WASHINGTON — Today the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor) announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees. This relief to employees and small and midsize businesses is provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act), signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020.

The Act will help the United States combat and defeat COVID-19 by giving all American businesses with fewer than 500 employees funds to provide employees with paid leave, either for the employee's own health needs or to care for family members. The legislation will enable employers to keep their workers on their payrolls, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus. 

​More:  https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-and-labor-announce-plan-to-implement-coronavirus-related-paid-leave-for-workers-and-tax-credits-for-small-and-midsize-businesses-to-swiftly-recover-the-cost-of-providing-coronavirus

The American Job Center – Maui has launched a website with information to help Maui County residents file for unemployment insurance or register for job searches from the safety of home in the wake of impacts from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. https://www.mauicounty.gov/civicalerts.aspx?AID=9937 ​

Click on claimant services to get started.  Be patient; high demand is making this UI site slow, but the Department of Labor is working to increase speed.
​https://huiclaims.hawaii.gov/

SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan ProgramPosted on Mar 18, 2020 in News UPDATE (3/20): SBA Disaster Loan Program Is OpenHawai‘i small businesses suffering financial losses due to the impact of COVID-19 can now file for low-interest working capital loans of up to $2 million from the Small Business Administration (SBA).

The SBA today approved a certification request submitted by Gov. David Ige, clearing the way for Hawai‘i small businesses to participate in the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Assistance Program. The loans can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll and other bills that can’t be paid because of a disaster’s impact.
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More: ​ https://invest.hawaii.gov/sba-economic-injury-disaster-loan-program/

More to follow... things are changing daily.
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Payment Deadline Extended to July 15, 2020

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are providing special payment relief to individuals and businesses in response to the COVID-19 Outbreak. The filing deadline for tax returns remains April 15, 2020. The IRS urges taxpayers who are owed a refund to file as quickly as possible. For those who can’t file by the April 15, 2020 deadline, the IRS reminds individual taxpayers that everyone is eligible to request a six-month extension to file their return.

This payment relief includes:

Individuals: Income tax payment deadlines for individual returns, with a due date of April 15, 2020, are being automatically extended until July 15, 2020, for up to $1 million of their 2019 tax due. This payment relief applies to all individual returns, including self-employed individuals, and all entities other than C-Corporations, such as trusts or estates. IRS will automatically provide this relief to taxpayers. Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms or call the IRS to qualify for this relief.

Corporations: For C Corporations, income tax payment deadlines are being automatically extended until July 15, 2020, for up to $10 million of their 2019 tax due.

This relief also includes estimated tax payments for tax year 2020 that are due on April 15, 2020.

Penalties and interest will begin to accrue on any remaining unpaid balances as of July 16, 2020. If you file your tax return or request an extension of time to file by April 15, 2020, you will automatically avoid interest and penalties on the taxes paid by July 15.

The IRS reminds individual taxpayers the easiest and fastest way to request a filing extension is to electronically file Form 4868 through their tax professional, tax software or using the Free File link on IRS.gov. Businesses must file Form 7004.

This relief only applies to federal income tax (including tax on self-employment income) payments otherwise due April 15, 2020, not state tax payments or deposits or payments of any other type of federal tax. Taxpayers also will need to file income tax returns in 42 states plus the District of Columbia. State filing and payment deadlines vary and are not always the same as the federal filing deadline. The IRS urges taxpayers to check with their state tax agencies for those details. More information is available at https://www.taxadmin.org/state-tax-agencies.

Note:  Hawaii has not extended their payment due date at this time.  It remains March 20th for corporations and April 20th for individuals.
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Beneficiaries, or inheritors, of non-spousal IRA accounts under 2019 law may have been able to withdraw required minimum distributions over their lifespan, ensuring a continual flow of income and minimizing tax burden.  
 
The Secure Act will require beneficiaries to withdraw all assets of an inherited account within 10 years. There are no required minimum distributions each year as long as the entire balance is distributed within 10 years.  
 
This change may potentially increase tax burden by bumping beneficiaries up to a higher tax bracket in the year of distribution(s).  Tax planning may help to minimize the tax burden on such distributions.
 

• Distributions could be spread out over multiple years within the 10 year distribution time frame to achieve a lower tax bracket when combined with other income each year than if taken all at once.

• ​A traditional IRA could be converted into a Roth IRA, thus paying the taxes currently, so that beneficiaries would enjoy tax free distributions later under current law when they inherit the IRA.   

​The amount of the inherited IRA combined with other income and current tax brackets will determine whether these and other tax strategies may be helpful.

Recent legislation, known as the Secure Act, raised the age for required minimum distributions to 72 beginning in 2020. It also removed the age limit for contributions to traditional IRAs beginning in 2020.

2019 Required Minimum Distributions

The Secure Act does not change the rules for 2019.  
You may need to take a required minimum distribution from your IRA or retirement plan account by the end of the year:

• If you’re at least age 70½ this year, or
• If you’ve inherited an IRA or retirement account.

Contributions are not allowed after age 70½. 

Required Minimum Distributions Beginning in 2020
You may need to take a required minimum distribution from your IRA or retirement plan account by the end of the year:

• If you reach age 72 during the year, or
• ​If you’ve inherited an IRA or retirement account.

There is no age limit for contributions, though income limitations still apply.