Governor Wolf’s Order & New Developments in the COVID-19 Crisis

A MESSAGE FROM BERTZ, HESS & COMPANY: First and foremost, the partners and staff of Bertz, Hess & Company want to wish you, your employees and your families the best of health and safety as we navigate the COVID-19 situation. By order of the Governor of Pennsylvania, we were advised originally that we could not have employees at our physical office location, because Governor Wolf mandated that all “non-life sustaining” businesses close their physical locations.  Shortly thereafter, that order was revised, and we are now allowed by law to have staff in our physical location.  However, in the public interest, as well as the best interest of the health and safety of our clients and our staff, our physical offices are effectively closed, and any staff present in the office is on an “as-needed” basis to conduct limited activities which cannot be executed efficiently from a remote location.  Therefore, for all intents and purposes, our physical office is closed, but our staff are working remotely during this time and are doing everything they can to keep your work moving along in an efficient manner.   If you have already sent your 2019 tax information to us already, we are continuing to work on your tax returns and have every intention of getting them done in a timely manner.   If you have not submitted your tax information to us, please note that our ability to receive documentation, except through mail, at our physical location is very limited, so please do not attempt to drop off anything at our physical location. We are encouraging the use of the US Mail and electronic means wherever possible to get your information to us. If you need to get additional information to your preparer, please contact them by email and they will help you make arrangements to send your documents electronically or make other arrangements, if needed. Please be aware that you are still able to reach us by email and phone, and any voicemails left on our office voicemail are delivered immediately to our e-mail, and we are able to check voicemails from remote locations, and will do so on a regular basis. NEW DEVELOPMENTS RESULTING FROM THE COVID-19 CRISIS We also wanted to take a moment to make you aware of some new developments related to the COVID-19 crisis. New information is being released on a constant basis, and many of the details are still being hammered out by our legislators, but here is a summary of what we know: TAX DEADLINE EXTENSION Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday that President Trump has directed him to move Tax Day to July 15, giving taxpayers more time to file their taxes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, the administration moved the payment deadline to July 15. All taxpayers now have three extra months to pay, without interest or penalties. But those expecting refunds should file as soon as possible. Several States have already committed to move their deadline to match the revised Federal deadline, including Pennsylvania. Accordingly, with the deadlines moved to align to July 15th, there is no need file an extension or take any action by April 15th.   THE FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT (H.R. 6201) The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), enacted on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, provides a comprehensive financial aid package for employers and employees. This is the second package from Congress dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak. The effective date of the package is April 1, 2020. This package provides certain benefits to employees impacted by the Coronavirus, who work for businesses which employ under 500 people.  It also provides certain tax credits to those employers to help offset the cost of compliance.  There are certain exemption provisions for employers with less than 50 employees, but in general, the provisions of the bill apply to those employers with 1 to 500 employees.  To get the latest information on this package from the Department of Labor, please go here. As we get more details on the above actions, as well as recent new developments, such the Stimulus Bill agreement reached this morning, and the PIDA Working Capital Assistance Fund loan program, we will be reaching out to you periodically to keep you informed on how these developments affect you, your families and your businesses. If you have any questions about the above items, please reach out to your Bertz, Hess contact person, or you can send an e-mail to our informational e-mail address info@bertzhess.com   We sincerely appreciate your continued partnership, THE PARTNER GROUP AT BERTZ, HESS & CO, LLP Scott Frick, Laura Bender and Tom Wobber