On Tuesday night, the Senate voted to approve a 5 week extension to the PPP Loan program. The program, which stopped accepting applications on June 30th, could continue to accept applications for an additional 5 weeks (August 8th), if approved by the House and signed by the President.

If you need assistance with the Paycheck Protection Loan program, or would like further information, please contact our office.

Many payment and filing deadlines are being extended as a result of the Coronavirus. The following has been extended as of March 24, 2020. We will update as more information becomes available: 

• Federal income tax returns and payments (including estimate payments) due between April 1st and July 15th are now due July 15th 

• First quarter federal payroll due dates have not been extended. 

• Michigan state and city income tax returns and payments (including estimate payments) due April 15th have been extended until July 15th. City tax returns normally due April 30th have been extended until July 31st. 

• Michigan payroll filing due dates have not been extended. 

For our out-of-state employers, please ask for details. Many states have announced their own extensions, and most indicate that they will follow the federal income tax extensions. The AICPA is monitoring all state tax announcements and updating their summaries daily. 

On March 16th, Michigan Governor Whitmer announced temporary expansions to Michigan’s unemployment laws. These expansions are effective immediately and continue through April 14, 2020 and allow workers to claim unemployment benefits if they are impacted by closures or quarantines as a result of COVID-19: 

• An employer will not be charged for unemployment benefits if their employees become unemployed because of an executive order requiring them to close or limit operations. 

• An employee is considered to leave work involuntarily for medical reasons if they leave work because of self-isolation or self-quarantine in response to elevated risk from COVID-19 due to being immunocompromised, displaying the symptoms of COVID-19, having contact in the last 14 days with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, the need to care for someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, or a family care responsibility as a result of a government directive. 

• An individual must be deemed laid off if they became unemployed because of self-isolation or self-quarantine in response to elevated risk from COVID-19 due to being immunocompromised, displaying the symptoms of COVID-19, having contact in the last 14 days with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, the need to care for someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, or a family care responsibility as a result of a government directive. The employer of an individual covered by this subsection must seek a registration and work search waiver from the Unemployment Insurance Agency. 

• An individual on a leave of absence due to displaying the symptoms of COVID-19, having contact in the last 14 days with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, the need to care for someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 must be considered to be unemployed, or a family care responsibility as a result of a government directive, unless the individual is already on sick leave or receives a disability benefit. 

• An individual who becomes unemployed because self-isolation or self-quarantine in response to elevated risk from COVID-19 due to being immunocompromised, displaying the symptoms of COVID-19, having contact in the last 14 days with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, the need to care for someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, or a family care responsibility as a result of a government directive, and files a claim for unemployment benefits within 28 days of the last day worked must be considered to have filed on time. 

• For each eligible individual filing an initial claim until April 14, 2020 at 11:59pm, not more than 26 weeks of benefits are payable to an individual in a benefit year. 

• The unemployment insurance agency may approve a shared-work plan, regardless of whether the employer’s reserve in the employer’s experience account as of the most recent computation date preceding the date of the employer’s application is a positive number.

On March 18th, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), to ease the economic burden faced by many businesses and individuals as a result of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The information below is a summary of the provisions included: 

• Family and medical leave. The Act includes the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA), which requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide both paid and unpaid public health emergency leave to certain employees through December 31, 2020. The emergency leave generally is available when an employee who has been employed for at least 30 days is unable to work or telework due to a need for leave to care for a son or daughter under age 18 because a school or place of care has been closed, or a childcare provider is unavailable, due to an emergency with respect to COVID-19 that is declared by a federal, state, or local authority. The first 10 days of leave may be unpaid and then paid leave is required, calculated based on an amount not less than two-thirds of an employee’s regular rate of pay and the number of hours the employee would otherwise be normally scheduled to work, not to exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate. Certain exemptions and special rules apply. 

• Emergency paid sick time. Under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA), private employers with fewer than 500 employees, and public employers of any size, must provide 80 hours of paid sick time to full-time employees who are unable to work (or telework) for specified virus-related reasons. Part-time employees are entitled to sick time based on their average hours worked over a 2-week period. This amount is immediately available regardless of the employee’s length of employment. The maximum amounts payable vary based on the reason for absence. Employees who are (1) subject to a quarantine or isolation order, (2) advised by a health provider to self-quarantine, or (3) experiencing symptoms and seeking diagnosis, must be compensated at their regular rate, up to a maximum of $511 per day ($5,110 total). Employees caring for an individual described in category (1), (2), or (3), caring for a son or daughter whose school is closed or child care provider is unavailable, or experiencing a “substantially similar condition” specified by the government must receive two-thirds of their regular rate, up to a maximum of $200 per day ($2,000 total). Employers cannot require employees to find a replacement worker or use other sick leave before this sick time. Employers may exclude health care providers and emergency responders.  

The sick leave mandate takes effect not later than 15 days after March 18, 2020 (the date of the Act’s enactment) and expires December 31, 2020.  

Employer tax credits are available to cover all amounts paid under the EFMLEA and the EPSLA, as well as employer health plan expenses allocable to employees taking covered leave. These credits can be recovered immediately by reducing payroll tax deposits by the amount of leave paid out. 

Self-employed individuals can also receive a credit for as many as 50 days multiplied by the lesser of $200 or 67% of their average self-employment income paid under the EMFLEA.  

Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.