The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015 changed the due date for filing any Form 1099 that includes nonemployee compensation (NEC) and removed the automatic 30-day extension. Since this created different Form 1099-MISC due dates, depending on whether NEC was reported, the IRS created a new Form 1099-NEC beginning with the tax year 2020. The filing due date for 1099-NEC is the last day of January, 1/31/21. Any business or trade must use box 1 on Form 1099-NEC to report NEC of $600 or more. This includes anything paid to an individual who is not an employee, such as fees, comm ..read more

As COVID-19 vaccinations are underway in the United States, companies should be reviewing their policies to prepare for when the vaccine is available to the general public. Many are wondering about mandatory vaccination policies and exceptions for employees. In December, the EEOC issued new guidance for employers around COVID-19 vaccinations. So, can an employer require all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine? According to the EEOC, yes—although there are some important exceptions.  In general, once the vaccine is available for the general public, companies can require that employees ar ..read more

Many investments are open to anyone. For example, if you open a brokerage account, you can invest in publicly-traded stocks without qualifying as a special type of investor.  In the private world of investment, however, many investments are not available to the general public. Specific guidelines separate “accredited investors” from the general investing public.  You cannot elect simply to invest in a hedge fund or other private funds. Other deals, such as most private-equity investments, venture capital funds, and private equity and crowdfunded real estate investment deals, are off ..read more

Most business leaders know that a number of companies (particularly large technology-based businesses) have been experimenting with a different way of managing paid time off (PTO). Rather than allocate a fixed number of vacation or personal hours according to length of employment and tied to compensation, companies are offering a self-managed, flexible benefit.  Employees are invited to take the amount of time they need away from the job, when they need it, with the understanding that they will still be evaluated according to performance metrics. Workers and prospective hires find the inc ..read more

If your business processes personal information—and especially health information or nonpublic financial information—you should consider cyber insurance. The kind of technological attacks previously confined to movie plots are now frighteningly common in the real world. As the number of people conducting business activities at home on their own devices has significantly increased during the pandemic, the cyber security risks have grown as well. Most standard commercial general liability insurance policies do not cover damages resulting from a cyberattack. And even if your insurance covers prop ..read more

In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act). Among other things, the CARES Act established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through the Small Business Administration (SBA), which provided potentially forgivable loans to eligible small businesses facing economic hardship, largely for the purpose of retaining U.S. employees on their payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the haste with which the PPP was implemented, two factors may impact the forgivability of the PPP loan and ultimately affect M&A deals: ·  &nbs ..read more

Financing is often the biggest barrier to small commercial solar projects, in particular those in the non-profit world. Philanthropic SEPA financing provides an exciting opportunity for nonprofit organizations to reap the benefits of solar power. And for environmentally-focused donors, their giving is doubly impactful. This funding model makes community nonprofits more financially sustainable while reducing our dependence on nonrenewable energy. That’s a win for everyone. SAE School Set to Become First 100% Solar-Powered School in Georgia On a hot, humid September day, doz ..read more

This week on Trusted Counsel’s podcast show In Process: Conversations about Business in the 21st Century, Managing Partner, Evelyn Ashley and Partner John Monahon lead a new podcast series on leading during COVID-19. Their first guest was Jane Gentry, CEO of Fusion, an experiential and trade show staffing company. When the Corona virus hit, Fusion’s business was devastated as all physical events were cancelled; as well, the Company had zero sales in their legacy business for the months of April and May. Hundreds of employees were furloughed. Gentry knew that she had to pivot the Company, even ..read more

By Michael R. Jones, Attorney The new reality of COVID-19 has forced millions of Americans to suddenly have to work remotely. According to the video conferencing service Zoom, in December, 2019 it had approximately 10 million users. For the month of April, that figure went up exponentially to more than 300 million users. This spike was obviously due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many companies and schools to retool for remote work. The surge in users has also sparked criticism, and bad PR around Zoom’s privacy and security. The company has recently announced that it is now working ..read more

This week on Trusted Counsel’s podcast show In Process: Conversations about Business in the 21st Century, Managing Partner, Evelyn Ashley and Partner John Monahon speak with Alan McKeon, President and CEO of Alexander Babbage. Fifteen years ago McKeon bought a market research company focused on shopping centers. Shortly thereafter, he recognized an opportunity for growth and embarked on the company’s first strategic business transformation. In the following years, he has successfully led Alexander Babbage through two more business transformations and has consistently grown his cash flow funde ..read more