No Relationship Between PPP Loans And Covid-19 Outbreaks – Liz Farmer, Forbes. “Cities in California, Florida, New York and Texas have been home to some of the worst Coronavirus outbreaks in the country, but new data show that federal loans to small businesses didn’t necessarily follow the same pattern.”
“A new analysis from the nonprofit USA Facts says that the distribution of Paycheck Protection Program loans smaller than $150,000 (the majority of loans) was not consistent with the level of coronavirus spread among the 30 most populous counties. For example in New York, the Bronx reported the highest cumulative COVID-19 case count through June 30 at 3,400 cases per 100,000 people. But the Bronx had among the lowest rates of PPP loans at about $17 million per 100,000 people.”
One Day After Letter from Rep. Neal, IRS Announces the Agency Will Pause Sending Follow-up Notices to CP-14 Balance Due Notices – Ed Zollars, Current Federal Tax Developments. “A day after Representative Neal sent a letter asking the IRS to delay sending out notices to taxpayers regarding balances due until they cleared the mail backlog, the IRS addressed this issue, posting an announcement regarding a delay in the sending of notices due to the mail handling issues.”
The IRS made the following statement:
“The IRS has suspended the mailing of three notices – the CP501, the CP503 and the CP504 – that go to taxpayers who have a balance due on their taxes. Although the IRS continues to make significant reductions in the backlog of unopened mail that developed while most IRS operations were closed due to COVID-19, this temporary adjustment to processing is intended to lessen any possible confusion that might be associated with delays in processing correspondence received from taxpayers.”
IRS Announces Temporary Suspension on Mailing Balance Due Notices – Keith Fogg, Procedurally Taxing.
COVID-created tax refund interest payments going to nearly 14 million filers – Kay Bell, Don’t Mess with Taxes. “Almost 14 million U.S. taxpayers are getting a few extra dollars from Uncle Sam. If you're one of them, you can thank the Internal Revenue Service and the COVID-19 changes to the 2020 filing season. Pandemic tax season timing tweaks mean that these regular refund recipients also will be getting some interest — an average of $18 — in addition to their expected tax-back amounts.”
House Dems Stand Firm on Opposition to Payroll Tax Forgiveness – Jonathan Curry, Tax Notes ($). "House Democrats are showing little sign of fulfilling President Trump’s wish for Congress to step in and forgive the payroll taxes that would be deferred under his executive memo."
“The Democrat lawmakers warned that the memo “lays the groundwork” for undermining funding for Social Security and does little to provide meaningful economic support to those who have been affected by the pandemic. They noted that unemployed individuals wouldn’t benefit, and deferral merely postpones tax payment for those who are employed, making for a bigger tax bill next year.”
Biden Tax Agenda Gets Brief Nods at Democratic Convention – Alexis Gravely, Tax Notes($). “If elected, Biden would “give tax credits to families” and “get rid of Trump tax cuts,” state and local members of the Democratic Party said during the virtual event held August 17-20. But few details about those proposals surfaced.”
Ireland under attack from ‘extremely aggressive’ seagulls spreading E.coli
“reports of “extremely aggressive” seagulls not only stealing food but also spreading harmful bacteria is probably par for the course in these increasingly biblical times.”