In a letter recently issued to Lafourche Parish, LA sales/use taxpayers, the Lafourche Parish local sales/use tax collector Amanda Granier explains that Lafourche Parish has now granted Lafourche Parish local sales/use tax filing extensions to certain dealers/taxpayers impacted by Hurricane Ida.

The Lafourche Parish sales/use tax office was “closed for the foreseeable future” due to

The IRS announced victims of Hurricane Ida now have until Jan. 3, 2022, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. This relief extends to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualifying for individual or public assistance. This includes the entire state of Louisiana, and taxpayers in certain Ida-impacted localities designated by FEMA in neighboring states, including southern Mississippi, will also receive the same filing and payment relief.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Aug. 26, 2021, for Louisiana taxpayers, and Aug. 28, 2021, for certain Mississippi taxpayers. As a result of the relief, affected individuals and businesses will have until Jan. 3, 2022, to file various tax returns and pay various taxes that were originally due during this period. This means individuals and businesses, who had a valid extension to file their 2020 federal income tax returns, will now have until Jan. 3, 2022, to file their 2020 federal income tax returns. The IRS noted, however, that because tax payments related to these 2020 returns were due earlier in 2021, those payments are not eligible for this relief.Continue Reading Tax Relief Available to Victims of Hurricane Ida

Over the weekend, President Trump signed an executive order purporting to defer the payment of the employee’s share of the Social Security portion of FICA (payroll) tax from September 1, 2020, until December 31, 2020. The order is limited to only the employee’s share of the Social Security portion of the payroll tax, which is currently set at 6.2%. The order does not affect the Medicare portion of the payroll tax (1.45%), nor does the order affect the employer portion of the payroll tax, so these will still have to be withheld (where applicable) and deposited on a timely basis. The order also limits deferrals to employees with biweekly, pretax income of less than $4,000, or a similar amount where a different pay period applies. This roughly equates to an annual salary of $104,000. Importantly, the order is not a suspension of the payroll tax (a “payroll tax holiday”), but merely a deferral. The president directed the Treasury to seek ways to implement a full suspension at a later date, including by legislative action.
Continue Reading Trump Signs Payroll Tax Deferral Executive Order

Companies and organizations worldwide are facing a difficult question: As the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic shifts gears from emergency to maintenance, how can we reopen and run our businesses — from Day One and beyond — in a manner that preserves jobs and generates revenue without risking the health and safety of our employees and customers? The answers to this question are not simple, nor is there a one-size-fits-all solution.
Continue Reading COVID-19 Back-to-Work Toolkit: Helping Businesses Protect Lives and Livelihoods