Business owners, whether it’s your own tax firm or your clients’ businesses, can take advantage of some tax credits and other benefits to help offset the financial impacts of COVID-19.
Some beneficial programs were put in place since the arrival of COVID-19, including the Paycheck Protection Program, the employee retention credit, paid sick and family leave, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act.
In order to apply these credits and benefits to your clients’ returns though, you need to know how they work.
“It’s difficult to find someone whose life hasn’t been impacted by COVID,” said Steve O’Rourke, EA, founder and president of O’Rourke Tax Service, Inc. “These credits and other programs can be extremely beneficial to just about anyone.”
O’Rourke is teaching a webinar called Claiming Payroll Credits for Employee Retention and Paid Leave, which will cover credits tax pros and their business clients can take advantage of, whether or not they have employees. Over the past few months, revisions were made by the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (Relief Act) and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act ), including amending and extending the employee retention credit and the availability of certain advance payments of tax credits. For example, originally the employee retention credit was only available to those who did not have a Paycheck Protection Program loan. This rule was recently revised.
O’Rourke will go over all these programs, changes to the credits and more in the upcoming webinar. It will also cover the differences between 2020 and 2021. He said it will be a hands-on course with plenty of examples and will show, step-by-step, how to complete Form 941.
“All I want people to realize is that it’s such an important topic,” O’Rourke said. “Even though you may not know much about any of these programs, they affect a lot more people than you’d think and you won’t be alone.”
This webinar is included with Premium level NATP membership. Professional level members can use code FREECPE at checkout to redeem a free 2 CPE credit. If you can’t make the live broadcast, it will also be offered on-demand.
About National Association of Tax ProfessionalsThe National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) is the largest association dedicated to equipping tax professionals with the resources, connections and education they need to provide the highest level of service to their clients. NATP is comprised of over 23,000 leading tax professionals who believe in a superior standard of ethics and exemplify professional excellence. Members rely on NATP to deliver professional connections, content expertise and advocacy that provides them with the support they need to best serve their clients. The organization welcomes all tax professionals in their quest to continually meet the needs of the public, no matter where they are in their careers.
The NATP headquarters is located in Appleton, WI. To learn more, visit www.natptax.com.
Information included in this article is accurate as of the publish date. This post is not reflective of tax law changes or IRS guidance that may have occurred after the date of publishing. All taxpayer circumstances are different, and NATP recommends contacting research services if you have specific questions about your clients’ tax situations.