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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April 28, 2020 | The Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, sometimes known as “Stimulus 3.5.” Here are highlights of this law’s impact on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans: • More money. The law adds $310 billion in additional guaranty authority to SBA. Based on SBA’s previous loan approvals of 1.6 million PPP loans, this should allow approval of an additional 1.5 million PPP loans. • More lenders. In addition to regulated banks, the bill...

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April 24, 2020 | All of us have spent the last several weeks focused on the health and well-being of our teams and companies, and, in some cases, even survival. Now, the industry stands at an unparalleled juncture. Retail is facing more change, uncertainty, risk, and—if you can allow yourself to imagine it—reward than it has in memorable history. There are innumerable predictions in the market about when the shelter-in-place recommendations will end and how the consumer is likely to respond....

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