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On Aug. 8, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum on deferring payroll tax obligations in light of the ongoing COVID-19 Disaster, which directed the Treasury Department to suspend collection of the employee portion of Social Security taxes from Sept. 1 through the end of 2020.

Over the past few weeks, we have received dozens of calls from clients, who have received tax notices from both the Internal Revenue Service and the State of Ohio.

A.K.A. Executive Order – Payroll Tax Holiday

On Aug. 8, President Trump issued a number of Executive Orders to address the fact Congress was unable to come to an agreement to provide additional stimulus to the economy, which continues to lag during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster,” which many people refer to as the “Payroll Tax Holiday” order, was issued to provide additional economic relief to workers.

The pandemic is not stopping Ohio’s observation of its annual sales tax holiday.

The event kicks off on midnight on Aug. 7 and lasts until Aug. 9 at 11:59 p.m.

During the “holiday,” the following items are exempt from sales and use tax:

Zinner & Co. has officially adopted Intuit’s QuickBooks Discontinuation policy.

If you are using QuickBooks version 2017 or older, we encourage you to upgrade to maintain compliance. This policy will maintain support for the three most recent versions of Intuit QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Desktop 2020 includes new productivity-boosting features to help you save more time and stay more organized. Some of the new/improved features include:

In late June, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2020-32, in which they set Health Savings Account contribution limits for calendar year 2021, along with minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket expenses for the High Deductible Health Plans, with which HSAs are paired.

On May 28, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) will defer Ohio employers' premium installments this summer.

DeWine’s announcement was to help businesses focus on the well-being and safety of their customers and employees.

Businesses will have the option to defer their monthly premium payments with no financial penalties in the months of June, July, and August.

For three Zinnner & Co. interns, their internships were ones they will likely never forget, as they had to overcome a challenging tax season.

When their internships began, Allen Li (Case Western Reserve University), Kyoko Tosi (Kent State University) and Brett Carney (CWRU) likely thought they were in for a normal tax season.

“We learned how to prepare individual tax returns and to issue the 1099 tax forms,” said Tosi. “We were provided with weeks of training, practice period and real work with senior's reviews.”

The work kept them busy as they began an in-depth journey into the world of accounting.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to plan for taxes has become even more important due to all the changes from recently passed coronavirus relief legislation and especially for those businesses seeking forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

While the PPP legislation was designed to help businesses weather the economic storm that many “Stay at Home" orders have created by providing funding to continue to employ workers and, the ramifications of not fully understanding the restrictions for use of these funds could ultimately cause further challenge for business owners.

Business owners and non-profits are strongly urged to reach out to their Zinner & Co. Client Service Team and should feel comfortable accessing information provided by our team of Recovery Specialists, not only in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application process, but also in the proper documentation and accounting for loan proceeds.  

Move made to ease COVID-19 financial impact

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud today proposed giving up to $1.6 billion to Ohio employers this spring to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Ohio’s economy and business community.

"This is great news for Ohio’s businesses, and will assist in relieving some of the financial pressures many are experiencing,” said DeWine. “Administrator McCloud and I both encourage businesses to reinvest this money in the health and safety of their employees.”