The bill has several aspects impacting small-business owners’ operations and tax planning.
3/18/2020 14:00
The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation is providing technical guidelines on tax credits for paid sick and family leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6021.) Some of the paid leave proposals were rolled back in the version sent to the Senate, according to media reports.
This legislation passed, with bipartisan support, by a 363-40 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives March 14. The U.S. Senate voted 90-8 on the bill with several amendments and changes on paid sick leave, The Hill reports.
President Donald Trump supports the legislation and is expected to sign it.
The bill has several pieces to help combat COVID-19, reported ACA International’s Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey. There are also several aspects of it that small-business owners, including those in the ARM industry, should review for any impact on operations and tax planning.
Some of the provisions in the bill that employers should review are the required sick days, paid leave offered through expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the associated tax credits. The House Committee on Appropriations provided a summary of the bill that ACA urges members to review.
As noted in the summary, the legislation requires employees and government employers to provide employees two weeks of paid sick leave, paid at the employee’s regular rate, to quarantine or seek a diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus; or paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate to care for a family member for such purposes; or to care for a child whose school has closed, or where child care provider is unavailable due to the coronavirus.
- Full-time employees are entitled to two weeks (80 hours) and part-time employees are entitled to the typical number of hours that they work in a two-week period.
- The bill ensures employees who work under a multi-employer collective agreement and whose employers pay into a multi-employer plan are provided with leave.
The bill also outlines tax credits that can be provided for the leave. Many of the tax credit provisions are to take effect when the bill is enacted.
If signed by the president, the requirements under the legislation would expire on Dec. 31, 2020. Notably, the legislation also includes a provision that could allow the Department of Labor to provide regulations to exempt employers with less than 50 employees.
Additional legislation related to COVID-19 is in the works, in particular to provide assistance for small businesses, industries and families, according to The Hill.
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