A Small Business Relief Grant with a maximum of $10,000 is available to qualifying small businesses in Mahoning and Columbiana Counties.

Eligible business include for profit, not for profit, and sole proprietor businesses that meet the following general criteria:

On Aug. 28, the IRS issued Notice 2020-65 to provide guidance on how to implement the Executive Memorandum on payroll tax deferral. This memorandum instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the tax imposed on the employee portion of the Social Security tax of 6.2%.

The employer is responsible to collect and remit any deferred taxes. 

Keep in mind that this is a deferral and nothing in the memorandum explicitly forgives this amount nor can it without an act of Congress. 

The restaurant industry has suffered significantly with sales and job losses since the COVID-19 outbreak began. To show the economic impact to the industry, the National Restaurant Association prepared an infographic to report the results of a survey they conducted in April of more than 6,500 restaurant operators nationwide. 

As you are probably aware, on Saturday President Trump issued an executive order, with an effective date of September 1, to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the 6.2 percent Social Security tax (employee portion). The deferral applies to compensation paid between September 1 and December 31, 2020 to any employee whose pretax wages or compensation during any biweekly pay period generally is less than $4,000. The tax payments are deferred without any penalties, interest, additional amount, or addition to the tax. Unless there is a law changing the situation, the deferred taxes will be due at the beginning of 2021.

The US Deptarment of Treasury has not released implementation instructions on this yet, but everyone needs to be cautious employing this without fully understanding the ramifications.

The House and Senate both passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, H.R. 7010, and it is expected to be signed into law by the President today.

The Act makes significant changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, making loan forgiveness much easier for many businesses struggling with meeting the original requirements and timelines. By granting greater spending and rehiring flexibility, more time to use the funds, more time to re-hire employees, and a decrease in the mandatory minimum funds to be spent on payroll costs, more borrowers will be able to meet the loan requirements and achieve complete loan forgiveness.

Although you've no doubt been very busy implementing all the new safety procedures, re-figuring your financial projections, cutting expenses, and taking good care of your employees, it's a good idea at this time to also take stock of your personal expenses.

If you didn't refinance your home mortgage when the rates reached historic lows, you may want to take a look at what you might gain now by refinancing.

Today's average 30-year fixed-refinance rate is 3.67%. At this rate, you’ll pay $458.59 per month in principal and interest for every $100,000 you borrow. 

The CARES Act allows employers to defer the deposit and payment of the employer's share of Social Security taxes and self-employed individuals to defer payment of certain self-employment taxes.

Now that small businesses and organizations are starting to receive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding, attention has turned to the next and most vital phase: loan forgiveness. If borrowed funds are spent as intended on payroll, mortgage interest, rent and utilities in the eight weeks after receipt, those expenditures are potentially eligible for complete, tax-free forgiveness.

Today the President signed a $484 Billion bill that provides $320 Billion in new funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.  It also includes $75 billion for hospitals, $25 billion for coronavirus testing and $60 billion for the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

The SBA expects to start taking applications for the second round of funding for the Paycheck Protection Program on Monday, according to SBA Region 5 Director Rob Scott.