The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act recently signed into law provides a one-time payment, among other items, to individuals to help ease the economic strain caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
Here are the details of the stimulus payment initiative.
WHO QUALIFIES TO RECEIVE A PAYMENT? A one-time payment of $1,200 will be sent to most adults. For every qualifying child under age 17, families will receive an additional $500. Retirees and people on disability are also eligible to receive a payment.
WHEN WILL I GET MY PAYMENT? The IRS hopes to get the first batch of payments out the week of April 6. It may take up to a month for everyone to get their checks, assuming everything goes as planned.
HOW ARE PAYMENTS BEING MADE? If you included your bank account and routing information on your 2019 tax return, you will receive your stimulus payment via direct deposit. If you haven’t filed your 2019 tax return, the IRS will use information from your 2018 tax return. If you did not include your bank account and routing information on either your 2019 or 2018 tax returns, the IRS will allow you to request direct deposit from a screen (under development) from their website. All others will receive their payment via a check in the mail.
Alert! Invalid bank information. If you have not filed your 2019 tax return AND the direct deposit information on your 2018 tax return is no longer valid (i.e. you opened a new bank account), you will need to take action immediately! If you do nothing, the bank deposit will, hopefully, be rejected and you will receive your check in the mail. Expect a delay, however, as it may take several months to receive a check by mail. You can also try calling the IRS to update your information.
WILL I GET THE ENTIRE AMOUNT? As with other government programs, there is an income phaseout. Here are the thresholds:
Single adults with income of $75,000 or less get the full $1,200. The $1,200 payment is reduced by $5 for every $100 in income above $75,000. Full income phaseout is $99,000.
Married couples with income of $150,000 or less get the full amount of $2,400. The payment is reduced by $5 for every $100, making the full payment phased out at $198,000.
Head of Household adults (normally single adults with children or other dependents) will receive the full $1,200 payment if they earn less than $112,500. Reduced amounts will go out to Head of Household adults who earn up to $136,500.
HOW WILL MY INCOME BE CALCULATED? Your 2019 tax return will be used to determine your income for purposes of whether you receive the full amount of the stimulus check and how many qualifying children you have. If you haven’t filed your 2019 tax return, your 2018 tax return will be used.
Alert! Don’t use my current situation. It may make sense to get your 2019 tax return in immediately OR DELAY IT. Figure out which tax return gives you the best payment! if phaseouts using last year’s information lowers your payment amount get your 2019 tax return filed. If your 2019 return lowers the payment, delay filing it. So pull out last year’s return NOW and take a look!
ARE THE PAYMENTS TAXABLE? No. These payments are not taxable.
Remember, this is only one of the many relief components in recently passed legislation. There are also unemployment benefits, small business benefits and much more to come.
As part of your 2020 planning, now is the time to review funding your retirement accounts.
By establishing your contribution goals at the beginning of each year, the financial impact of saving for your future should be more manageable. Here are annual contribution limits:
Retirement Plans
2019
2020
Change
Age 50 or older catch up
IRA: Traditional
$6,000
$6,000
none
add: $1,000
IRA: Roth
$6,000
$6,000
none
add: $1,000
IRA: SIMPLE
$13,000
$13,500
+$500
add: $3,000
401(k), 403(b), 457 plans
$19,000
$19,500
+$500
add: $6,500
Take action
If you have not already done so, please consider:
Reviewing and adjusting your periodic contributions to your retirement savings accounts to take full advantage of the tax advantaged limits
Setting up new accounts for a spouse or dependent(s)
Using this time to review the status of your retirement plan
Reviewing contributions to other tax-advantaged plans including flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts
Extraordinarily low interest rates and a rapidly evolving business climate has made inventory management a lost art. Other business initiatives may seem to be more urgent and impactful, but in reality, mastering inventory levels is a key to most successful and growing businesses. Here are reasons why prioritizing your inventory management is a must:
Less shrink. Shrinkage represents cash that goes to waste because inventory is damaged or past sell date. It is a sign of a weakness in the inventory control process. Adding quality control practices that account for climate control and other factors can help avoid damaging valuable stock and catch defective purchases before they make it into your warehouse. Tightening up your inventory controls equals less stuff to throw away which means less money wasted.Action: Create a shrink scorecard. Note all product that is non-saleable, and track units tossed, their dollar value, and who supplied it. Compare waste to prior year and against your goals.
