Knowledge and Insights: Newsletters

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 have forced us and our tax-exempt (and for-profit) clients to grapple with rapidly changing work environments, economic climates, and regulatory and compliance landscapes. The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division is not immune from this rapidly changing environment either! The TE/GE recently released its fiscal…

Wrongful termination litigation tends to increase during economic uncertainty, following company-wide layoffs and reductions in work force. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Forensic accountants are often retained to provide economic damages assessments related to claims involving allegations of wrongful termination. Mercadien’s Forensic & Litigation Support Services Group has substantial experience evaluating these claims, which…

On Monday, December 21st, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, called the Consolidated Appropriations Act, that provides $600 stimulus payments to individuals, adds $300 to extended weekly unemployment benefits, and provides more than $300 billion in relief funding for small businesses as a supplement to the original…

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 has been passed by Congress and was signed by the President last Sunday, December 27th. The bill is very large and contains over 5,600 pages. It includes the COVID-Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 (COVIDTRA) and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (TCDTR), which contain…

As year-end approaches, it is a good time to think about planning moves that may help reduce taxes for this year and possibly next. Year-end planning for 2020 takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which in addition to its devastating health and mortality impact has widely affected business finances. New tax rules have been enacted…

New Jersey Pass-Through Business Alternative Income Tax (NJ BAIT) Act was passed in January 2020 and is effective for 2020.  This act was designed to help business owners mitigate the negative impact of the federal state and local tax (SALT) deduction limitation of $10,000 on individual tax returns.  Although there was initially some concern that…

The Coronavirus Relief Fund, a product of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, distributed $150 billion of payments for specified uses to state and certain local governments. The governments that receive funding have flexibility when determining who to disperse the funds to, however the funds must be used on eligible expenses. Additionally,…

Interviewing in a virtual environment can be a challenge to say the least. Regardless of whether the interview is human resources-focused or for investigative purposes, the challenges are similar and often include unpredictable technical failures, security and privacy concerns, issues with sharing documents and exhibits, limitations in assessing demeanor, body language and credibility, and more.…

What is happening? The rise in unemployment filings and the expansion of jobless benefits in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have enabled an increase of fraud across the country. Your Human Resources department has a responsibility to respond quickly to fraudulent unemployment claims and assist employees whose personal information may have been compromised. Across several states, employers…

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act established and appropriated $175 billion the Provider Relief Fund. The Provider Relief Fund supports American families, workers, and the heroic healthcare providers on the front lines in the battle against the COVID-19 outbreak. Its mission is to issue relief funding to alleviate financial hardship caused by…