Tax & Current Accounting Topics

Act by Wednesday for chance to get quicker Economic Impact Payment; timeline for payments continues to accelerate 

irs.gov/newsroom/act-by-wednesday-for-chance-to-get-quicker-economic-impact-payment-timeline-for-payments-continues-to-accelerate

 IR-2020-92, May 8, 2020  WASHINGTON – With a variety of steps underway to speed Economic Impact Payments, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service urged people to use Get My Payment by noon Wednesday, May 13, for a chance to get a quicker delivery.  The IRS, working in partnership with Treasury Department and the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS), continues to accelerate work to get Economic Impact Payments to even more people as soon as possible. Approximately 130 million individuals have already received payments worth more than $200 billion in the program's first four weeks.

IRS News Treasury, Treasury, IRS release latest state-by-state Economic Impact Payment figures 

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IR-2020-91, May 8, 2020  WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today released updated state-by-state figures for Economic Impact Payments, with approximately 130 million individuals receiving payments worth more than $200 billion in the program's first four weeks.  "We are working hard to continue delivering these payments to Americans who need them," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "The vast majority of payments have been delivered in record time, and millions more are on the way every week. We encourage people to visit IRS.gov for the latest information, FAQs and updates on the payments."

Employer Retention Credit COVID-19 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-thre...

IR-2020-89, May 7, 2020  WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminds employers affected by COVID-19 about three important new credits available to them.  Employee Retention Credit: The employee retention credit is designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll. The refundable tax credit is 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19.  The credit is available to all employers regardless of size, including tax-exempt organizations. There are only two exceptions: State and local governments and their instrumentalities and small businesses who take small business loans.

IRS: Three new credits are available to many businesses hit by COVID-19 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-thre...

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminds employers affected by COVID-19 about three important new credits available to them.  Employee Retention Credit: The employee retention credit is designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll. The refundable tax credit is 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19.  The credit is available to all employers regardless of size, including tax-exempt organizations. There are only two exceptions: State and local governments and their instrumentalities and small businesses who take small business loans.

IRS News IRS seeking applications for TCE and VITA grants

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IR-2020-88, May 6, 2020  WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is accepting applications for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant programs, which will allow some organizations to apply for annual funding for up to three years.  Applications will be accepted through June 1, 2020, on grants.gov. The application packages and guidelines are available on the IRS website. For the 2020 filing season, the IRS awarded 27 TCE grantees $11 million and 238 VITA grantees $18 million. Last year, the two grant programs filed nearly 3 million returns at almost 9,000 sites nationwide.

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IRS retools Settlement Days program in response to COVID-19 pandemic; allows unrepresented taxpayers to settle their cases virtually and reach finality IRS retools Settlement Days program in response to COVID-19 pandemic; allows unrepresented taxpayers to settle their cases virtually and reach finality IR-2020-87, May 5, 2020  WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel today announced the Settlement Days program will continue remotely enabling unrepresented taxpayers to work towards resolving their pending United States Tax Court case despite "stay-at-home" orders in many jurisdictions.  The first two events are for docketed cases with place of trial in Detroit or Atlanta.  Future events may be scheduled in other cities throughout the United States.

VA and SSI recipients act now to add eligible children to Economic Impact Payment 

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COVID Tax Tip 2020-50, May 4, 2020  People who receive Supplemental Security Income and Department of Veterans Affairs benefits who have children need to act by May 5 to quickly receive the full amount of their Economic Impact Payment. Those who need to act are those who receive SSI or VA Compensation and Pension benefits and didn't file a tax return in 2018 or 2019.  Their $1,200 payments will be issued soon. In order to add the $500 per eligible child amount to these payments, the IRS needs the dependent information before the payments are issued. Otherwise, their payment at this time will be $1,200 and, by law, the additional $500 per eligible child amount will be paid in association with a return filing for tax year 2020.

Economic Impact Payments continue to be sent, check IRS.gov for answers to common questions 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic...

https://accountinginstruction.info

IR-2020-85, April 30, 2020  WASHINGTON — As Economic Impact Payments continue to be successfully delivered, the Internal Revenue Service today reminds taxpayers that IRS.gov includes answers to many common questions, including help to use two recently launched Economic Impact Payment tools.  The IRS is regularly updating the Economic Impact Payment and the Get My Payment tool frequently asked questions pages on IRS.gov as more information becomes available.

VA, SSI recipients with eligible children need to act by Tuesday, May 5 to quickly add money to their automatic Economic Impact Payment; ‘Plus $500 Push’ continues 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/va-ssi-r...

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May 5 deadline for VA, SSI recipients who don't file a tax return and have dependents IR-2020-86, May 1, 2020  WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminded Supplemental Security Income and Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries to act by Tuesday, May 5 if they didn't file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 and have dependents so they can quickly receive the full amount of their Economic Impact Payment.