taxes, you can do so fairly easily via this link. But remember, an extension to file your taxes is not an extension to pay your taxes. If you owe taxes, you will start gathering penalties and interest if they’re not paid by the deadline.

2.      If you have filed your taxes and are wondering where your refund is, I assure you that we have no secret doors through which to access this information. We also have no ways to make your refund appear faster. You can visit this webpage, though, and check the status of your refund.

3.      As a bit of a warning, though, even government agencies have been a little spotty lately with how much and what work they have been able to accomplish due to various restrictions and safety measures. So if it takes a little longer to get your refund than you were expecting, this would not be terribly surprising.

4.      Finally, just as July 15 marked the time when your taxes had to be filed, it also marks the time when all the taxes whose deadlines have been pushed back start up again. So remember that if you owe the IRS money and have received some payment leniency, or if you are to begin a new payment plant, keep an eye for those to kick back in.

Beyond those, I also like to give a thank you note to my clients at the close of the season, and it may be more necessary now than ever before. Taxes are rarely a fun time for people (although it is fun to show people the way to an unexpected refund), but it is even less fun when they come with unexpected pain. This year, though, everything has come with new pains, and that also includes tax planning and filing.

So for those who did not get in early in the season and had to deal with the discomfort and inconvenience of virtual meetings and no set office hours, thank you for working around it. It is heartwarming to know that the work we do here was worth clearing those hurdles. Hopefully, the work we did will continue to prove worth it, and hopefully next year things will feel a little easier.

Until then, though, we continue to stand by your side no matter where the paths lead.

In general, I try not to go super in-depth in these blogs at any time, and that is more due to attention restraints than anything else. I mean, those who care to get into the weeds into issues such as taxes know where to find that information. I instead want to bring some general knowledge to a larger number of people (and hopefully stay easy to follow at the same time because of it).

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, much of my writing has become even more general, as everything felt like it was changing all the time. This made any advice or news short-lived, so I instead sought to provide information that could be more of an anchor in a time where nothing was steady.

Today I will have just a bit more of that depth, but it is coming in the form of good news. First, there was a recent summit held by ADP to look into some recent job research. The overarching take was that the PPP program did help return some people to the workforce and it looks like that will continue throughout the summer. Getting back to where we were before all this madness will take longer, but this does offer hope that we are not just spiraling into the abyss. And for those who do like to get even deeper into the numbers, you can read more about this here.

This good news seems to largely be coming across the board, too, as Paychex released numbers last week that said small businesses essentially held steady when it comes to number of jobs, but saw an uptick in hours worked. Even something like that, which is neither grand nor wonderful news, is still good news, as any increase in the amount of the hours worked is a positive. Again, for you deep number crunchers, click here for more.

Also last week came an extension of the PPP program in general. The deadline for the program was to have come last week, but both houses of Congress passed a five-week extension that the president signed, so the program will now remain open for applications until August 8. It is able to keep going because all of the money allocated for the program has not yet been doled out. That can even be seen as the best news of all after how quickly the first round of funding was divvied up, leaving many to feel like they missed out.

So yes, there may not be much in this blog that is something you can think about in your own life and you may not be interested in more than the headlines, but hopefully you can forgive me good news blather for a week.

In recent years, the gig economy has grown as a way for people to earn money and there are bound to be more people taking a dip into the pool this year. In a time when many people are unsure of their job prospects, every little bit of income can help bridge the gap until things get a bit more back to normal. Maybe this is why the IRS put out some tips to remember for those earning money in this way. There are a few things I want to add to this basic rundown, though.

First, there is frequently some misunderstanding about just how taxes work on such money earned. Most people start earning money with a job that gives you a paycheck where federal taxes, Medicare, and Social Security have already been withheld, and then there is not a thought given to such matters until it comes time to file taxes. When you are paid as a contractor, though, you are receiving money directly and nothing has been withheld. When tax times comes, you then may be surprised to find what you owe (including some employer portion of Social Security and Medicare because when you work for yourself, you’re both boss and employee).

If you just earned a small amount of money on the side, it is probably not going to have a giant effect on your situation when you fill out a tax return. Most of your obligation still will have been taken care of in your regular paycheck (note that you can have more withheld from that check to take care of it if need be). Problems can arise, though, when you start to make all your money this way.

So the second thing to remember is how much easier it is to handle such numbers when funds are siphoned out on a weekly basis instead of having to pay a lump sum at the end of the year. For example, if there’s $100 taken out of your paycheck a week for a year, it is money that you never see in your bank account and thus is not too difficult to figure out how to live without it. If you are a contractor ignoring your obligation to pay that money, however, it can be a lot more difficult to come up with $5,200 come early next year.

Like most things then, this can be handled with planning. If you are endeavoring into new income areas and don’t know how it’s going to affect your tax picture, contact us and we can help. After all, this is not a time when anyone needs any more stress or bad surprises, so working to avoid them will only serve you well.

