Important Reminder - From the U.S. Department of Treasury website:

COVID-19 Scams

If you receive calls, emails, or other communications claiming to be from the Treasury Department and offering COVID-19 related grants or stimulus payments in exchange for personal financial information, or an advance fee, or charge of any kind, including the purchase of gift cards, please do not respond.  These are scams.  Please contact the FBI at www.ic3.gov so that the scammers can be tracked and stopped.

Fraud involving payment of Federal taxes should be reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

March 23, 2020

COVID-19 MEMO NUMBER 2

TO OUR CLIENTS AND FRIENDS,

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced the creation of the Iowa Small Business Relief Fund at her press conference on March 23, 2020.  This program will provide relief to small businesses that have suffered business disruption due to COVID-19.  Grant funds of $5000-$25,000 will be available to businesses that employed from 2 to 25 employees prior to 3/17/2020.  If you get a grant, you automatically qualify for a deferral of payment of state withholding and sales tax until July 31, 2020.  For all other employers, you may be eligible for deferral of the same taxes within this application process.

There will be one application for both and will be available on the Iowa Economic Development website (www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com)at 8 a.m. on March 24, 2020.  The deadline for filing the application will be March 31, 2020.

The Iowa Workforce Development is allowing delay until July 31, 2020 of unemployment tax payments for the first quarter of 2020 for employers with fewer than 50 employees.

There may be more funds available in the future according the Debi Durham, Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

March 18, 2020

TO OUR FRIENDS AND CLIENTS,

Many of you have felt an immediate economic impact as a result of the closures and limitations caused by the recent Disaster Declaration due to COVID-19.  We are monitoring the various government websites with all of you in mind.  The following information may be helpful:

IOWA:

• For employees and employers that have suffered layoffs due to closures or slowdowns, Iowa has relaxed some rules for filing a claim for unemployment.
• Employees making a claim can get benefits within 7-10 days, and do not need to search for other work.
• Employers will not have their experience rating affected if the reason for the claim is identified as directly or indirectly caused by the COVID-19 disaster.

You can visit www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov for more information.

• For those of you with business in Iowa, the Iowa Economic Development Authority has set up a page on their website for Iowa Business Recovery Assistance.  They are gathering information via a survey to guide them in their public policy actions.  Please follow the link (https://uni.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4SK7W5qa88IkhXT)  to take the survey, and get our area of Iowa on the map.
• There is also a section that discusses SBA Disaster Loan Assistance.   

You can visit www.IowaBusinessRecovery.com or email businessrecovery@iowaeda.com.

NEBRASKA:

• Nebraska has waived some requirements for unemployment claims filed between March 22 and May 2, 2020
• Job search requirements are waived
• Payments can be paid in the first week of eligibility
• Charges to employers for their employees’ claims will be temporarily waived if related to COVID-19.

You can visit www.dol.nebraska.gov for more information.

South Dakota:

• South Dakota Reemployment Assistance has provided several scenarios in which an employee may receive benefits due to COVID-19.

You can visit SD Department of Labor and Regulation, www.dlr.sd.gov for more information.