More cash. In a perfect world, you receive your inventory as soon as it is sold. Material or product that sits in the warehouse adds storage costs and risks turning into unsaleable product. Aligning your inventory operation with your sales cycle plays directly with improving your cash flow. Understanding sales trends will allow you to optimize your stock levels and save money in the process. When you spend less on unnecessary inventory costs you have more cash to invest into marketing, new product initiatives or capital equipment that can bolster your bottom line.Action: Implement just in time (JIT) with key suppliers. Explore ways to deliver product when you need it versus purchasing a larger amount and then storing it.
Improved forecasting. The old saying garbage in, garbage out applies perfectly when trying to forecast inventory demand. If you can’t trust your inventory process, it’s impossible to accurately predict future output. This leaves you flying blind when budgeting and preparing for future expenditures. With a firm grip on your inventory needs and procurement-to-sales cycle, your forecasting will become more accurate.Action: Create a rolling 12-month forecast of sales. The forecast should provide details on major product lines. Translate this forecast into lead times for your inventory procurement.
Better customer relations. Once you’ve optimized your operation, the quality of your customers’ experience increases exponentially. You can cut prices without sacrificing margin, improve lead times, and add new product lines with your extra cash. While the effective inventory process you built is humming along, you can focus your attention on improving your products to better match the needs of your target market. This will help boost your sales!Action: Set inventory targets to shorten lead times. Measure how many back orders you have and note how often products are returned as defective. If your inventory management is improving you should see positive results in both areas.
Inventory management will not take care of itself. Giving your inventory system the attention, it deserves will pay major dividends both now and in the future.
Washington – Following President Donald J. Trump’s
emergency declaration pursuant to the Stafford Act, the U.S. Treasury
Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today issued guidance allowing
all individual and other non-corporate tax filers to defer up to $1 million of
federal income tax (including self-employment tax) payments due on April 15,
2020, until July 15, 2020, without penalties or interest. The guidance
also allows corporate taxpayers a similar deferment of up to $10 million of
federal income tax payments that would be due on April 15, 2020, until July 15,
2020, without penalties or interest. This guidance does not change
the April 15 filing deadline.
“Americans should file
their tax returns by April 15 because many will receive a refund. Those
filing will be able to take advantage of their refunds sooner,” said Treasury
Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This deferment allows those who owe a
payment to the IRS to defer the payment until July 15 without interest or
penalties. Treasury and IRS are ensuring that hardworking Americans and
businesses have additional liquidity for the next several months.”
Today’s guidance will
result in about $300 billion of additional liquidity in the economy in the near
term. Treasury and IRS will issue additional guidance as needed and
continue working with Congress, on a bipartisan basis, on legislation to
provide further relief to the American people.
GA DOL Establishes Emergency Unemployment Claims
Process – Employers Must Take Action
The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) has adopted an emergency
Rule 300-2-4-0.5 Partial Claims, effective March 16, 2020. The rule
mandates all Georgia employers to file partial claims online on behalf of their
employees for any week during which an employee (full-time/part-time) works
less than full-time due to a partial or total company shutdown caused by the
COVID-19 public health emergency. Any employer found to be in violation of this
rule will be required to reimburse GDOL for the full amount of unemployment
insurance benefits paid to the employee. Download the How
Employers File Partial Claims Desk-Aid found on the GDOL Alert Page and
follow the step-by-step instructions.
Filing partial claims results in your employees
receiving unemployment insurance (UI) benefit payments faster, usually within
48 hours for claims filed electronically. Employees for whom you file a partial
claim are NOT required to report to a Georgia Department of Labor career
center, register for employment services, or look for other work.
Please continue to monitor the Georgia DOL website at gdol.ga.gov for any updates to these
guidelines.
