From Tracie Witter, PPL Electric Utilities Regional Affairs Director

Utility scammers never take a day off.

That’s why PPL Electric Utilities wants to help you stop them at every turn. One of the best ways to help do that is to arm you with information on their tactics. Forewarned is forearmed.

A common thread among scammers is pressure. It’s a red flag.

Scammers often threaten to shut off your service unless you pay them immediately. PPL would never do business like that.

If someone calls you or comes to your door with this kind of an ultimatum about your electric service:

• Slow Down. Take your time. Scammers often want you to act fast.
• Verify. Scammers can spoof phone numbers, trick you with emails, pose as real employees or even use COVID-19 information to bait you.
• Stop before you act. Utilities never demand payment by prepaid cards, Bitcoin, or other methods.

Call PPL at 1-800-342-5775 if anything seems even slightly odd about the situation you’re facing. Check out our scam awareness information at pplelectric.com/scams.

Americans lose millions of dollars to utility scams each year. We don’t want you to lose one penny.

The Federal Trade Commission offers this additional advice:

• Thank the caller for the information. Then firmly tell them you will contact your utility directly.
• Even if the caller insists you have a past due bill or your services will be shut off, never give banking information over the phone unless you place the call to a number you know is legitimate.
• Tell your family and friends about the scam so they can protect themselves. If you got a scam call, chances are others in your community probably did too. Spread the word. When it comes to trading make sure you find the best and most trustworthy platform as there are professionals that would know what are the best indicators for crypto trading.

As an electric utility provided, our job goes beyond safely and reliably delivering your power. It’s also about having your back. Let’s work together to kick scams to the curb.

As COVID-19 case counts reach critical levels in Pennsylvania, the PA Chamber is inviting the business community to hear directly from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine as they share insight into the Administration’s latest targeted mitigation orders.

Governor Wolf and Secretary Levine will address the status of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, and offer critical clarity and guidance for the business community regarding liability protections, travel restrictions, mask wearing, mandatory telework requirements, and other health and safety measures impacting businesses statewide.

This one-hour webinar is free and open to Pennsylvania’s business community at large as part of the PA Chamber’s Bringing PA Back initiative.

Click here to register.

On Monday, November 30^th, Governor Tom Wolf vetoed legislation that would have provided limited liability protections to businesses, non-profit organizations, educational and health care institutions against frivolous lawsuits related to COVID-19. In the final days of the legislative session, the General Assembly passed H.B. 1737 which contained the protections employers have sought for much of 2020. The protections in the measure were narrow in scope, temporary, and would have incentivized best practices by still holding bad actors accountable.

The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce joined the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry, 80 local chambers of commerce from throughout the state, and dozens of statewide associations and organizations in supporting the bill. A recent poll from the Institute for Legal Reform found that 79 percent of Americans from across the political spectrum support liability protections for businesses that are operating in good faith by following state and federal health and safety guidelines. Nearly 30 other states have implemented some form of either product or exposure liability protections.

Senator John Gordner and Representatives Kurt Masser and David Millard voted in favor of H.B. 1737. Chamber President Fred Gaffney expressed his appreciation to these lawmakers for their efforts to support and protect businesses and other entities. As the 2019-20 legislative session has concluded, the General Assembly does not have the opportunity to override the Governor’s veto.

Gene Barr, president & CEO of the PA Chamber, issued the following statement in response to the Governor’s veto.

“Businesses across the Commonwealth struggling to simply survive were dealt yet another blow today as Governor Wolf vetoed critical liability protections; and instead backed opportunistic trial lawyers anxious to profit from this crisis. This threat is not hypothetical, Pennsylvania employers are already being targeted with unwarranted lawsuits – a number which is expected to increase in the months and years ahead given the large sums of advertising the trial bar is dedicating to the effort, along with the fact that there is a two year window to file such suits.

“The Governor’s recent Executive Order might mention liability protections, but the language falls short of what is needed and many businesses and organizations are still trying to determine exactly what protections the order does afford.  Many employers are left vulnerable, including the companies working to produce the vaccines that are so desperately needed.”

The Chamber helped welcome Majik Rent-to-Own to its new location on Monday, November 30th, with a ribbon-cutting.  The new Berwick location at 1320 W Front Street, carries home furnishings, electronics, appliances, and more.  To continue with its celebration throughout the week there will be a double referral bonus, giveaways, and a food truck.

Majik Rent-to-Own is a family-owned business based out of the Lancaster area, that provides quality merchandise with flexible payment options and no long-term obligations with free delivery, setup, and pick-up.  For more information visit its website, Facebook page, or call 570-752-4860.

