April 1, 2022

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IRS: 2022 Tax Day canceled!

APRIL FOOLS!

… Was that too soon?

We wish we could report that Tax Day had been suspended indefinitely, but alas, even a worldwide pandemic couldn’t take out April 15—or April 18, as will be the case this year. You know the drill: Another new month means new tax and compliance deadlines, and April has a bevy of them, not to mention the deadline for filing individual returns. On the bright side, in a few (too-short) weeks you’ll have the year’s gnarliest tax deadline behind you.

Unless, of course, you’re one of the many business owners who will choose to file for an extension. Not only is it a smart move to ensure your return is filed correctly and that you’re taking advantage of all the tax credits available to you, it may be the way to go this year regardless. Staffing shortages and backlogs from the last two years of pandemic provisions are making tax season “worse this year than last year,” as Gene Marks tells the Washington Post. There’s no penalty for filing for an extension, though you still have to pay any tax due by April 18. Here’s hoping your accountant has your back and you’ve already gotten your extension filed. If not, let this be your reminder not to put it off any longer.

April-filers, make sure you don’t miss out on any potential savings by checking out the following compilations of tax deductions for business owners from the one and only Andi Smiles:

As for the other April deadlines, as usual, Gusto’s compliance calendar is here to help. 

Good news for COVID EIDL borrowers

In March, the Small Business Administration (SBA) extended the deferment period for principal and interest payments on existing COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs). As businesses continue to feel the impacts of the pandemic, the extension is meant to allow borrowers additional flexibility. Here’s a look at what’s new:

  • If your COVID EIDL was approved in 2020, 2021, or 2022, you will now have a total deferment of 30 months from the date your loan was issued. Keep in mind that interest will continue to accrue during the deferment period.
  • The SBA will continue to send regular payment reminder emails, and you can make partial or full payments via www.pay.gov during the deferment period, but this is not required.

Read more here.

What’s in the bag?

On Monday, President Biden released the Budget for Fiscal Year 2023. While this is a projection and funding levels are expected to change during the Congressional appropriations cycle, it’s a preview of what programs and initiatives the government is prioritizing.

Gusto’s Policy & Advocacy Team actively advocates for programs that increase access to capital and create opportunities for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses. The team highlighted the following items as the most relevant and impactful for employers:

  • Minority Business Development Agency — The agency is expected to be fully funded at $110 million.
  • Funding for underserved entrepreneurs — An additional $31 million compared to 2021 will go towards supporting women, people of color, veterans, and other underserved entrepreneurs through SBA’s Entrepreneurial Development programs.
  • Expanded access to capital for small businesses — A $9.5 billion increase in authorized lending levels for SBA’s 7(a) loan guarantee program, the 504 loan program for fixed assets, Small Business Investment Companies, and the Secondary Market Guarantee program.
  • Increased funding for IRS modernization — The budget calls for increased funding to update IRS systems and address processing times and backlogs. This should also mean more resources for taxpayer services.  

New from Gusto: Integrations & apps spotlight

Multiple companies have launched integrations with Gusto so far in 2022! You can now find the following companies in the Gusto App Directory:

Integrations 

Integrations help reduce the amount of manual data entry across systems. Gusto customers can now integrate their accounts with:

  • Human Interest: A two-way 401(k)-payroll integration that simplifies administration by automatically syncing contributions, employee census, and other payroll information.
  • Culture Amp: Create employee profiles in Culture Amp and set a daily or manual sync from Gusto to keep their information up to date.
  • VivaHR: Create a new hire in Gusto by syncing their full name and personal email address from VivaHR’s applicant tracking system.
  • Engagedly: Create employee profiles in Engagedly and set an automated or manual sync from Gusto to keep their information up to date.
  • MonkeyPod: Import employee and contractor records from Gusto as well as payroll transactions to streamline your bookkeeping.
  • Bitlancer Studio Tools: Designed for Mariana Tek fitness studio owners and operators to sync employee hours and additional earnings for quick and accurate payroll in Gusto.
  • Paperclip: Import employee and contractor records from Gusto as well as payroll transactions to streamline your bookkeeping. 

App Provisioning 

Provisioning apps enable administrators to automatically create and remove accounts for their team, without leaving Gusto. You can now provision with: 

  • Slack: A channel-based messaging platform.
  • Bugsnag: An error-monitoring tool for developers. 
  • Zoho Books: A cloud accounting platform.
  • Zoho CRM: A platform for streamlining your communications, process, policy, and people.
  • Zoho Desk: A context-aware cloud help desk software.

Watchlist

A Quick Employer Guide to Hiring Ukrainian Talent

Over 4 million Ukrainians have had to flee their homes due to the war—many of whom are highly skilled in IT and across many other sectors. RemoteUkraine is a charity dedicated to helping these refugees find jobs. Employers can post their roles to gain access to incredible talent at competitive rates, and change lives. Watch their quick guide to get started.

Find the latest relief options in our Small Business Relief Finder.

Want more news and resources? Check out past editions in our archive.

Mohini Kundu Mohini Kundu is a freelance writer and editor. She studied journalism at Northwestern University and started her career at The Huffington Post before moving into tech where she worked as a content marketer for 7 years. She writes about several topics including psychology, business, finance, and environmental issues.
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