On April 3, 2020, small business owners started applying for forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the program got underway, the Small Business Administration (SBA) rolled out important new guidance for small businesses, including an updated loan application form and comprehensive guidance on PPP requirements for borrowers and lenders ...
On April 2, 2020, Governor Newson issued Executive Order N-42-20 ("Executive Order") in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This order restricts the ability of water service providers to shut off water to certain customers for non-payment. All Residential Water Service Providers Affected All water service providers providing residential water service, regardless of size, are affected by this Executive Order ...
The provisions of the newly-enacted CARES ACT that have been receiving the most attention from owners of small businesses that have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic are those relating to the business-sustaining forgivable loans and tax benefits that will potentially be available to those companies ...
In times of emergency, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the "Secretary") has authority to issue temporary waivers or modifications of certain Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and HIPAA requirements. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") has released a substantial number of waivers in response to the coronavirus national emergency ...
On March 17, 2020, the Trump administration announced an expansion of Medicare coverage for virtual health services. The Medicare expansion is intended to make medical offices more available to people who need to be seen in-person and to mitigate the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Medicare can now pay for office, hospital, and other visits furnished via virtual services across the country, including a patient’s place of residence, starting March 6, 2020 ...
Over the weekend, Governor Justice signed two new executive orders—Order 20-20 and Order 21-20—that further limit permissible activities in six West Virginia counties: Berkeley, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Monongalia, and Morgan. Under these orders, outdoor activities are further restricted to a maximum of five people and essential business and operations are directed, to the maximum extent possible, to order their employees and contractors to work remotely ...
South Africa is in lockdown in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and although we aren’t able to meet face-to-face over this period, we know how important it is to stay in touch, and we will continue to keep you up-to-date on recent tax developments. In this regard, it feels like a lifetime ago that the South African Minister of Finance delivered his 2020 Budget Speech on 26 February 2020 ...
SALT Cap Workarounds Six states have now enacted passthrough entity-level taxes (PTE taxes) that in many cases are avowed attempts to mitigate the loss of, or at least the limitation on, state and local tax deductions by their individual owners as a result of IRC section 164(b)(6), the so-called SALT cap. Connecticut was the first, and only state so far, that imposes a mandatory PTE tax. The other five states each offer the election, the latest being New Jersey ...
On 26 March 2020, directions were issued by the Minister of Home Affairs pursuant to the regulations published in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 to provide temporary measures in respect of entry into or exit out of South Africa in order to prevent and combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID‑19) ...
Compliance with environmental regulations is challenging under the best of circumstances, but the COVID-19 crisis and measures taken in response add a new layer of complexity. The lack of a consistent message from elected officials and health officers, on the one hand, and from federal and state environmental regulators, on the other, creates a quandary for the business community ...
“With our nation’s health care providers on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19, dollars and cents shouldn’t be adding to their worries.” - CMS Administrator Seema Verma. During this Public Health Emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has expanded its accelerated and advanced payment program (“Program”) to all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers (“Providers”) ...
On March 31, seven Bay Area counties issued stricter shelter-in-place orders and extended their effectiveness to at least May 3 (collectively, the “Orders”). As of the morning of April 2, Napa County noted that it will be joining the other Bay Area counties. Solano County extended the effectiveness of its order, but declined to tighten restrictions ...
According to the report published by Fitch Ratings, the sharp fall in oil and the efforts of the National Government to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic are the main causes of the weakening of the fiscal and economic capacity of the country that has resulted in the rating downgrade from BBB to BBB-, the lowest rating within investment grade ...
The Superintendence of Finance issued resolution 368 of 2020 in which it adopted special measures for the attention of the public and the provision of services by this entity. Through this regulation, the SFC ordered the resumption of terms of all the administrative actions carried out by the SFC, as of April 2, 2020 ...
The COVID-19 virus has a worldwide impact on travel activities, affecting foreigners such as employees of companies intending to travel to Germany as well as those who are already in Germany but are now effectively unable to leave. 1. RESTRICTIONS ON ENTRY AND VISA ISSUANCE The countries of the Schengen area have decided to impose entry restrictions on all non-essential travel from third countries ...
On April 1, 2020, the European Commission published a “Guidance on using the public procurement framework in the emergency situation related to the COVID-19 crisis” (Official Journal of the European Union, 2020/C 108 I/01). In particular, the Commission explains various options for awarding public contracts as quickly as possible within the European public procurement framework, which remains unchanged in this respect ...
LATEST UPDATE - April 3, 2020 In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the President signed H.R. 748, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act on March 27, 2020. The bill provides more than $2 trillion of aid to individuals and the public and private sector ...
On the 17thof March, we gave an overview on the options available for the governments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to support companies being harmed by the COVID-19 crisis. At that time we noted that companies should work with the government in order to ensure that the measures taken truly help the companies survive the crisis ...
It has now been announced that from Monday, 6 April 2020 employers will be able to apply for compensation payment from the state budget for March. The Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund has explained by now the technical aspects of filing applications and responded to the more frequent questions asked by employers about applying for compensation. Below you will find a brief overview of how to apply for compensation as well as some practical explanations and suggestions ...
By Ordinance dated April 1ston emergency measures relating to staff representative bodies (“IRP”), the Government had provided for the possibility for companies to hold meetings with their IRP via videoconference or conference call but also by instant messaging app if the two first means cannot be used. By Decree published on April 10th, 2020, the Government provided clarifications on how to use conference calls and instant messaging ...
On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule, providing additional guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Click here to read the full text of the Interim Final Rule. Here are some of the highlights of new and/or clarified information from the previous guidance issued by Treasury and SBA and the text of the CARES Act: Eligibility Only U.S ...
Among its other consequences, the ongoing global outbreak of Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an economic crisis. In this legal update we present insolvency law issues which may arise during the crisis and we also propose practical solutions for dealing with challenges that companies may face. 1 ...
I. Superintendence of Environment orders the extension of the terms suspension in sanctioning proceedings and other actions. On March 30, 2020 the Superintendence of Environment (“SMA”) issued Exempt Resolution No. 548 (“Res. 548”), which extended the term suspension measures ordered by means of Exempt Resolution No ...
