All Sales Tax returns and payments expected during the period beginning March 20th and ending May 31, 2020 are suspended. All such returns and payments are now due on June 20, 2020.

This postponement does not apply to marijuana retailers, marketplace facilitators, or vendors selling motor vehicles. Such vendors are expected to file returns and make payments following the standard rules for those industries.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/important-covid-19-coronavirus-response-update-from-dor

New York State is now allowing residents eligible under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program to apply via the state. This includes previously ineligible applicants, including the self-employed and independent contractors.
https://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/cares-act.shtm

To see if you’re eligible for Pandemic Unemployment click below https://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/pdfs/pandemic-unemployment-assistance.pdf

New York State is waiving the 7-Day waiting period for Unemployment Insurance benefits for people who are out of work due to COVID-19 closures or quarantines.

New York State has instituted a filing method based on your last name.
https://applications.labor.ny.gov/IndividualReg/

New York State employees can receive partial Unemployment Insurance benefits while working decreased hours.
https://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/employerinfo/shared-work-program.shtm

The Federal government has stated that the following individuals are now eligible for Unemployment.

(1) An employer temporarily halts operations due to COVID-19, restricting employees from coming to work; (2) An individual is quarantined with the expectation of returning to work after the quarantine is over; and (3) An individual leaves employment due to a risk of exposure or infection or to care for a family member. Also, federal law does not require an employee to quit in order to receive benefits due to the impact of COVID-19.
This is a directive to the States only. The Federal government does not offer Unemployment Insurance. Instead, you must file through your state.
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20200312-0

Coronavirus Aid, Relief (CARES Act) Unemployment:
The CARES Act extends eligibility for unemployment insurance for those who are displaced due to COVID-19 in several ways. Workers that are not eligible for this program are those that telework with pay or are accepting paid sick days or paid leave. Workers must be authorized to work to qualify for this program, meaning that undocumented folks will not be eligible. The state will administer benefits.

Federal Unemployment Benefits– From March 27, 2020 through July 31, 2020, everyone filing for unemployment will get their usual calculated benefit plus an extra $600 per week in compensation for up to four months (the $600 per week applies regardless of what your wages were). This includes those who are getting a partial unemployment benefit check. It may be paid together or independently from your regular unemployment check, but both will be paid weekly. The additional $600 is not income for purposes of eligibility for either Medicaid or CHIP but is considered taxable income. You do not need to file separately for these additional benefits. You will be automatically eligible if you are currently on your state’s unemployment program.

Modifications to State Unemployment Benefits- The Act also provides an additional 13 weeks of state unemployment benefits (the total benefit may not continue beyond 39 weeks), which will become available after someone depletes all their regular state unemployment benefits. To receive additional weeks of benefits, workers must be actively involved in searching for work. The bill explicitly allows a State to provide flexibility in meeting such work search terms, incase individuals are unable to search for employment due to COVID-19, including because of illness, quarantine, or movement restriction. The program defers the one-week waiting period established by state unemployment laws.
The Act includes a specific section related to non-profit organizations, which allows these organizations to be reimbursed for half of the costs incurred through the end of 2020 to pay unemployment benefits.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance– This program will provide income support to various workers who do not meet the traditional requirements of the state unemployment benefit systems in this country. Those eligible include self-employed workers, including independent contractors, freelancers, workers seeking part-time work, and workers who do not have a long-enough work history to qualify for state unemployment benefits. The program will run from January 27, 2020 (will be retroactively applied) through December 31, 2020. The minimum benefit will be equal to one-half of the state’s average weekly unemployment benefit.
Workers will need to apply for PUA through their state unemployment offices.
Eligibility:
Verify that they are partially or fully unemployed
Verify that they unable and unavailable to work because:
They have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or have symptoms of it and are seeking a diagnosis
A member of their household has been diagnosed with COVID-19
They are providing care for someone diagnosed with COVID-19
They are providing care for a child or other household member who can’t attend school or work because it is closed due to COVID-19
They are quarantined or have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine
They were scheduled to start employment and do not have a job or cannot reach their place of work as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak
They have become the breadwinner for a household because the head of the household has died as a direct result of COVID-19
They had to quit their job as a direct result of COVID-19
Their place of employment is closed as a direct result of COVID-19
They meet other criteria established by the Secretary of Labor

