Jobless benefits, business loans, other COVID-19 relief hold varying tax implications
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A minefield of issues await just about anyone who received COVID-19 relief from the government.
People who received unemployment compensation, money from family, or a government loan may owe taxes on that cash, and, for business owners, the tax implications may be even greater.
George Stergiopoulos is the owner of Giorgio’s Pizza just east of Monument Circle on Market Street. He endured a loss of customers from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown and the downtown riots in late May. He is happy to have a few lunch-time deliveries after receiving three months of rent assistance. He’s now trying to find out what portion of that assistance may go to taxes, since he’s not 100% certain if the money if taxable. “So I talked to my CPA (certified public accountant) and he needs to see the grant and the makeup of the grant, so I guess there are specific ways these grants would be handled according to how they are written. That’s my guess, and I’m not a CPA.”
The Payroll Protection Program offered Small Business Administration loans and was lifeline for thousands of business owners in central Indiana. Matt Will, an associate professor of finance at University of Indianapolis, says the Payroll Protection Program expenses are not tax-deductible. “So many people are wondering, ‘How do we handle this?’ Well, the PPP loan is not something that you are not going to be able to take off your taxes because it is untaxable income.”
Will says there are portions of the Payroll Protection Program loan that do not have to be repaid, and business owners may receive additional tax credits for wages paid during the pandemic. “I would say the most important thing that everyone needs to remember is everything is going to change. The IRS has yet to finalize their rules. They usually don’t do so until April.”
The pandemic shut down forced almost 600,000 people in Indiana out of the labor force. Some could get by on savings or withdraw money from retirement accounts, said Leslie Boyd, a certified public accountant. However, people who received money from unemployment insurance or worked multiple jobs during the pandemic need to be prepared to pay the taxes. “Really understanding all of those sources of income and the taxability of them and the associated withholding is really important because the reality is all of those sources are probably taxable, so making sure the appropriate taxes have been withheld so there is not a tax surprise later.”
For anyone who took paid time off from work under the Family Medical Leave Act to care for someone infected with the coronavirus, that benefit maybe taxable.
Boyd said this tax season is not going to be like years past. “The volume of change that we have had this past year and how you unpack that change and put it into a holistic tax package and plan for yourself to understand the impact of that and make sure you have taken advantage of all those changes.”
Individual taxpayers may want to consult a tax professional or, for simple returns, use an online tax service.