May 8, 2020 | • The IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing guidance on how a tax-exempt organization with unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) determines whether it has more than one unrelated trade or business, and, if so, how the exempt organization should calculate unrelated business taxable income under the "siloing" rules. • The proposed regulations establish the use of only the first two digits of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, describing...

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May 2020 | This article illustrates key considerations on whether a tenant may successfully argue for a reduction or deferral in the rent payable under a lease agreement. A commercial lease agreement may contain specific force majeure clause which would entitle either party to suspend the performance of the contract and, in the event of prolonged impossibility beyond a certain term, terminate the agreement. Alike, the parties may have included a “hardship clause” providing that, in the event of defined hardship,...

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April 16, 2020 | The fight against COVID-19 is all consuming, but opportunities are clear for those with thoughtful and agile Government Relations strategies Yes, no one planned for this in their 2020 strategy. Yes, it is unprecedented. Yes, disruption to business and economies as we once knew them will be profound. The reality is that the economic damage from COVID-19 is already inevitable. What is to come will need to be endured by us all. In many instances we will not...

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May 7, 2020 | One of the most enticing reasons to obtain a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is the potential for the loan’s forgiveness.1 The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized the U.S. Department of the Treasury to create the PPP through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 7(a) lending program.2 The loan forgiveness aspect allows employers to obtain business-saving funds without simply “kicking the can down the road” to face debt obligations in a financially...

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May 6, 2020 | As state and local governments (Issuers), and nonprofits and businesses that have borrowed through Issuers (Conduit Borrowers), face cash-flow difficulties, they may consider restructuring some of their tax-exempt obligations to reduce or defer payments on those obligations. The restructuring may be done in several ways, and there may be different tax consequences to the Issuer or Conduit Borrower depending on the option used. Of particular importance to the tax analysis are the rules that deem certain...

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