Larry's Tax Law

A Succinct Summary of the Key Tax Provisions

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (colloquially, the “CARES Act” or the “Act”).  The CARES Act is a historic $2.2 trillion relief package enacted by lawmakers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Act is more than 880 pages in length and contains a multitude of provisions, all of which are intended to support individuals and businesses during these horrific times.

We have attempted to provide our readers with a broad overview of the most significant tax provisions of the Act.  If a provision is potentially applicable to a given situation, please read the entire provision of the Act to affirm its application.

On March 13, 2020, President Trump issued an emergency declaration that, in part, instructed the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) to provide taxpayers with “relief from tax deadlines” due to the impact of the Coronavirus. 

Code Section 7508A gives Treasury authority to postpone the time to perform certain acts required under the Code for taxpayers affected by a federally declared disaster (as defined in Code Section 165(i)(5)(A)). 

The Secretary of the Treasury determined that any person with a federal income tax return and income tax payment due on April 15, 2020 is affected by the COVID-19 emergency.  Accordingly, as previously reported in our blog posts covering Notice 2020-17 and Notice 2020-18, Treasury postponed the due date for the filing of federal income tax returns and the payment of federal income taxes due on April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020. 

Treasury has expanded taxpayer relief with the announcement of Notice 2020-20.

Yesterday, like other commentators, we reported that, in accordance with its terms, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Act”) is effective on April 2, 2020.  Please be aware, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) posted on its website a statement that the Act is effective on April 1, 2020.  We assume this is not a premature April Fool’s joke.  Accordingly, since DOL is the agency enforcing the non-tax aspects of the Act, we advise employers to ready themselves for the new law one day earlier than expected.  It is better to be safe than sorry!    

Today, in the wake of the recent decision by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to extend the income tax filing and payment deadlines to July 15, 2020, it announced a new taxpayer-friendly program called the “People First Initiative” (the “PFI”).  The PFI is designed to provide taxpayers with additional relief from the havoc wreaked by COVID-19.

IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig stated that the PFI is part of the Service’s “extraordinary steps to help the people of our country.”  It is a temporary initiative.  Unless extended, the PFI will be available to taxpayers from April 1, 2020 to July 15, 2020 (“Program Period”). 

The temporary relief offered by the PFI includes postponing Installment Agreement and Offer in Compromise payments, and halting many collection and enforcement actions.  During the Program Period, the IRS will provide needed guidance.

President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) on March 18, 2020.  The Act becomes effective April 2, 2020, and contains a number of tax provisions that fund the Act’s mandatory paid leave provisions. 

This blog post summarizes the Act’s paid leave and associated employer tax-related benefits.  The Act is broad in application, creating complexity.  In general, it applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees.  We have attempted to dissect the Act in bite-sized, easily understandable chunks, removing the complexities whenever possible.

Yesterday, I reported that the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) issued Notice 2020-17, extending the due date for payment of federal income taxes from April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  After some feedback from the tax community, Treasury has now restated and expanded the relief provided by Notice 2020-17.  

In accordance with Notice 2020-18, not only is the due date for payment of federal income taxes extended to July 15, 2020, but the date for filing federal income tax returns originally due on April 15 is now extended to July 15, 2020.

Notice 2020-18 supersedes and expands Notice 2020-17 in many helpful ways:

On March 13, 2020, President Trump issued an emergency declaration, which in part instructed the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) to provide taxpayers with “relief from tax deadlines” due to the impact of the Coronavirus.  In response, Treasury issued Notice 2020-17 (which will be published in IRB 2020-15, dated April 6, 2020).

Code Section 7508A gives Treasury authority to postpone the time to perform certain acts required under the Code for taxpayers affected by a federally declared disaster (as defined in Code Section 165(i)(5)(A)).  

Judge Ruwe ruled in Jeremy M. Jacobs and Margaret J. Jacobs v. Commissioner, 148 T.C. 24 (June 26, 2017), that a free lunch may exist today under Federal tax law. In this case, the taxpayers, owners of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, paid for pre-game meals provided by hotels for the players and team personnel while traveling away from Boston for games.

Pursuant to the union collective bargaining agreement governing the Bruins, the team is required to travel to away games a day before the game when the flight is 150 minutes or longer. Before the away games, the Bruins provides the players and staff with a pre-game meal and snack. The meal and snack menus are designed to meet the players’ nutritional guidelines and maximize game performance.

During the tax years at issue, the taxpayers deducted the full cost of the meals and snacks. Upon audit, the IRS contended the cost of the meals and snacks were subject to the 50% limitation under Code Section 274(n)(1) which provides in part: