Author Archive

On December 3, 2024, the Eastern District of Texas Federal Court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland et al. This decision effectively suspends the enforcement of the CTA, which had mandated companies to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN. Judge Mazzant delivered a scathing critique of the CTA, asserting that it likely exceeds Congressional authority and infringes upon state jurisdiction over corporate regulation. The court highlighted the substantial financial burden on businesses, with compliance costs estimated to surpass $22 billion in the initial year alone…. read more »

The Volunteer Service Credit Act (the “Act”), which is found in 35 Pa. C.S.A. Health and Safety, was amended in 2020 by Act 91 to allow active volunteer firefighters to take an even greater tax credit. As many municipalities are experiencing first hand, volunteer fire and emergency service companies are declining in numbers of volunteers across the Commonwealth. The Act (Act 172 of 2016) was adopted to assist with recruiting and maintaining active volunteers by offering financial incentives. This credit allows for volunteer firefighters to obtain a credit against municipal real estate tax obligations for amounts they have paid that… read more »

Congratulations to Attorney Margaret “Mieke” Driscoll for joining the York Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors! The York Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1933 and incredibly, performed without interruption from the Depression through World War II to today with a commitment to excellence in providing live orchestral music and music education to the people of our region. Currently, their roster is composed of 76 professional instrumentalists, and the 100 volunteer vocalists of the York Symphony Chorus. For each season, the York Symphony Orchestra presents six Classical concerts, three Pop concerts, and two Young Person concerts in order to perform a spectrum… read more »

Post Mahanoy Update Considering disciplining a student for off-campus speech? Proceed with caution, the Supreme Court says. The Court held 8-1 in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. that because the interests of the school in regulating the particular speech in question were diminished given their content and off-campus setting, the student’s one-year suspension from the cheerleading squad was a violation of her First Amendment rights.  A Limited but Significant Holding Rather than a bright-line rule prohibiting regulation of off-campus speech, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff largely based on its long-lasting precedent in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), which limits regulation on most school speech… read more »

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is encouraging small business owners in rural locations across America to apply for their Rural Relief Small Business Grants program. The grant opened on on Monday, September 28 and will close on October 5 just before midnight, so if you are eligible you will need to apply this weekend. Only small businesses with business addresses in rural communities are eligible for this grant. To be considered rural, a community must have a population of less than 50,000 people. All potential applicants should review the LISC’s FAQ and grant information before applying. The program is intended to support small businesses affected… read more »

Beginning today, employees within a certain pay threshold have the option to defer their Social Security witholding tax. The optional deferral period for the employee portion of the Social Security withholding tax (6.2%) is September 1st – December 31st. The deferral option is restricted to employees whose wages are less than $4,000 pre-tax during a bi-weekly pay period.  Guidance was issued late on Friday, August 28th by the Treasury and IRS (follow the link below). IRS and U.S. Treasury Guidance Employee payroll taxes include two separate taxes: Social Security and Medicare. These two taxes together are known as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes… read more »

The Treasury released a new Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding owners compensation and limitations on forgiveness eligibility (see link below). PPP – Treatment of Owners and Forgiveness of Certain Nonpayroll Costs Owner Compensation. Owner-employees with less than a 5% ownership interest in a C or S-corp are not subject to the owner-employee compensation rules.   There are no exceptions to this rule, since the Treasury has determined that owners with less than 5% ownership have no “meaningful ability to influence decisions over how loan proceeds are allocated”. Compensation Limitations. The amount of loan forgiveness requested may not include business operations of… read more »

The SBA just released additional guidance on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan forgiveness in the form of Frequently Asked Questions and answers. The PPP resumed accepting applications July 6, 2020, and will continue until August 8, 2020. The SBA will forgive loans if the funds are used for employee retention and eligible expenses.  FAQs about PPP Loan Forgiveness (8/4/2020) Loans used for payroll costs, rent, interest on mortgages, and utilities will be fully forgiven. (At least 60% of the forgiven loan must have been spent on payroll.) Other important details include: –    PPP loans have a 1% interest rate and payments will be… read more »

The York County Commissioners voted to use a portion of the  Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to support YoCo Strong Restart Fund, a small business and nonprofit organization grant program. The County allocated $4 million for nonprofit organizations and $10 million for small businesses. Eligible organizations will receive grant funding between $10,000 to $35,000. Organizations are eligible if they have been negatively impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic and meet any of the following criteria: Small business with less than 50 full‐time equivalent employees and gross revenues of $3 million or less for the 12‐month period.Restaurant with less… read more »

$50 million in grant funding is available to assist employers in providing hazard pay to employees who are working in life-sustaining occupations during the pandemic. Hazard pay keeps essential employees working in vital Pennsylvania industry sectors. Hazard Pay Grant Funding Information on DCED Website This reimbursement-based grant is part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and is available to employers who will be offering hazard pay during the eligible program period. The grants are administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and will not exceed $3 million per business. Applicants eligible to apply… read more »