So yes, the concept of time feels like it has been thrown off for a few months now. And yes, I know I have mentioned this more than a few times over that period. (Or was it only once, who knows anymore … is this real life?)  But yes, again it must be said that the deadline for filing your taxes is not that far away.

There is less than a month remaining before the advanced deadline date of July 15. It felt far away at one point, but now it is just about here. Now is analogous to being in late March normally when that April 15 starts to loom large. So if you can, start getting things together and make moves to make the return happen. At the same time, though, I understand that some people are not in a position where they can do that right now. If you find yourself in that situation, remember that there is still the ability to file for an extension to gain a few more months.

That means it is now time for my annual missive when I remind you that getting an extension to file your taxes does not mean you are receiving an extension to pay your taxes.

Taxes come with due dates and in general when you fill out your annual return, those are due on the traditional date of April 15. Once they are not paid on that date, you start racking up fees and interest that increase the amount you owe. When you file for an extension, that does not mean what you owed goes away. The due date instead keeps moving steadily into the past, and interest continues to accrue, you know, as it does.

If the only reason you are looking to file an extension is so that you do not have to pay yet, you are actually only costing yourself more money. For even if you cannot afford the bill yet, you will only get more fees tacked on for not filing a return. Filing and not paying your tax bill, then, can actually save you money. If you are in this situation, please contact us so you can learn about how the IRS will handle you owing them instead of just hiding from the fact that you do.

If you are expecting a refund, there will be no fee or penalty for getting an extension and filing later, but why would you do that? Isn’t it better to have your money now than later?

Or maybe your personal story is more complicated than these. No matter what situation you are in, contact us if you need help getting to the finish line. We can help you make the best choice for yourself, whether it be getting an extension or getting that return going. The answers will not be the same for everyone, but we can help you arrive at yours.

I have had to write for months now about how little in the world feels clear. And just when things started to seem they were getting a little clearer, now they may not be.

But take a deep breath, and let’s continue.

Because sure, everyone wants the world to continue to open up. This would help us achieve a sense of normalcy, and what do want more than that? But it is also a ‘for sure’ that some areas are currently seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases. That then makes it difficult to completely feel that opening up is the right step at this moment.

I feel like you can take this in a couple of ways. It can obviously be frightening to think that after going through so much we have not done enough to curtail a significant spread of this disease. It also stands to reason, however, that cases had to increase once social restrictions are lifted, so those numbers were just inevitable.

So where will we end up in a day, a week, a month? Really, who knows. There are so many variables that it is impossible to say. Answers that we desperately want are frustratingly elusive.

To try to make some peace with all of this, I think it is necessary to look at it from two perspectives. One of those is from that of a business. I think there we can all agree on some level that one cannot fault business owners for opening up and doing all the business they can as soon as allowable by law. There may have been multiple pieces of legislation passed to help these businesses, but those are stopgap measures, no one is thriving under them, and they need to try and get back to that state.

It is up to the business owner to take the necessary steps to make its customers/clients feel safe, though. And therein we begin to see the second perspective that I think is necessary, a personal one.

People’s comfort levels differ for many reasons – health, the health of others close to them, personal experience, location, etc. – so of course there are going to be many who still feel reticent to do certain activities even in areas that are completely open without restrictions. And if you are one of them, don’t do things that make you uncomfortable. Your comfort is important and added extra levels of stress is not going to help you stay healthy.

And for those whose comfort level is high, yes, get out there and do all that is allowed in your area (while following all necessary precautions). Again, it is tough to fault someone who has felt stifled in life for embracing the things they have missed.

For one thing that can be clear through all of this is that we can carry on and we will progress if we all embrace respecting each other and our communities while moving at our own pace.

Certain situations bring up fear within us that is impossible to completely avoid. The past few months have certainly proven that. These feelings make us more vulnerable. It is not really a surprise then that the IRS put out a release earlier this week warning against schemes surrounding COVID-19.

A lot of the current schemes have been taking advantage of the government issuing economic impact payments. And again, this is not really a surprise, because when we were to receive these payments, and how, has been full of confusion for many. Real answers have been out there, but they have not always been the easiest thing to find, so that left fertile ground for scams to grow.

IRS scams are prevalent no matter the time or situation, and this also is partially because answers on how the organization and its tax structure work are not always easy to find. When someone threatens you about how you used this confusing system, fear can jump up quick. It almost always comes with a threat that it could hurt you in the wallet, and that is another place where fear can thrive. Combine that with a worldwide health scare, and we are probably all more vulnerable to such criminal activity than we would like to admit.

This is why current scams are going beyond the IRS ones and also involve fake cures, fake vaccines, fake testing, and fake advice. The antidote to all of these, however, remains the same – time and knowledge.

