The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is one of a handful of federal programs aimed at helping organizations and businesses maintain healthy operations through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For nonprofits, programs like the ERC and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) can be the difference between providing services and having to shutter their doors.

Businesses will see their leases in a whole new light as they begin implementing the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) new lease reporting standards. As was revealed in early 2016, the FASB will soon require almost all for-profit and nonprofit entities to start recording leases on their balance sheets and statements of financial position.

The Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Act (the Act) is designed to reduce costs, create new jobs, and cut taxes for working families. In addition, there are proposed investments in health and childcare, higher education, workforce training, and teachers and schools. The cost of the legislation, which is estimated at $3.5T, will be paid for by increased taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Since earlier this year, the Biden Administration has been pursuing a legislative agenda that focuses on COVID-19 economic recovery and re-energizing the American economy. It started with the American Rescue Plan Act and has continued with several other proposals culminating in the Build Back Better Act (the Act). The Act is designed to reduce costs, create new jobs, and cut taxes for working families. There are proposed investments in health and childcare, higher education, workforce training, and teachers and schools.

Within the IRS is the Tax-Exempt & Government Entities Division (TE/GE), and its mission is to help customers understand and comply with tax laws and apply those laws with integrity and fairness to all.  Its customers comprise employee plans, exempt organizations, and government entities, covering such diverse organizations as major universities, pension funds, state and local governments, charities, and private foundations. 

As federal COVID-19 relief programs continue to diminish, New Jersey and Pennsylvania-area businesses are searching for other funding opportunities. Several companies have not yet fully recovered from the pandemic’s devastating fallout, while others are concerned about the potential impact of COVID variants. There has been a reported 30% increase in COVID hospitalizations in New Jersey, while Pennsylvania reported triple-digit growth in the number of new cases. 

Recently, the IRS announced that victims of Hurricane Ida in various parts of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania now have until January 3, 2022, to file individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments.  The tax relief is being offered to taxpayers in any areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualifying for individual or public assistance.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA), 8(a) Business Development Program, offers disadvantaged small businesses access to sole source and other government contracts. Program participants enjoy several benefits that make it easier to win work with the federal government, the details of which we have summarized below.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit New Jersey in March 2020, many businesses were forced to close for a time, causing unemployment claims to spike.  More than 2 million state residents have filed for unemployment since the start of the pandemic, and over $33B in state and federal benefits have been paid out.  As a result, the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund (UT Fund) has been severely depleted, and the state was forced to borrow from the federal government to keep paying claims.

The arrival of the COVID-19 Delta variant has many New Jersey and Pennsylvania-area employers concerned about the potential for future economic challenges. The number of new cases in both states has increased at an alarming rate, and the anxiety is compounded by the expiration of several Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 relief programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Of the few remaining programs, the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) offers a compelling savings opportunity and is still underutilized by businesses and nonprofit organizations.