Other Industry Hot Topics
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Cross-Border COVID-19 Requirements
While there has been a lot of buzz and concern around supply chains and inflation the last few months, Canada and the United States have entered into a vaccine mandate in order to cross the border. Canada’s vaccine mandate to enter the country went into effect Saturday January 15th, while the United States vaccine mandate […]
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What’s Going On in Washington?
The infrastructure bill and spending bill have been held up in limbo for weeks. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill has already been passed in the Senate but initially the hang up was that the House wouldn’t proceed with a vote on it without a spending bill. Many other hurdles have come up as the spending […]
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Could a Reconciliation Bill be Tied to the Infrastructure Bill?
Aside from the major news of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the Senate, the Senate also approved a $3.5 trillion budget plan. This budget plan may be setting the stage for future tax policy changes. Like the infrastructure bill, a budget resolution also needs to go through the House where it’s future is […]
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Senate Approves Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
Senators finished up working through the procedural hurdles, and have spent the last few days arguing over the potential amendments. After much debate, the bipartisan infrastructure bill was approved in the Senate, sending the bill to the House where it faces a complicated future. House Speaker Pelosi has said that the House will not pass […]
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The AB5 Situation in California
Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) was signed into law in California in late 2019 and became effective 1/1/2020. The controversial bill created a three prong test to determine when individuals can be classified as independent contractors. The following three statements must be true. A worker performs duties or services without the direct control or direction of […]
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CERTS Grant Applications Due Today!
Just a reminder to get your CERTS grant applications submitted today. Applications that are incomplete, unclear, or internally inconsistent may not receive timely consideration and may be rejected. Treasury has indicated that applications submitted AFTER 11:59PM will NOT qualify for a CERTS grant.
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CERTS Grants are Taxable
The IRS released some FAQs on the CERTS grants yesterday. The IRS indicated that the CERTS grants are taxable to the recipient. They also indicated that the expenditures the grant money is spent on, such as payroll costs, are still deductible expenses to the extent they would normally be deductible expenses. The IRS released similar […]
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SALT Deductions and Entity-Level Elections
In the transportation world, it’s not uncommon for companies to file in income and franchise tax returns in multiple states depending upon where they are located, where they have employees, and where they are driving. For some companies, it can mean filing returns in 30+ states/jurisdictions. With a $10,000 state and local tax (SALT) limitation […]
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Getting Ready for the CERTS Application
The CERTS portal has only been open a few days, but questions and panic is setting in. Like most of the government programs over the last 15 months, there has been vague guidance and more information is likely to come out in the future. It’s good to remember that the CERTS grant is non-competitive, so […]
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CERTS Grant Program Guidance Finally Released
The Department of Treasury released guidance on the CERTS grant program earlier today on their website: Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Program | U.S. Department of the Treasury We’ll discuss the details over the next few blog posts, but here are some of our initial takeaways: the grant will be formula based and […]