The first part of that is probably more difficult to keep in mind currently. After all, illness is one of the areas where acting quick is of utmost importance. So, if you think you may be really sick, do not hesitate to contact your doctor. But the reason to not hesitate in contacting them is because of their knowledge.

You see, scams rely on you not knowing the truth. If someone is going to sell you a vaccine that does not exist, they need you to be unaware that a real one does not exist. If you slow down and take the time to do some research, you gain the knowledge you need to not be drawn into paying too much for something that is going to do nothing for you.

This short blog then is an urging to not be reactionary, and instead to seek information, and make your own conclusions. This will not necessarily defeat fear, but it will at least keep us the right amount of fearful and about the right things.

When the calendar turns lately, it feels unbelievable. Like didn’t May just start? How is it already June? Well it is somehow, and that seems like a good prompt to set aside a moment to take stock of where some things stand in relation to the calendar.

First off, it hopefully means that many of you business owners are getting a grip on when you will be able to at least begin to offer some services again, and ideally start to look forward to when everything is back up and running full time. So as you look toward those moments, make sure you have reached out to everyone you need (employees, vendors, etc.) to make sure you hit the ground running.

Then also for the business owners, if you have a received a PPP loan, do what you can to try to optimize loan forgiveness. I know this part of the process has been at the forefront of everyone’s mind, but I figured it was also worth another reminder here. A different reminder, though, is to be sure you look into the rules your bank has instituted for what it is going to require when you apply for forgiveness. We have seen a large amount of variety in this area – for something you would think would be pretty simple and universal – so be sure you are prepared with exactly what the institution is going to expect from you.

And it is time for individuals to think about the calendar, as well. Remember when getting an extra three months to file your taxes seemed like it gave you forever to worry about it? Well more than half of that forever has now passed. July 15 is now only next month, so at least start to get all your information together so you are prepared to fill out a tax return. We have enough things to worry about now without making that another one.

That tax relief until July 15 was not only for filing, though, as many tax payments were also being delayed until that later date. If you are someone who had some first- and second-quarter payments set to be made, this means their due date is also coming up quickly. Granted, the financial position of many has changed since you first thought about what those payments would be, so the number you were looking to pay may have changed, but the date is still approaching.

Looking at things like how your estimated payments may need to change can feel daunting – just like everything else in this column, and heck, like most everything in life lately – but that does not mean they should be ignored. We unfortunately cannot solve all of life’s headaches, but if you have some questions that are in our wheelhouse, please do not hesitate to reach out and let’s work together to get some answers.

From the latest issue of “It’s Still up in the Air”:

Friday saw more guidance on PPP loans released, one week after the application for loan forgiveness finally came into the light, but even this new guidance came during a time when a couple of bills in Congress spoke to some issues with the PPP that were of even more interest to people.  The Senate was considering a bill that would extend the loan forgiveness period to 16 weeks (double its current mark), while the House has potential legislation that could extend it as long as 24 weeks, as well as eliminate the rule that at least 75% of the funds had to be used on payroll for full loan forgiveness.

I don’t want to be so bold as to cast some predictions about where this is going – we’re talking about how much is still up in the air, after all – but one should take solace in the fact that there is no talk out there about making things more stringent. So, plan by the rules that are currently in place to maximize that forgiveness. That way, if any of these further bills are passed, you will only be in a spot where it then becomes easier to move to full loan forgiveness. This is similar to how I talk about tax planning – we have to plan the best we can within the rules we have. Doing that always puts you in the best position to move when the rules change, because you are already being active and engaged.

And if you want a little more on the rules that were actually released, this article gets a little more in the weeds on it. And don’t be afraid to reach out if you want to discuss how your individual situations looks under them.

Now in this time where little seems certain and good news can feel rare, I will close this week by providing some. While questions surrounding big measures like the PPP and economic stimulus payments dominated headlines and thoughts, some smaller things slipped through the cracks. One of these was the fact that CARES Act included a provision that will allow anyone, even tax filers who do not itemize deductions, to take a 2020 deduction of as much as $300 for charitable contributions.

If you have been doing some contributing without realizing this, congratulations, you’re getting a slight bonus for being a good person. And if you have not been contributing and did not realize this, go get yourself a bonus for being a good person.  You know, beyond the fact that you just will feel good by doing it.

Another week, another time of not always knowing exactly where things lie.

First, although this isn’t really related to finances in any way, it does highlight how much uncertainty there is and how universal answers are difficult. There is a page on CNN.com that tracks Covid-19 cases in the United States. You can see cases decreasing in some areas, rising in others, and staying similar in still others. It is easy then to see how comfort levels will vary in different areas as most start to open up at least a little bit.

