TaxFacts Intelligence December 1, 2020
Posted by William Byrnes on December 1, 2020
This week we analyze important end of tax year issues for businesses and Social security recipients. First, the SBA has announced a new streamlined forgiveness application for PPP loans of $50,000 or less (which is most of them). This is important for both the businesses that received the PPP funds and for the banks that will have to process the forgiveness applications; both should see their workloads greatly reduced. We also see the new Social Security COLA numbers for 2021, which as expected do not contain any dramatic changes.
Prof. William H. Byrnes  |  Robert Bloink, J.D., LL.M. |
Streamlined PPP Loan Forgiveness for Small Loans
Many small businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are now near or past the end of their “covered period”–meaning that it’s time to apply for loan forgiveness. Determining eligibility for loan forgiveness is much more complex than expected. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has released a streamlined application that can be used by business owners who borrowed $50,000 or less. For more information on the PPP loan program, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More
2021 Inflation-Adjusted Limit for Excepted Benefit HRAs
In 2019, the IRS created a new “excepted benefit” HRA structure. Unlike the also-new individual coverage HRAs, employers can offer both the excepted benefit HRA and group health insurance coverage to the same employee. The employee is not required to actually enroll in the group health coverage. For 2021, the contribution limit for these savings vehicles is $1,800 per year. For more information on the new HRA rules, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More
2021 Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Social Security Recipients
The Social Security Administration has announced the cost of living adjustments applicable for 2021, including a 1.3 percent increase in monthly benefits paid to Social Security recipients (the COLA increase for 2020 was 1.6 percent). Social Security “COLA” adjustments are tied to the consumer price index each year. Based on the 1.3 percent increase, it is estimated that the annual Social Security earnings cap will be increased from $137,700 to $142,800 for 2021. For more information on the Social Security tax, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More
Texas A&M University School of Law’s online wealth and international tax risk management graduate curricula for industry professionals has attracted over 160 enrollment this fall semester. Apply now for courses that begin on January 18 spring semester. See the international tax course list by > weekly topic here. < Texas A&M, annual budget of $6.3 billion (FY2020), is the largest U.S. public university, one of only 60 accredited U.S. universities of the American Association of Universities (R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity) and one of only 17 U.S. universities that hold the triple U.S. federal grant of Land, Sea, and Space!
- Rank 11th “Best Public Colleges” Money’s Best Colleges Report, 2019
- Texas A&M ranks #1 in Texas, #1 in the SEC, and #12 in the U.S. in Washington Monthly’s 2020 overall college rankings based on the quality of education, accessibility, graduation rates, student involvement, and research: see tx.ag/WashMonth20
William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence 
Leave a Reply