First of all, we hope that everyone is safe, healthy, and their families and friends are doing the same. We extend our gratitude to the healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, techs, clerks, laboratories, etc that have put their own health aside to make sure America is safe. As a husband of a nurse, I understand first hand the sacrifice that these individuals make not just during times like these, but every day they go to work. These are the true heroes during this time of crisis, and my family and all of America owes a debt of gratitude to all of those civic servants.
We have had a number of updates in a short period of time. We would like to provide a bullet point list of important updates, how to find more information out about those updates and what we are looking for next from the federal and state governments.
- The Tax deadline was moved to July 15, 2020. This is great news. Previously the administration had pushed back the tax payment deadline but the filing deadline remained on April 15, 2020. The pushing back of the tax deadline allows for tax prepares and their staff to work from home, take care of the family when needed, and take the necessary time to respond to clients needs that extend beyond filing a return (such as: understanding the various bills being passed, and lending options for small business). For our firm, last week we sent home or support staff and asked them to work from home. Brad and I remain in the office, but that could change this afternoon pending St. Louis County’s decision on non-essential businesses. If the county mandates a shelter in place we will continue to work from home and be available via phone or email.
- State Tax deadline – Three days ago the state of MO followed the Federal government request and pushed back on the payment deadline. At this time the filing deadline remains April 15, but we feel in a matter of hours or days the state will announce that the filing deadline is pushed back to July 15, 2020.
- Sick Leave and Family Leave are available through employer payments for those employees out sick. If you are an employee with questions related to this matter please speak with your HR department or a business owner. If questions remain after that we are here to answer your questions. If you are a business owner and require guidance on how this impacts your business we ask that you call our office. We do plan very shortly to have a webinar that covers these updates in detail for all our business owners, but we are waiting for clarity on some details in the legislation before holding that. Please call our office or email if you have additional questions.
- SBA Loans – as of Friday 2:30 pm CST, small business loans are available through the SBA. There will be loan requirements, document requests, etc that are needed during the application process. We are available and willing to help provide these documents. Please understand that we are currently getting multiple requests for documents and are responding to each. We will respond to all document requests within 48 hours.
- Next Steps from the Federal Government – As of March 21, 2020, the Senate and House are locked in the chamber, working on another stimulus bill. We have heard that this specific bill is meant to address industry and small businesses. The bill will have help for travel, hotel, airline, restaurant, and entertainment industry. We expect the bill will address small business owners who are experiencing a lack of revenue or been closed due to government-mandated COVID-19 response. We have heard rumors of payroll loans for 6 to 8 weeks, and repayment terms extending years or allowing total forgiveness. All of this is speculation, but what it does mean, or what we hope it means is that by Monday or Tuesday of next week real relief would be on paper for small business owners.
Please be on the lookout for our next update which will be coming tomorrow afternoon or evening.
Stay safe, stay healthy, stay positive, and stay in.
Thank you,
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Jeremy Klaven, CPA
#1 First Missouri Center, Suite 214
St. Louis, MO 63141
cell: (314) 583-6515
office: (314)720-8686
fax: (314) 754-9967