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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides expanded unemployment benefits for those individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the CARES Act creates three unemployment programs: (i) Pandemic Unemployment Assistance; (ii) Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation; and (iii) Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. These programs work alongside state unemployment benefits and are fully funded by the federal government.

Last month, the IRS announced that certain taxpayers generally have until July 15, 2020, to file and pay federal income taxes originally due on April 15. The IRS has extended this relief to additional returns, tax payments and other actions. As a result, the extensions generally now apply to all taxpayers that have a filing or payment deadline falling on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. The extensions apply to many forms and tax payments made by tax-exempt organizations, including: 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) includes several changes to bankruptcy law, including an amendment to the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA), which took effect earlier this year. (Read full article here) These temporary modifications are designed to benefit small businesses and individuals who have sought, or plan to seek, relief under the provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. As many debtors seek payment deferments, these provisions will be important in evaluating the rights and benefits of debtors and creditors this year.

This guidance reviews several of the more significant provisions of the PPP Frequently Asked Questions issued Monday, April 6, 2020. Lender’s responsibility with respect to borrower’s payroll calculation (Question 1) The FAQ confirms that lenders are not required to recalculate every aspect of borrower’s payroll cost calculation. Lenders will be protected provided that they “perform a good faith review, in reasonable time, of borrower’s calculations.” The level of investigation by the lender should be determined based upon the quality of documentation submitted by the borrower. We believe that reports, forms and other information filed with a governmental agency (IRS, State) would carry the most weight in this regard.

The Small Business Administration issued an interim final rule that provides additional implementation guidelines and requirements for its Paycheck Protection Program. This article provides answers to frequently asked questions from lenders.

We previously reported that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires employers with 500 or fewer employees to provide two new types of paid leave:  1) two weeks of sick leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act; and 2) twelve weeks of extended family medical leave under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.  These provisions went into effect on April 1, 2020. The Department of Labor has now issued regulations providing clarification on these paid leave requirements. Below, we address some of the most common questions we have received under the new regulations.

As we enter April, most states are under some order requiring certain businesses to shutter or extensively change how they operate to stop the community spread of COVID-19. CNN reports that, as of March 30, 2020, 27 state have some shelter-in-place order, sheltering more than two-thirds of the nation’s population. [1] While Arkansas is not currently under any shelter-in-place orders, Governor Asa Hutchinson has issued multiple executive orders requiring certain businesses to close and restaurants to be take-out only. [2] The City of Little Rock is under a curfew.[3] The impact on the business community will be historical. Insureds will turn to the language of their insurance policies to determine if there is any relief to be gained. Particular clauses will come under scrutiny, in particular business interruption and civil authority clauses.