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The State of Ohio announced the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved their request to allow small businesses and nonprofits in Ohio to apply for low-interest, long-term loans of up to $2 million through the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

“Timing is everything as we navigate this crisis,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. “We have to move quickly to not only ensure that Ohioans are safe, but also that they have the necessary support in place to weather this difficult situation. I appreciate the quick response by federal officials to provide the state’s small businesses and nonprofits with access to this resource.”

On March 18, the Internal Revenue Service provided clarification to special payment relief for individuals and businesses in response to the COVID-19 Outbreak.

For individual returns, income tax payment deadlines with a due date of April 15, 2020, are automatically extended until July 15, 2020, for up to $1 million of their 2019 tax due.

This payment relief applies to all individual returns, including self-employed individuals, and all entities other than C-Corporations, such as trusts or estates. The IRS will automatically provide this relief to taxpayers. Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms or call the IRS to qualify for this relief.

The State of Ohio is taking action to help small business affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 17, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted sent a letter and application to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to qualify the State of Ohio for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

This federal program will enable small businesses and non-profits throughout the state impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 to apply for low-interest loans for up to $2 million in assistance, which can provide vital economic support to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.

Zinner & Co. is proud to introduce our new 2020 tax season interns. We hope this snapshot of them will help you get to know them, as some of our clients will be receiving communications from our interns, as they will work on tax returns this season. 

The Internal Revenue Service launched an online resource called Identity Theft Central to help taxpayers report identity theft and teach them how to protect themselves against it.

This new resource provides information to alert taxpayers to the signs of identity theft, actions to take if they become a victim and advice on how to protect personal identity and data.

Located within the IRS website, Identity Theft Central offers specific information for taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses.

Due to many changes in the tax law under numerous tax acts that have been implemented over the past decade, including delay in the issuance of tax forms needed to complete individual income tax returns, the compression of the tax preparation and filing season has become even more severe. 

The tax code is long and complicated and oftentimes, taxpayers do not know what deductions or credits are available, which means they cannot take advantage of possible savings.

With so many changes under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the 2019 SECURE Act now in place, changes have been made regarding the deductibility of expenses that both business and individual taxpayers may not be aware of.

A new piece of legislation enacted in late December will help simplify the retirement system and help individuals increase their savings.

The “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” Act or SECURE Act, which was part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 expands opportunities for individuals to increase their savings, and makes administrative simplifications to the retirement system.

Among the major changes for individuals are:

The IRS issued its annual inflation adjustments for key tax items for the tax year 2020. Among them are new amounts for standard deductions.

For the tax year 2020, the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly will be raised from $24,400 to 24,800. For single taxpayers and married couples filing separately, the standard deduction will be raised from $12,200 to 12,400. For heads of households, the standard deduction will be $18, 650.

Margin tax rates will change as follows:

Governor Mike DeWine has signed a bill into law that will allow Attorneys and Lobbyists to take the Business Income Deduction (BID) deduction.The law was backed by the Ohio Society of CPAs, and was viewed as a fix to a part of the biennial budget that was thought to be unfair in its treatment of two specific professions.

As we wrote about when the bill first passed the General Assembly of the House in October, the law, in part, allows lawyers and lobbyists to take the same deductions as other types of pass-through entities. The law also contains two other provisions of note: