2020

As the coronavirus pandemic began spreading in earnest throughout the U.S. in early 2020, businesses in every industry found themselves impacted to various degrees. Some, like restaurants, airlines and event venues, experienced severe negative effects. Others, like construction, felt minor impacts early on. As the pandemic shows no sign of easing though, it’s becoming apparent that things could get troublesome in the months ahead.

On August 28, 2020 the IRS issued Notice 2020-65, providing much-anticipated guidance implementing an August 8 Presidential Memorandum directing the Treasury to use its authority to defer the withholding, deposit and payment of certain payroll tax obligations.

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the business landscape and given business owners a new perspective on the most effective and strategic ways to operate their company. While some businesses have excelled by pivoting and incorporating new technologies, others have experienced extreme disruptions, causing their business to shutter.

On June 12, 2020, the United States (“U.S.”) Secretary of Treasury issued a statement (“Statement”) requesting that the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) pause international discussions designed to address the tax challenges facing the rapidly digitalized economy.

2020 has been a year of unprecedented uncertainty for many individuals and businesses, with the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the economy, financial markets, industry segments, financial prospects for individual companies and the valuations of asset holdings. More change could be coming this fall, with an election, the prospect of a new administration on the horizon and the uncertainty of future economic conditions.

Today’s “gig economy” lends itself to temporary jobs, short-term contracts and flexible work arrangements between businesses and the professionals providing services. Since the beginning of the gig economy following the Great Recession, the number of contract workers has grown to more than one third of the total workforce in the U.S. With an increasingly remote labor force, this growth is expected to continually increase.

On August 4, 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed H.B. 1037 (the “Bill”) into law, which contains modifications to Georgia’s entertainment tax credit program (the “Program”). Peter Stathopoulos, head of Bennett Thrasher’s Entertainment practice and Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee of Georgia Production Partnership, worked with industry lobbyists, other entertainment coalitions and lawmakers in helping to shape portions of the Bill.