Our office will be closed on Monday May 16th, and our systems will be unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience, but appreciate your understanding.

Michigan employers, please take note…

On January 1, 2022, Michigan’s minimum wage will increase to $9.87 per hour.
The minimum base wage for tipped employees will be $3.75 per hour.
Michigan’s minimum wage applies to employers with two or more employees.

The attached briefing from Wolters Kluwer provides an outline of the Build Back Better Act, in it’s current form.  We do not expect all of these proposals will pass as written, however, this provides insight into what some of the the focus areas will be, and how it may affect businesses and individuals.

We will continue monitoring developments through the final passage of the Act, and we will provide updates as needed.

Build Back Better Brief

IR-2021-167

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a safe harbor allowing employers to exclude certain items from their gross receipts solely for determining eligibility for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC).

Revenue Procedure 2021-33 provides a safe harbor permitting employers to exclude certain amounts from gross receipts solely for determining eligibility for the ERC. These amounts are:

• The amount of the forgiveness of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan;
• Shuttered Venue Operators Grants under the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Non-Profits, and Venues Act; and
• Restaurant Revitalization Grants under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

An employer elects to apply the safe harbor by excluding these amounts for determining whether it is an eligible employer for a calendar quarter for purposes of claiming the ERC on its employment tax return.

The employer must exclude the amounts from their gross receipts for each calendar quarter in which gross receipts are relevant to determining eligibility to claim the ERC. The employer claiming the credit must also apply the safe harbor to all employers treated as a single employer under the aggregation rules.

An employer is not required to apply this safe harbor, and the safe harbor does not permit the exclusion of these amounts from gross receipts for any other federal tax purpose.

The full IRS press release can be found here.

Wayne and Washtenaw County Severe Storm and Flooding Victims will be eligible for relief.
Any filings or payments that were due between June 25, 2021 and November 1, 2021, are now due on November 1, 2021. Please see the link below for the full IRS announcement.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-victims-of-severe-storms-flooding-and-tornadoes-in-michigan

The Portal to be unenrolled from the Advance Child Tax Credit payments is active. The deadline to unenroll from the July payment has already passed, but you can make the change for the remaining payments. Use this link to get the the portal, as well as additional information regarding the payments.

Some things to note:

1. You will need an existing IRS username, or an ID.me account (you will have the option to create one if you do not already have one) in order to access the portal.
2. Once you are unenrolled from receiving the advance payments, you can not re-enroll at this time. There may be an option to do so in September.
3. If you filed your most recent return jointly, BOTH SPOUSES MUST UNENROLL. If only one spouse is unenrolled, you will still receive half of the advance payment.

If you have any additional questions, please contact our office.

Employers who voluntarily pay employees for time off (not a PTO deduction) to get the COVID vaccination, and any necessary recovery time from the vaccine are eligible for 100% tax credits up to $511 of daily wages.
For more details, see this article, and if you have questions, please contact our office.

The Michigan Department of Treasury has issued the following release:

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan taxpayers with past-due tax debts should be aware of an aggressive scam that’s making the rounds through the U.S. Postal Service, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury (Treasury).

In the scheme, taxpayers receive a letter about an overdue tax bill, asking individuals to immediately contact a toll-free number to resolve an outstanding state tax debt. The letter aggressively threatens to seize a taxpayer’s assets ― including property and Social Security benefits ― if the debt is not settled.

“This is a tricky scam that has been reported throughout the state,” said Deputy State Treasurer Ann Good, who oversees Treasury’s Financial and Administrative Services programs. “Taxpayers have rights. If you have questions about an outstanding state tax debt, please contact us through a verified number so we can talk about options.”

The piece of correspondence appears credible to the taxpayer because it uses specific personal facts that’s pulled directly from publicly available information. The scammer’s letter attempts to lure the taxpayer into a situation where they could make a payment to a criminal.

The state Treasury Department corresponds with taxpayers through official letters sent through the U.S. Postal Service, providing several options to resolve an outstanding debt and information outlining taxpayer rights.

Taxpayers who receive a letter from a scammer or have questions about their state debts should call Treasury’s Collections Service Center at 517-636-5265. A customer service representative can log the scam, verify outstanding state debts and provide flexible payment options.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact our office.

IR-2020-127, June 23, 2020

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that anyone who already took a required minimum distribution (RMD) in 2020 from certain retirement accounts now has the opportunity to roll those funds back into a retirement account following the CARES Act RMD waiver for 2020.

The 60-day rollover period for any RMDs already taken this year has been extended to August 31, 2020, to give taxpayers time to take advantage of this opportunity.

The IRS described this change in Notice 2020-51 (PDF), released today. The Notice also answers questions regarding the waiver of RMDs for 2020 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act.

The CARES Act enabled any taxpayer with an RMD due in 2020 from a defined-contribution retirement plan, including a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, or an IRA, to skip those RMDs this year. This includes anyone who turned age 70 1/2 in 2019 and would have had to take the first RMD by April 1, 2020. This waiver does not apply to defined-benefit plans.

In addition to the rollover opportunity, an IRA owner or beneficiary who has already received a distribution from an IRA of an amount that would have been an RMD in 2020 can repay the distribution to the IRA by August 31, 2020. The notice provides that this repayment is not subject to the one rollover per 12-month period limitation and the restriction on rollovers for inherited IRAs.

The notice provides two sample amendments that employers may adopt to give plan participants and beneficiaries whose RMDs are waived a choice as to whether or not to receive the waived RMD.