On Friday, March 27, 2020, the CARES ACT was signed into law. The Cares Act includes provisions for changing deadlines for patents, trademarks, and copyrights. For patents and trademarks, the Act permits the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to change the deadlines imposed by Title 35 of the United States Code, the Trademark Act, Section 18 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ...
On 27 March 2020, the South African Revenue (“SARS”) announced much needed value-added tax (“VAT”) relief on the importation of “essential goods” as part of the coronavirus (COVID-19) tax relief measures. Section 7(1)(b) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (“VAT Act”) imposes VAT on the importation of any goods into South Africa by any person. In terms of section 7(1), VAT is imposed at the standard rate of 15% ...
On March 31, 2020, the IRS issued Form 7200 Advance Payment of Employer Tax Credits Due to COVID-19 and instructions for eligible employers to claim advance payments of refundable payroll tax credits related to COVID-19 ...
On March 20, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) jointly issued guidance regarding the tax credits available to certain small employers who are required to provide new types of paid leave to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act), enacted on March 18, 2020 ...
While relief has been granted for federal and California income tax filing and payment obligations (see prior coverage here and here) the same cannot be said for local property tax obligations. To avoid penalties, the next payment deadline for California property taxes remains April 10, 2020. Property tax payment deadlines are set by California state law and cannot be extended by either the Board of Equalization or local county assessor offices (see BOE statement) ...
On March 24, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) unanimously approved its final interpretive guidance (“Final Guidance”) regarding retail commodity transactions involving certain digital assets ...
Default interest rates on tax debts and refunds are lowered.- Through Superintendency Resolution No. 066-2020/SUNAT, published on March 31, 2020, the following is established from April 1, 2020: i) The default interest rates (TIM) on tax debts in national currency will be 1% per month; and in foreign currency, it will be 0.50% per month. ii) The interest rate for reimbursement in national currency made for undue or excess payments will be 0.42% per month ...
New extension of deadlines for compliance with the tax obligations is established as a result of the extension of the declaration of national emergency Due to the extension of the State of National Emergency until April 12, 2020, through Superintendence Resolution No. 065-2020/SUNAT published on March 30, 2020, new expiration dates are established for certain tax obligations: A ...
Default interest rates on tax debts and refunds are lowered.- Through Superintendency Resolution No. 066-2020/SUNAT, published on March 31, 2020, the following is established from April 1, 2020: i) The default interest rates (TIM) on tax debts in national currency will be 1% per month; and in foreign currency, it will be 0.50% per month. ii) The interest rate for reimbursement in national currency made for undue or excess payments will be 0.42% per month ...
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the food industry, just as it has many others. The good news is that food-to-person transmission of the disease does not seem to be a risk. The challenge remains keeping workers safe from airborne and surface transmission. However, the FDA and the USDA have provided guidance and recommendations to food producers to deal with COVID-19, links to which have been provided below. The guidance focuses on stopping the person-to-person spread of the disease ...
Through the Decree 474 of 2020, the Ministry of Culture regulates Article 178 of Law 1955, 2019 (National Development Plan 2018-2022) regarding the issuance of Audiovisual Investment Certificates in Colombia (the “Certificates”). The Certificates are tradable securities issued by the Ministry of Culture to producers that develop audiovisual compositions within the territory and that are not required to file an income tax return in Colombia ...
Due to the reforms and additions to the General Health Act in matters of obesity and labeling of food and non-alcoholic beverages setting a frontal warning system, published in the Federal Official Gazette (Spanish Acronym - DOF) on November 8, 2019 ...
The Ministry of Culture issued Decree 475, 2020, to amend the cultural sector’s conditions due to coronavirus. Due to the health crisis, the Ministry of Culture issued Decree 475, 2020, to amend the payment conditions of the pro-culture stamp duty, the contribution to public shows and the film development fee are modified. According to Decree 475, 2020, Governors and Mayors must transfer 20% of the culture stamp duty for the social security of creators and cultural managers ...
On Friday, March 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued Notice 2020-20, which postpones the filing and payment deadline for any taxpayer who is required to file Form 709 (U.S. Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return) or who has Federal gift or generation-skipping transfer tax payments due on April 15, 2020 ...
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). This historic $2 trillion relief package received bipartisan support and is part of the third wave of federal government support as the nation copes with the acute economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The CARES Act, among other things, aims to provide significant aid to businesses and employees ...
Scammers and cyber crooks did not take long to adapt their usual fraud to this uncertain period caused by the Covid-19, refinishing notably their sadly notorious “CEO Fraud” to the present circumstances ...
In the wake of COVID-19, cities, counties and states across the nation are issuing shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders to curb nonessential movement of residents. States and local authorities are invoking powers to evacuate residents through statutes that have historically been used for natural disaster evacuations. While the ability to order and enforce such evacuations is not in dispute, the orders in this context raise many questions ...
President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or “the Act”) into law on March 18. The Act requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded Family and Medical Leave Act rights, subject to exceptions for certain healthcare providers, emergency responders, and businesses with fewer than 50 employees if compliance would jeopardize the business as a going concern ...
Unclassified defense technical data that is properly secured with end-to-end encryption is no longer considered an export when it is transmitted outside the U.S., as of March 25, 2020. Access to the unencrypted data by an unauthorized foreign person, however, remains an ITAR-controlled export. This change resulted from an Interim Final Rule coming into effect from the U.S ...
Dinsmore Intellectual Property Partner Adrian Cyhan and Christopher Smith of Brooks Kushman wrote the following article, "Dawn of a New Era: Licensing Standards in the Coming Age of 5G" for The Licensing Journal. 5G: What’s the Big Deal? The advent of 5G cellular wireless technology represents a major advance in speed and bandwidth of wireless communications ...
Perhaps, one of the facts which creates the highest expectations among those of us who manage the second or third defense line is risk materialization. That is to say, for a risk to become an event and generate some kind of impact. And from there on, the possibility of verifying the effectiveness of the controls designed, the residual risk and feeding back the matrix ...
A system for supporting taxpayers struggling with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic is being developed at the government level and will probably soon take effect. But taxpayers in difficulty may already draw on existing support instruments. One of them is reduction of income tax advances ...
The main points of the “Economic and social anti-crisis shield to protect businesses and employees in connection with the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic” was presented by the President, the Prime Minister, agroup of other ministers, and the president of the National Bank of Poland at apress conference on 18 March 2020 ...
In the tough times of battling the coronavirus, many tenants are seeking ways to reduce their rent, release themselves from the obligation to pay rent, or avoid other obligations under their existing leases ...
On Friday, March 27, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-26 (the “Order”), postponing tax filing and payment deadlines for Michigan taxpayers in order to grant some amount of relief to individuals and businesses amid the Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis ...