Category Archives: Updates

Very important update from Oregon Secretary of State

Black and White State Seal

Secretary of State

Corporation Division
255 Capitol St. NE, Suite 151
Salem OR 97310
sos.oregon.gov/Business

Corporate Transparency Act

The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted by Congress on January 1, 2021, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

The CTA includes significant reforms to anti-money laundering laws and is intended to help prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, and tax fraud.  The CTA establishes a beneficial ownership reporting requirement for corporations, limited liability companies, and other similar entities formed or registered to do business in the United States.

The beneficial ownership reports must be filed with the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Businesses formed before January 1, 2024 have up to one year to complete the filing.

Here are five essential things to know:

  1. Who has to report?
    • Most active corporations, LLCs, and other businesses formed by filing a document with a Secretary of State’s office in the United States. Contact FinCEN to confirm whether your business is required to report.
  2. Who does not have to report?
    • Publicly traded companies, banks and other financial institutions, tax-exempt nonprofits, public utilities, and some large businesses. These are already subject to other regulatory requirements. (See the Small Business Compliance Guide, Chapter 1.2 for the list of exempted entities.)
  3. How do I report, and whose information?
    • Reporting companies will report beneficial ownership through FinCEN’s website, only available for reporting on or after 1/1/ 2024. There is no fee for submitting this report.
    • A Beneficial Owner is any individual who either exercises substantial control over a company or owns or controls at least 25% of the ownership interest. If a business entity owns or controls at least 25% of a reporting company, then its Beneficial Owner(s) must also be reported.
    • Company Applicants are individuals who, after 1/1/2024, directly submitted the formation or registration document for a company or were primarily responsible for that submission. There may be up to two Company Applicants.
  4. What is reported?
    • Company legal name and current principal place of business street address in the U.S.
    • Any assumed business name (DBA) used by the company.
    • Taxpayer identification number (TIN or EIN)
    • Each Beneficial Owner’s name; birthdate; residential street address; and an identifying number with an image of an acceptable ID (e.g., driver’s license or passport).
    • Each Company Applicant’s name; birthdate; residential street address, (applicants whose business is submitting registration documents may use their business address); and an identifying number with an image of an acceptable ID (e.g., driver’s license or passport).
    • There is no fee, and this is not an annual report.  Only updates and corrections are necessary.
  5. When do I report?
    • If your company was created or registered prior to 1/1/2024, you have until 1/1/2025 to report.
    • Companies created on or after 1/1/2024 must report within 90 days.
    • Failure to report is punishable with a civil penalty of up to $500/day.

Contact:

Please contact FinCEN for the most up to date information and answers to your questions.

Resources:

 

Student Loan Forgiveness- What we know so far

Good Afternoon,

I am sure by now a lot of you have seen the news on Student Loan forgiveness and I am sure you have a lot of questions. We will continue to update as we learn more.

Here is a summary of what we know right now.

#1 There will be one final extension on the student loan repayment pause. The pause has been extended until December 31, 2022. Which means minimum payments will be restarted in January 2023. Please make sure to follow up with your loan holder before the payments restart.

#2 Eligible loan holders may be eligible for either the remaining balance of their Federal Student Loan or $10,000 (whichever is the lesser amount). If a loan holder received a Pell Grant, they may be qualified for up to $20,000.
If you owe more than $10,000 (no Pell Grant) or $20,000 (with a Pell Grant) only this amount will come off your loan and repayments will start in January 2023.
If you owe less than the $10,000/$20,000 amounts only the remaining balance will be paid off. You will not receive the difference.

To be eligible you must have income under $125,000 (individual) $250,000 (married filing joint).

**Still waiting on more information on how to apply for the forgiveness**

#3 If you have been making payments from March 13, 2020, to August 2022. You should be able to request a refund of any payments made. If your balance will stay below the $10,000 or $20,000 amount you may want to connect your loan holder. There will be more information coming on this soon. 

#4 The forgiveness of the student loan will not create a federal tax liability. But depending on which State you live in you may have tax liability. In Oregon they will follow federal tax law and will not tax Oregon residents on student loan forgiveness.

#5 Lastly, there are some additional changes that are going to be made to future student loans and repayments. More on that later.

If you want to read more here is the direct link to the Debt Relief Announcement

I would also suggest that you stay up to date by subscripting to US Department of Education for all the latest updates.

Paid Leave Oregon

Did you know starting January 1, 2023 there is a new payroll deduction? It is called Paid Leave Oregon. This program is designed to help with Family, Medical and Safe leave.
Here is a quick overview of the new program. Paid Leave Oregon Overview

Starting January 1, 2023 contributions will be 1% of gross wages up to $132,900.00.  This 1% gets split between employee and employer (*if you have more than 25 employees or elect to pay the additional portion if you have less than 25 employees).
The split is 60% employee and 40% employer*
Here is quick overview of the new program contributions. Contributions-Fact-Sheet

Here is a quick overview of the new program for small employers. Paid-Leave-Small-Employers

Benefits of Paid Leave Oregon: Benefits will not start until September 2023. An employee can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year.
Here is quick overview of the new program benefits. Benefits-Fact-Sheet

A few additional pieces of information. If an employer already has an equivalent plan then the employee and employer can opt out of Paid Oregon Leave.
Here is quick overview of the new program Equivalent Plans. PFMLI-Equivalent-Plans

Did you also know that self employed individuals can participate in the Paid Leave Oregon program also? Here is a quick overview of the new program for Self Employed. Paidleave-selfemployed-EN

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Advance Child Tax Credit Letter 6419

Just a reminder to all that received the Advance Child Tax Credit

In January 2022, the IRS will send you Letter 6419 to provide the total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments that were disbursed to you during 2021. Please keep this letter regarding your advance Child Tax Credit payments with your tax records. We will need to refer to this letter when we file your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season.