Swift Kennedy Offers Compliance Guidance

No matter what the future holds, business owners know that group health insurance regulations may change again sometime next year.  But in the meantime, employers can rely on insurance brokerage firms like Swift Kennedy & Associates to help guide them through the maze of federal and state regulations imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and other laws.

“Our job is to ease the burden of business owners so that instead of worrying about compliance with health insurance rules, they can focus on their organizations’ success,” said Jerry Calistri, Swift Kennedy’s President and CEO, who is a Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist.

Compliance Analysis and Documents
Swift Kennedy helps companies analyze their benefit plans for compliance with the ACA and ERISA in order to help them avoid time-consuming audits and stiff penalties for violations of these laws.  

For example, businesses that are plan administrators are required by federal law to maintain and distribute Wrap Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs), which wrap around the companies’ certificates of insurance and benefit plan booklets.  They must also administer their plans in accordance with a written Plan Document, which they are required to send to plan participants and beneficiaries upon request.

To help with compliance, Swift Kennedy generates these documents for clients and provides information on how and when to send them to plan participants.

The agency also generates government-mandated Benefit Notices and Distribution Guidelines for clients.

What happens when regulations change?  “We inform clients about changes and give them guidance on how to comply with the new rules,” said Calistri.

Other Services
Other services provided by Swift Kennedy include enrollments, terminations, billing support, claims assistance, COBRA administration, payroll services, and virtual open enrollment meetings.  The firm also offers clients a virtual benefits administration system and a comprehensive online HR/benefits library that provides forms and information about recruitment, hiring, absence management, performance reviews, state employment laws, and healthcare reform.

Swift Kennedy helps businesses find affordable employee benefit plans, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and alternative funding options.  This full-service agency, which also offers individual and senior insurance products, has offices in Scranton, Williamsport, DuBois, State College, and Virginia Beach.

NEPIRC’s Ray Kryeski and Brian Matyjevich Attain AS 9100:2016 Certification

Ray Kryeski, Mechanical Engineer

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) is pleased to announce that two of its staff members, Ray Kryeski, Mechanical Engineer, and Brian Matyjevich, Lean Enterprise Consultant, recently attained their AS 9100:2016 certifications. As a result, the pair will host NEPIRC’s AS 9100:2016 Revision D Internal Auditor Training in spring 2021. The AS 9100:2016 focuses specifically on the aerospace industry and is part of the comprehensive standards produced by the Americas Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG) and the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG).

Brian Matyjevich, Lean Enterprise Consultant

Ray and Brian also instruct NEPIRC’s ISO 9001:2015 Internal Auditor training course, which covers the general ISO certification standard that applies to all industries.

NEPIRC will offer AS 9100:2016 training to small and mid-sized manufacturers in response to client demand to achieve aerospace-specific standards beyond the general ISO 9001 umbrella. NEPIRC also offers individual company consultations in achieving ISO, AS 9100 and other pertinent Quality Management System certifications and registrations. Interested companies can schedule a private consultation with NEPIRC by contacting Dale Parmenteri, NEPIRC’s Vice President of Consulting Operations, at Dale@NEPIRC.com.

Tyler Bloom Received Leo Feser Award

It was just announced that Tyler Bloom has won a national award for a publication written this year from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.  More information about the Leo Feser Award can be found here. 

Recently, he has also struck a partnership agreement with the PGA of America to assist in Career Services focused on workforce development initiatives – executive search, apprenticeships, diversity, and inclusion.

Lastly, Tyler Bloom has started a working relationship with the University of Tennessee to create an industry-recognized apprenticeship program for the turf/landscape industries.

Scholarship Fund Honors Memory of Former Warrior Run SD Business Manager

Established in memory of a life dedicated to serving the community and bringing joy to all who knew her, the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation announces the creation of the Linda McNeal Scholarship Fund under the Warrior Run Education Foundation. Mrs. McNeal was retired from the Warrior Run School District, where she served as the business manager. Known as a vibrant and joyful woman, she enjoyed supporting her community and the people around her in any way possible.

Family and friends knew that creating a scholarship fund was the perfect way to honor Mrs. McNeal’s memory and passion after her passing earlier this month. The Linda McNeal Scholarship Fund will provide an annual scholarship to a Warrior Run graduating senior who is pursuing a certification or degree at a trade school. Special consideration will be given to students who have gained confidence and motivation to pursue a fulfilling career path through the encouragement of a teacher or mentor.

“Our hearts grieve at the passing of Linda. Her work at Warrior Run, beginning in the high school library and culminating in all areas of the business office, endeared her to students, staff, administrators, and community residents,” writes Sarah Kowalski, Warrior Run Education Foundation. “Linda was caring and dedicated to meeting the needs of all the people that she encountered in her job. The establishment of this scholarship fund in her memory will continue her legacy of service to Warrior Run through future generations of students.”

