On April 29, 2020, Law No. 27/20 (the "Conversion Law") has been published in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic No. 110, converting into law, with amendments, Law Decree No. 18/20 (the "Law Decree 18/20") providing for a package of measures and aids to face the COVID-19 emergency. The new provisions mainly affect the following areas: • Labour Law • Tax Law • Litigation Law Contact: FABIO ILACQUA Partner – Head of New York Office GOP USA, LLC – One Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1610, New York, NY...

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May 4, 2020 | Health care professionals, hospitals and other health care facilities are critical to the nation’s efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are under incredible strain caused by challenges such as widespread shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical equipment, risks related to working with patients showing symptoms of COVID-19, and the need to redeploy personnel and resources in nontraditional ways. At the same time, the economic downturn related to the pandemic has blocked...

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April 30, 2020 | Ahead of a second round of lending, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that businesses applying for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) must consider other sources of liquidity before certifying that they need a PPP loan. The agency also announced a new “safe harbor” for businesses that received a loan before it released its new guidance. Businesses wanting to take advantage of the safe harbor must repay their loans by May 7, 2020. The PPP...

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May 1, 2020 | • The U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Department, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new final rules that, effective March 1, 2020, extend various timeframes applicable to employee benefit plans (Final Rules). • A stated purpose of the Final Rules, issued on April 29, 2020, is to minimize the possibility of individuals losing benefits because of a failure to comply with an applicable timeframe. • The...

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May 1, 2020 | On  April 30, 2020, the IRS Released Notice 2020-32 which provides guidance on the deductibility of expenses paid with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan proceeds that are partially or completely forgiven and excluded from a taxpayer’s income. Specifically, the IRS has determined that otherwise deductible expenses that are paid with PPP funds and forgiven may not be deducted for federal income tax purposes.  Under the PPP provisions of the CARES Act, borrowers who pay certain covered expenses (payroll costs,...

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May 1, 2020 | UPDATED May 15, 2020 With almost 600,000 Europeans infected with COVID-19, entire economies under lockdown, and borders in the EU’s coveted passport-free Schengen Area closed since mid-March, leaders in the EU institutions and national governments have spent the past months in crisis mode to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the crisis. Within just a few weeks, the need to effectively and forcefully respond to the seemingly ever-escalating crisis has led to political leaders, across the continent, putting...

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• COVID-19 has left visitors to other countries indefinitely stranded and potentially subject to another nation’s taxes. • Most countries determine the tax residence status of visitors based on the number of days spent in the country. • The U.S. issued guidance offering relief to visitors who must extend their stay in the country as a result of travel disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. • While some countries have issued guidance addressing the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on tax residency determinations, several...

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April 30, 2020 | The start of phase 2 As the contagion rate and death toll caused by the Covid-19 emergency (“Covid-19”) continues to decrease, on 26 April 2020 the Prime Minister announced in a press conference the measures adopted to ease the lockdown during the so-called “phase 2”. The new measures are reflected in the Prime Minister Decree dated 26 April 20201 (the “26 April 2020 Decree”). During the press conference, the Prime Minister explained that the reopening and resumption of...

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April 30, 2020 | On 3 April 2020, the OECD Secretariat issued its analysis on tax treaties and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The guidance deals with (a) concerns related to the corporate residence status (place of effective management); (b) concerns related to the creation of Permanent Establishments; (c) concerns related to cross-border workers, and (d) concerns related to the residence status of individuals. In this special edition we focus on the issue of cross-border commuting and the residence...

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April 22, 2020 | One opportunity to address the socioeconomic consequences of the spread of COVID-19 is presented by the possibility of allocating part of the direct and indirect European funds allocated in the 2014–2020 programming cycle for this purpose. However, there is debate on the best way to implement the restructuring of existing programs, in particular the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), and the Cohesion Fund. Although the measures adopted (and in the process...

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