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2021 Payroll Tax and Standard Auto Mileage Rate Changes

Bonnie Thompson   Beginning January 1, 2021, the following changes go into effect for the withholding of payroll taxes and reimbursement of auto mileage. SOCIAL SECURITY The wage base for withholding social security tax has increased to $142,800. The social security tax rate will be 6.2% for both employers and employees for a maximum expense of $8,853.60  For Medicare, the rate is still 1.45% each for employers and employees with no limit this year. Continuing in 2021, employees earning in excess of $200,000 will be subject to a mandatory additional 0.9% medicare tax withholding regardless of their individual tax filing
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

New COVID Relief Bill Signed Into Law

Richard A. Huffman, CPA, MST Tax Partner   The House and Senate passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, 2021) which is expected to be signed into law by the President. The CAA, 2021 bill includes the renewal and expansion of popular provisions in earlier COVID relief bills with the significant provisions summarized as follows: Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loan expenses allowed as a tax deduction (overriding IRS ruling disallowing the deduction). Uncertainty remains whether California and other states will conform. Reopen PPP for first time borrowers who have not yet applied or who previously withdrew their application. Second
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

New California Sales Tax Relief Announced for Small Businesses

Ryan Working, CPA, MST Tax Director   Back in April 2020, the Governor allowed taxpayers to apply for sales tax penalty and interest relief for 90 days for any taxpayer reporting less than $1 million in sales on their sales tax return. The Governor has now directed the California Department of Tax and Fee administration (CDTFA) to provide additional and expanded temporary tax relief for eligible small businesses impacted by COVID-19.   This temporary relief includes the following: Automatic three-month sales tax extension for taxpayers filing less than $1 million in sales tax. Interest and penalties will not accrue on the
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

Applying and Qualifying for CA Small Business Hiring Tax Credit

Cameron Lee Tax Staff   Applications have recently opened on December 1st, 2020 to apply for California’s small business hiring tax credit. This past September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1447 allowing qualifying small business owners to claim a $1,000 credit for each net increase in monthly average employees. Each employer is limited to no more than $100,000 total credit under this program. In order to qualify for the credit, taxpayers must meet the following: Have 100 or fewer employees on December 31, 2019 (all employees, including part-time employees). Have experienced a 50% decrease in gross receipts from April to
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

CA Proposition 19 and the Qualified Personal Residence Trust

Nancy Van Lanen, CTFA, EA Estate & Trust Director   The recently passed Proposition 19 in California provides expanded property tax benefits by allowing homeowners who are disabled, over 55 years of age, or whose homes were damaged in wildfire or other natural disasters, to transfer their property tax base value to a replacement residence of any value anywhere in the state.   This new law becomes effective on April 1, 2021. However, Proposition 19 limits the availability of the parent-child exclusion for purposes of real estate tax assessments.  It now requires inherited homes that are not used by the child
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

PPP Loan Forgiveness Taxability in 2020

Richard A. Huffman, CPA, MST Tax Partner Tony Maldonado, CPA Tax Senior   While the current law states forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are tax-free, the Internal Revenue Service previously issued guidance stating that the qualifying expenses paid with the forgiven loan funds are nondeductible for income tax purposes.  There has been uncertainty as to whether the qualifying expenses would be non-tax deductible when paid in 2020 or when the loan is forgiven which could go into 2021. The IRS just recently released awaited guidance stating if your business received a PPP loan and there is a reasonable expectation
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

WFY Sponsors VLI’s Lawyers for Warriors Event

  Wright Ford Young & Co. was the Title Sponsor for Veterans Legal Institute’s annual Lawyers for Warriors fundraising event on November 9th. This year the event had to shift to broadcasting over live stream because of the pandemic, but that didn’t slow Veterans Legal Institute down. The non-profit raised over $100,000 at the event for pro bono legal services for veterans in need. Many other individuals and businesses were either long-term advocates for the non-profit or sponsored the event in some way. The event also featured speakers like Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer, former Los Angeles Lakers player Mychel
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Categories: Newsletter and Updates.

Healthcare Providers Receive CARES Act Provider Relief Fund

The CARES Act allocated $175 billion in grants to support hospital and healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response to recover lost revenue and increased expenses as a result of the pandemic. Certain grants do not require repayment just as long as the recipient submits documentation sufficient to ensure that the funds were used for healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to the coronavirus and expended by June 30, 2021.  Appropriate records and cost documentation should be maintained for potential audit. All recipients of Provider Relief Fund payments are required to comply with reporting requirements issued by
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Categories: Newsletter and Updates.

WFY Introduces New Podcast: The WFY Podcast

Wright Ford Young & Co. has introduced a new way to give you exclusive content from our tax and accounting experts. The WFY Podcast is Wright Ford Young & Co.’s new podcast featuring our WFY tax and accounting specialists discussing relevant and important issues that could effect you and your business. Our first episode includes Tax Partners Andy Bautista and Richard Huffman discussing 2020 tax planning in regards to President Trump’s and Vice President Biden’s tax proposals. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes in other accounting topics with WFY accounting professionals. Where to listen to the episode:        
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Categories: Company News and Newsletter and Updates.

WFY Welcomes New Audit Staff Member

Wright Ford Young & Co. is expanding! We would like to introduce Teresa Gerhold as our newest addition to our Audit Department. WFY is pleased to welcome Teresa to our team. Teresa Gerhold This week, Teresa joined WFY as Audit Staff in our Audit Department. She graduated from Chapman University in May with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a minor in Data Analytics. Her previous experience in accounting includes a tax internship in the Bay Area. After taking an audit class in the Fall of 2019, Teresa decided to pursue her career in audit instead. In her downtime, she
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Categories: Company News and Newsletter and Updates.