Below are details of the most recent guidance from the FTB and the Department of Labor (03-26-20).
Canceling an April 15 FTB payment
If your client scheduled either a 2020 estimate or 2019 tax payment for April 15 through tax preparation software and they want to postpone it until July 15, they may cancel the payment by calling FTB’s e-file help desk at (916) 845-0353.
They must cancel the payment at least two working days before the scheduled withdrawal; if the scheduled withdrawal is on April 15, 2020, you must cancel it by April 13, 2020. We suggest calling earlier than April 13 to ensure they are able to actually get through to a person in time to cancel the payment.
Taxpayers who scheduled the payment through Web Pay on the FTB’s website must go to their MyFTB online account to cancel the payment. If the taxpayer doesn’t have a MyFTB account, they must call the number above.
New payments may be scheduled online using Web Pay.
DOL guidance on small employers, employer-paid sick leave, and family leave benefits
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued FAQs on the new mandated employer-paid sick leave and family leave benefits. Highlights from the FAQs include:
- The effective date for providing these benefits is April 1, 2020, and applies to employer-paid leave taken between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. It does not apply retroactively; and
- The small business exemption for businesses with fewer than 50 employees applies only to child-care related paid sick leave and family leave benefits, and only if paying the benefits would jeopardize the viability of the business’s going concern. Currently the DOL is only asking small businesses to retain documentation regarding their qualification for the small business exemption. Nothing should be sent to the DOL at this time.
The FAQs are available at:
www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-questions
The DOL has provided the notice employers must provide to their employees. It is available at:
www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/posters/FFCRA_Poster_WH1422_Federal.pdf
For more information about this article, please contact our tax professionals at taxalerts@windes.com or toll free at 844.4WINDES (844.494.6337).
This article was reproduced with permission from Spidell Publishing, Inc.