HEROES Act

On Saturday, August 8, President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of the Treasury to “use his authority pursuant to [Code section] 7508A to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the tax imposed by [Code section] 3101(a) . . . on wages . . . paid during the period of September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020,” subject to certain conditions.  (The memo as originally posted on the White House website would have applied retroactively to wages paid August 1, 2020, but was subsequently updated.)  Two conditions are enumerated in the memorandum.  First, the deferral applies only with respect to any employee the amount of whose wages payable “during any bi-weekly pay period generally is less than $4,000, calculated on a pre-tax basis, or the equivalent amount with respect to other pay periods.”  Second, the amounts deferred shall be deferred without any penalties, interest, additional amount, or addition to the tax.
Continue Reading Trump Executive Action to Defer Employee Share of Social Security Taxes Raises Significant Legal Questions for Employers

On July 27, Senate Republicans released a series of COVID-19 relief bills, including the “American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act” (the “Bill”).  The Bill is a successor to several provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, passed in March of this year, which attempted to blunt the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Section 213 of the Bill would create a new “safe and healthy workplace tax credit,” which would provide a refundable payroll tax credit equal to 50% of an employer’s “qualified employee protection expenses,” such as COVID-19 tests, protective personal equipment, and cleaning supplies.  The new tax credit would also cover “qualified workplace reconfiguration expenses,” including workspace modifications to protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19, and “qualified workplace technology expenses,” including technologies designed to reduce contact between employees and customers that were acquired by the employer on or after March 13, 2020, and were not acquired pursuant to a plan in existence before that date.Continue Reading Senate Republican Proposal Includes Payroll Tax Credit to Defray Employer Expenses for COVID-19 Prevention

As we noted in an earlier post, on July 27, Senate Republicans introduced new legislation in response to the continued COVID-19 pandemic.  One of the introduced bills, titled the American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act (the “Bill”), would enhance the existing employee retention credit.
Continue Reading Senate Republican Proposal Would Enhance Employee Retention Credit