Contributions can be made to the Linda McNeal Scholarship Fund online at csgiving.org (click Donate and search “McNeal”), or mail to the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation, Attn: Linda McNeal Scholarship Fund, 725 West Front Street, Berwick, PA 18603.

Warrior Run Education Foundation partners with the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization which manages nearly 300 charitable funds and makes grant investments throughout the region to improve the quality of life in the Central Susquehanna area. For more information, visit csgiving.org or call the Foundation at 1-866-454-6692

Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS released further guidelines on the tax treatment of expenses paid with funds from PPP loans. After IRS Notice 2020-32 (released in April 2020) provided that no deduction would be allowed for expenses paid with proceeds from forgiven loans, this week’s release of Revenue Ruling 2020-27 and Revenue Procedure 2020-51 further clarified the tax treatment and non-deductibility of expenses paid with PPP proceeds.

Revenue Ruling 2020-27 provides that expenses paid with funds from PPP loans will not be deductible if at the time of filing the return for the year in which the expenses would ordinarily be deducted, forgiveness of the loan was “reasonably expected to occur.” Thus, if a taxpayer reasonably expects that their PPP loan will be forgiven, the expenses that were paid with the PPP loan proceeds would not be deductible on the taxpayer’s 2020 tax returns. 

Nonetheless, Revenue Procedure 2020-51 provides a safe harbor that allows for taxpayers to claim a deduction if:

1. The eligible expenses are paid or incurred during the taxpayer’s 2020 taxable year;
2. The taxpayer received a PPP loan, and at the end of the year, the taxpayer expects the loan to be forgiven in a taxable year after 2020; and
3. In a subsequent taxable year, the taxpayer’s request for forgiveness of the covered loan is denied, in whole or in part, or the taxpayer decides never to request forgiveness of the covered loan.

Therefore, should a taxpayer’s request for PPP forgiveness be denied, in whole or in part, in 2021, that taxpayer will have the ability to deduct those related expenses stemming from the funds received from the PPP loan in either their 2020 or 2021 tax returns.  

Despite the IRS position that permitting both tax-free forgiveness of the PPP loan and deductions would be a double benefit, there is still a possibility that Congress may pass legislation to allow for the deductibility of expenses that were paid with funds from PPP loans. The Small Business Expense Protection Act, S.3612, was one such bill. It was introduced into the Senate Committee on Finance in May 2020 but has not been acted upon. In addition, the House introduced a similar piece of legislation, the HEROES Act, in May 2020 which provides that “notwithstanding any other provision of law, any deduction and the basis of any property shall be determined without regard to whether any amount is excluded from gross income.” However, like its counterpart in the Senate, the HEROES Act has remained in Committee. With all the turmoil currently in Washington, it is not likely that any further legislative fixes will occur this year.

Closer to home, it is the position of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue that forgiven PPP loans will be treated as taxable income for Pennsylvania personal income tax purposes. This allows for businesses to deduct ordinary, necessary, and reasonable business expenses related to income derived from those loans. Should the borrower be a corporation that is subject to the Pennsylvania corporate net income tax, Pennsylvania law does not provide for an add back to, or deduction from, federal taxable income for any subsequent forgiveness of a PPP loan. As such, while Pennsylvania would not impose corporate-level tax on the amount of the forgiveness, since Pennsylvania follows the federal treatment, the expenses that were paid with the proceeds from the loan would likewise not be deductible for Pennsylvania corporate net income tax purposes. 

From McKonly & Asbury

Remember back on August 8^th when President Trump issued his Presidential Memorandum stating that employees could defer their portion of Social Security taxes?  Well, the Internal Revenue Service has now posted instructions on how to account for this on Form W-2.

The memorandum that Trump signed allowed for employees to defer their 6.2 percent share of Social Security taxes from September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The keyword here is DEFER. The deferred taxes would need to be repaid by either the employees or the employer by April 30, 2021.  Pretty much pay me now or pay me later.

There were certain stipulations around the payroll tax deferral too. For instance, it only pertains to employees with the equivalent of biweekly pre-tax income of less than $4,000. The purpose of the payroll tax deferral was to stimulate the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Most employers waited for more information about this payroll tax deferral which didn’t come until August 28^th, just days before the start date of September 1^st.

If you are an employer, you will want to check out this website.  In this publication, you will find instructions for both employees and employers regarding how the deferral is to be reported on Form W-2.

Basically, employers are to report in box 3 (Social Security wages) and box 7 (Social Security tips) of 2020 Form W-2 taxable wages for which payroll taxes were deferred.  Box 4 (Social Security withheld), should only include the amount of Social Security taxes actually withheld from the employee in 2020.  In other words, do not include the amount of deferred employee Social Security tax in Box 4.