Then, there was the release Friday by the Small Business Administration of an application form for Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. I don’t want to get too deep into that here, but here is an article from Forbes that gives the basics. But the form’s release was almost immediately followed by a plea from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants that urged the government to release more detailed guidance because it has not addressed all necessary issues. So again, stay tuned as we probably do not yet have final answers.

Also, there are people who paid for some education expenses out of a 529 plan, then received a refund of it after their spring semester was either canceled or altered to an online experience. Thankfully that money may not be taxed, but it must be recontributed back into a qualified program. This usually must done within 60 days of receiving the refund, but the IRS has extended that window to July 15 if the recontribution deadline would normally fall between April 1 and July 15. So take that final recontributing step in time to avoid being taxed on a potentially sizable chunk of money or a nice refund is going to then come with a nice future bill.

And finally, the last week has seen some serious moves being made toward another round of stimulus spending by the government. This started with a proposal from Democrats that really stood no chance of being a success, and it was not really intended to be one. It has the dialogue going, though, and has at least started to show the path the next round of government help will take (which very well may include more individual stimulus payouts).

I think that all these things point in one overall direction, though, and that is that it is time for everyone to get on top of things again. Even if you are in a situation where you have not been able to return to work, more and more people are. This can sound like a great thing, but it can also be difficult at times, for just imagine those who could return to work but have kids who aren’t returning to school. So it is time to figure out a plan, figure out what you can do that is best for you in your situation.

And for businesses, start taking real stock of where things stand for you. If you have one of those PPP loans, have a plan to get as much of it forgiven as possible. And even if you don’t, get a grip on what income and money you have, what that will allow you to do, and what you can do to restart growth.

And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need some help getting a handle on any of these things.

Are we tired of this yet?

Of course we are, but don’t let that drive you to any rash decisions.

I’m not going to get into a (potentially political) discussion here of whether it is more important to engage in social distancing and other safety measures or to open things up with an eye toward the economic benefits. Those answers will vary in different areas and even across occupations and situations. There are not going to be any universal ‘right’ answers.

So with that being said, with whatever decisions you are making, try to be sure you are doing so from a reasoned and calm space. We will not be well served by jumping into a return to normal because we are antsy and want to get out, but we are also not well served if overgrown fear dictates our decisions too far into the future.

Let’s trust those who know more than us. This is not to say that there is any one source by which we should all run our lives, but look at places you are sure are giving good information, and weigh what it means for you in your individual situation.

This type of strategy can feel difficult, though, because it makes concrete answers difficult to come by. For instance, the federal tax deadline has already been pushed back to July 15 and now there is talk that it could be pushed back another three months (or more?).

Then there is the case of unemployment. There is the obvious huge and disheartening number that about 20.5 million people joined the numbers of the unemployed in April. At the same time, though, around 18 million of them are only expected to be temporary. So there is a light at the end of that tunnel.

These are just two recent cases of how things are constantly changing. It is yet another thing that makes this time difficult and decision-making feel impossible as the rules keep adjusting. Just keep living within the rules of the moment and make the incremental moves within them. Do what is legal, within your comfort zone, and does not endanger others. Those lights at the ends of those tunnels may feel distant, but we keep moving toward them with those small steps - even if some of the steps meant hunkering down and not moving for a bit.

And breathe deep. We are tired, but we will wake.

If someone had asked us three months ago what we would do with six weeks (and ever counting) time off, we would probably have had grand answers as to what we would get done with that time. Now that that time off has happened for many, though, what was actually accomplished is probably much less.

First, forgive yourself for this. This was not simply time off and was wrapped up with stress and worries coming at us from so many different directions that it would have been impossible to be productive and remain on task for the duration. But second, don’t give up on using this time if you still have some left.

We work with a lot of small businesses and I am sure that many of them would have answered that hypothetical question at least partially with ways to improve their business. Now, however, we see many of them that cannot do this because their business cannot operate. That situation gains someone the ultimate forgiveness.

Even when you can’t do all that you want, though, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be preparing for the future. And one of the best ways to prepare yourself is through education. This is why I suggest business owners check out some of what Dell is gathering into one place as part of their Small Business Podference this month (https://delltechnologiespodference.com/).

I don’t know if this is something Dell had planned for a while or if it was an idea that arose out of the current crisis, but either way it feels extra timely. It is a collection of podcasts from a wide variety of presenters all aiming to share stories and advice about succeeding in business. Chances are you will find a name you know involved, so give them a listen. Chances are even better that you’re going to find a name you never heard of before, so give them a listen, too.

After all, some of the best lessons come from places you don’t expect. If you only listen to the people you already follow, you’ll only ever be a follower. This is a chance to find some new views spoken by new voices. And really it’s only an hour of your life and we have enough of those currently, no? Or even better, if you don’t like it, turn it off before it is over. This will be much less awkward than walking out of a presentation at a conference.

There are benefits to this situation after all.