On March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was officially announced as a nationwide emergency. This allows employees to exclude certain qualified disaster relief payments that are usually considered taxable from their total income. Employers will be allowed to deduct these expenses on their end fully. Eligible disaster relief payments are not subject to federal income tax or employment tax withholding and do not need to be reported on an employee’s Form W-2

Qualified disaster relief payments are payments to an employee for individual, family, living, or funeral expenses resulting from a qualified disaster. Those could include:
child care
for example increased child care or tutoring costs due to school closings, or remote learning materials
medical expenses
for example, copays incurred, vitamins or over-the-counter medications to treat coronavirus
work from home expenses
for instance, costs correlated with running a home office
transportation expenses
funeral expenses
well-being expenses
for example mental health and physical programs
other living expenses
for example increased meal costs and utilities due to being quarantined at home, hand sanitizer, and home disinfectant supplies
Note that payments must be to reimburse reasonable and necessary costs. If the payments are unreasonable, those excess amounts will be included in an employee’s income, and may not be deductible.
Reimbursements must be for expenses and not in place of income.
There is no limit to how much reimbursement an employer could provide an affected worker.

COVID-19 is not only taking a toll on the U.S. market, but also small businesses across the country. With the amount of difficulty, small business owners are facing, finding the light during this darkness can be tough. Thankfully, several companies are offering free help to small business owners during COVID19. The federal and state government, banks, large institutions, social media platforms, and many more are providing financial support for businesses facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, there are government resources for businesses during COVID19. Many loans and grants are accessible through states and the federal government. All fifty states, Washington D.C. and some U.S. Territories are eligible for the COVID-19 SBA Disaster loan, which is an excellent option for companies that saw a massive decrease in sales and revenue as a result of COVID19. For those businesses that do not qualify or are not interested in getting a loan or grant, there are other options available to help with financial assistance.

Here are 7 FREE resources for business owners affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Yelp is offering $25 million in Relief for Affected Small Businesses. Yelp will be using 25 million to waive advertising fees and offer free additional advertising and use of products and services. From free access to Yelp Reservations to $100 in free search advertising, Yelp is doing what it can to help small businesses feeling the effects of this virus.

A variety of banks are offering relief to those who need it. This list shows a complete overview of several banks that provide relief. The list of banks includes Ally, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover, PNC Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, PNC Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.

Facebook gives $100M in grants, ads to small businesses hit by COVID-19. Facebook will be offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits to help eligible small businesses.

LinkedIn opened up 16 of its learning courses for free. These LinkedIn courses will help you stay productive, build relationships when you’re not face-to-face, use virtual conference tools, and balance life.

Jamm, an audio-visual communication tool, is free to use. For teams that may not be used to working remotely, Jamm is a great resource for holding virtual huddles, recording videos, and also integrates with Slack.

Hootsuite free for small businesses. Now through July 1st, Hootsuite is allowing free access to Hootsuite Professional to small businesses and nonprofits. Hootsuite is a social media scheduling and management platform tool to help you stay connected to your customers and communities.

Comcast is offering Free Xfinity WiFi. Xfinity wifi will be free for everyone! To access the service, look for the “xfinitiwifi” network name in a list of hotspots.

While these free resources won’t be able to solve all of the devastation small businesses are facing, they certainly can help.

The IRS has announced that our new Tax Day is now July 15. The Treasury and IRS have extended the filing deadline and federal tax payments, regardless of total.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-day-now-july-15-treasury-irs-extend-filing-deadline-and-federal-tax-payments-regardless-of-amount-owed
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus

First-quarter 2020 Federal estimated income taxes are now postponed from April 15 to July 15, 2020. Note that second-quarter 2020 estimated income tax payments are still due on June 15, 2020.
HSAs, MSAs, IRAs, and workplace-based retirement plans contribution deadline for 2019 is also extended to July 15, 2020.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-and-payment-deadlines-questions-and-answers

For taxpayers under an existing Installment Agreement, payments due between April 1 and July 15, 2020, are now suspended.
Liens, levies, and seizures initiated by field revenue officers will be suspended during this period. However, field revenue officers will continue to pursue high-income non-filers and perform other similar activities where warranted.
New delinquent accounts will not be forwarded by the IRS to private collection agencies to work during this period.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-unveils-new-people-first-initiative-covid-19-effort-temporarily-adjusts-suspends-key-compliance-program

The New York State Tax Department has extended the tax filing deadline to July 15.