Now for the fun part, the amount of Social Security tax that was deferred in 2020 (wasn’t reported in Box 4 on the 2020 W-2) and withheld from the employee in 2021 should be reported in Box 4 (Social Security tax withheld) on Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement using the tax year of 2020.  The reporting of total Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) compensation will be handled similar to taxable wages. Report RRTA compensation in Box 14 of 2020 Form W-2, but do not report the deferred Social Security tax amount. Likewise, when the Social Security tax is withheld in 2021, complete Form W-2c and include the deferred tax that was withheld in 2021 in Box 14. Employers should file Forms W-2c and W-3c with the SSA as soon as possible after all deferred Social Security tax deferrals have been withheld in 2021.

The IRS instructs employees, with one employer during 2020 where their Form W-2c for 2020 only shows corrected amounts in Box 4 or Box 14 (RRTA), that no further steps are required. If the employee had two or more employers during 2020, the IRS provides an explanation of how to determine whether the employee had excess Social Security tax on wages paid in 2020.

In a normal year, the tax filing deadline is April 15^th, but 2020 has been anything but normal. The IRS does not mention anything about the tax filing deadline of April 15^th and the fact that withholding of 2020 deferred Social Security tax in 2021 will not be completed until April 30, 2021. I suppose there will be more to come on this later. For now, be aware that if you elected to defer your portion of Social Security taxes from September to December 2020, the deferred tax will be withheld from your pay for the period of January to April 2021. Employers will be preparing, and employees will be receiving, Form W-2c once the deferred 2020 taxes have been withheld.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Kellye Leitholf, Supervisor with the ESG Group at kleitholf@macpas.com or 717-972-5796.

From PA Chamber of Business & Industry

The 2020-21 budget process concluded last week with the passage of legislation that funds state government and related operations for the remaining seven months of the current fiscal year. The final bill, which Governor Wolf signed on November 23rd, does not impose any new taxes or fees on businesses – which are already facing financial hurdles operating during the COVID-19 pandemic; and does not rely on public borrowing. The legislation is balanced using $531 million transferred in available special funds, and $100 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which will have $243 million remaining. The budget also relies on about $1.3 billion in federal Coronavirus relief aid.

According to a story in Capitolwire, the Commonwealth also received unexpected news that the federal government will be continuing its enhanced matching payments for the Medicaid program. The enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage will provide nearly $2.1 billion more to Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance program than had been initial planned by the state’s budget experts.

In May, lawmakers approved a partial, stopgap budget, hoping to have a better understanding by November of how the pandemic and economic fallout would impact tax revenues. Fortunately, revenues over the last several months have been higher than anticipated. In addition to the May budget, the state’s total operating expenses through June 2021 is now $36.5 billion – a roughly 4 percent spending increase compared to the previous year – but a 9.8 percent decrease from the governor’s initial budget request in February.

Area health and human service agencies are echoing national statistics that substance abuse is on the rise in the region. The COVID-19 crisis, combined with seasonal affective disorder, puts people at exceptionally high risk. The United in Recovery coalition provides resources to help employers keep their workplaces safe and employees healthy with educational and treatment information.

United in Recovery is coordinated by the United Way of Columbia and Montour Counties to end substance use disorder through education, enforcement, and treatment. The coalition meets monthly to share information and coordinate efforts in Columbia and Montour counties. The Chamber of Commerce has been a part of the coalition since it was created.

The United in Recovery webpage includes contact information for people in need of immediate help, long-term treatment, and support groups. A toolkit to help businesses develop policies and identify issues is also available. The site also includes a listing of recovery and other events, including details on a free weekly distribution of Narcan starting Wednesday, November 25^th through the month of December at the United Way. Narcan is a brand name of naloxone that helps reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Details are available at https://cmcuw.org/events.

The Columbia County Commissioners have provided financial assistance to an additional 58 businesses impacted by COVID-19. A total of $399,026 in grants were awarded in the second round with funds provided by the CARES Act. Between the first and second rounds, 153 businesses received a total of $2,542,830 in assistance.

The Commissioners hired Harry Mathias, retired Central Columbia Superintendent, to develop recommendations for using the funds. The Chamber worked with Mathias to develop the program criteria for the small business grant program. “Kudos to the Columbia County Commissioners and Harry Mathias for allocating a significant portion of the County’s funding for small business relief,” said Fred Gaffney, Chamber president. “This program provided financial assistance at a critical time to help small businesses. The Central Susquehanna Community Foundation also did an outstanding job providing an online application process that was easy to use with a local contact to answer questions.”