Advance Child Tax Credit Payment FAQ

 

2021 Oregon Kicker

Oregon Department of Revenue has released that there will be a kicker for the 2021 year. Similar to the 2019 kicker it will be a credit on your 2021 tax returns.

Here is the release from Oregon Department of Revenue.

The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) confirmed earlier this month a nearly $1.9 billion tax surplus, triggering a tax surplus credit, or “kicker,” for the 2021 tax year. Instead of kicker checks, the surplus will be returned to taxpayers through a credit on their 2021 state personal income tax returns filed in 2022.

To calculate the amount of your credit, multiply your 2020 tax liability before any credits—line 22 on the 2020 Form OR-40—by 17.341 percent. This percentage is determined and certified by OEA. Taxpayers who claimed a credit for tax paid to another state would need to subtract the credit amount from their liability before calculating the credit.

A What’s My Kicker? calculator is active on Revenue’s website for personal income tax filers now. You can access the calculator from Revenue Online. To calculate your kicker, you’ll enter your name, Social Security Number, and filing status for 2020 and 2021.

You’re eligible to claim the kicker if you filed a 2020 tax return and had tax due before credits. Even if you don’t have a filing obligation for 2021, you still must file a 2021 tax return to claim your credit. There will be detailed information on how to claim your credit in the 2021 Oregon personal income tax return instructions: Form OR-40 for full-year Oregon residents, Form OR-40-P for part-year residents, and Form OR-40-N for nonresidents. Composite and fiduciary-income tax return filers are also eligible.

Keep in mind that the state may use all or part of your kicker to pay any state debt you owe, such as tax due for other years, child support, court fines, or school loans.

Unenroll for the Advance Child Tax Credit

If you are wanting to unenroll for the Advance Child Tax Credit for the 2021 year. The Unenroll tool for the advanced CTC is on the IRS Website. https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal

Just a few of the FAQ from the IRS website. You can read more FAQ’s HERE

Why Should I unenroll? 

You may want to unenroll from receiving advance Child Tax Credit payments for several reasons, including if you expect the amount of tax you owe to be greater than your expected refund when you file your 2021 tax return. The payments you receive are an advance of the Child Tax Credit that you would normally get when you file your 2021 tax return. Because these credits are paid in advance, every dollar you receive will reduce the amount of Child Tax Credit you will claim on your 2021 tax return. This means that by accepting advance child tax credit payments, the amount of your refund may be reduced or the amount of tax you owe may increase.

You may avoid owing tax to the IRS if you unenroll and claim the entire credit when you file your 2021 tax return.

Here are a couple FAQ from the IRS website

What is the deadline to unenroll? 

To stop advance payments, you must unenroll 3 days before the first Thursday of next month by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Payment Month Unenrollment Deadline Payment Date
July 6/28/2021 7/15/2021
August 8/2/2021 8/13/2021
September 8/30/2021 9/15/2021
October 10/4/2021 10/15/2021
November 11/1/2021 11/15/2021
December 11/29/2021 12/15/2021

*How do I know if I don’t qualify for the repayment protection for filers based on their income during 2021?

You won’t qualify for any repayment protection if your modified AGI is at or above the amounts listed below based on the filing status on your 2021 tax return.

  • $120,000 if you are married and filing a joint return or if filing as a qualifying widow or widower;
  • $100,000 if you are filing as head of household; and
  • $80,000 if you are a single filer or are married and filing a separate return.

For information on the definition of modified AGI, see Topic C: Calculation of the 2021 Child Tax Credit.

 

New scam warning from IRS!

University students and staff should be aware of IRS impersonation email scam

People should be aware of an ongoing IRS-impersonation scam that appears to target educational institutions, including students and staff who have .edu email addresses. The suspect emails display the IRS logo and use various subject lines, such as Tax Refund Payment or Recalculation of your tax refund payment. It asks people to click a link and submit a form to claim their refund.

The scam website requests taxpayers provide their:

  • Social Security number
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Date of birth
  • Prior year annual gross income
  • Driver’s license number
  • Current address
  • City
  • State/U.S. territory
  • ZIP code/postal code
  • Electronic filing PIN

Taxpayers who believe they have a pending refund can easily check on its status using the Where’s My Refund tool on IRS.gov.

Here are a few things people can do if they believe they are a target of the scam:

  • Report the scam: People who receive this scam email should not click on the link in the email and report it to the IRS. For security reasons, they should save the email using save as and then send that attachment to phishing@irs.gov or forward the email as an attachment to phishing@irs.gov.
  • Get an Identity Protection PIN: Taxpayers who believe they may have provided identity thieves with their personal information should consider immediately obtaining an Identity Protection PIN. This is a voluntary opt-in program. An IP PIN is a six-digit number that helps prevent identity thieves from filing fraudulent tax returns in the victim’s name.
  • Report identity theft: Taxpayers who attempt to e-file their tax return and find it rejected because a return with their SSN has been filed should file a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit to report themselves as a possible identity theft victim. See Identity Theft Central to learn about the signs of identity theft and actions to take.

More information:
Report Phishing and Online Scams
Video: Avoid Phishing Scams

 

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