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business Saturday 26 March 2022

Small businesses face tax headaches on top of pandemic woes

By MAE ANDERSON eral and state government in 2021 as the economy
AP Business Writer levels, CPAs have found it rebounded. That might
NEW YORK (AP) — Small difficult to reach anyone if affect the estimated tax
businesses that have been problems or questions arise. payments companies pay
buffeted by the pandemic, "I've never seen this in my throughout the year.
inflation and shipping woes career, they're all under- So companies should keep
have another challenge to staffed and all behind," an eye on their cash flow
add to their plate: taxes. said Scott Orn, chief oper- and make sure they have
Tax season can be compli- ating officer for the human enough on hand to make
cated for everyone, but as resources and accounting more tax payments, if nec-
the April 18 filing deadline startup Kruze Consulting. essary, to avoid penalties.
looms, small-business own- But he urged companies "This year, there will be
ers, contractors, entrepre- to be patient with the IRS some surprise profitability,
neurs and others face a raft and state-level tax officials. with companies ending up
of ever-changing rules and The government programs with bigger tax bills than
regulations. provided during the pan- they thought," Orn said.
Plus, many are dealing demic, including the Pay- "That's actually a good
with delayed returns and check Protection Program thing. The thing to worry
refunds from prior tax peri- and Economic Injury Disas- about for small business
ods. The Internal Revenue ter Loans, helped countless owners is making sure they
Service has warned of a small businesses. have the cash-flow support
backlog and says more de- "So many companies were to estimated tax payments
lays are to be expected. saved, but that additional This May 4, 2021 file photo shows the outside of the Internal Rev- — it could surprise you."
"It's worse this year than last administrative burden was enue Service building in Washington. Finally, small businesses
year," said Gene Marks, really rough on the IRS and Associated Press should keep in mind any
owner of The Marks Group, state tax agencies," Orn money received via the
a small business consulting said. "The unintended con- erly. You just get way more qualified. In its final form, Paycheck Protection Pro-
firm in Bala Cynwyd, Penn- sequences of good deeds leeway and there is not as the program offered a gram or other COVID-re-
sylvania. "It seems to get have been tough to han- much time pressure." maximum $7,000 credit per lated programs does not
worse every year, and this dle." There are other things to employee, designed to count toward gross income
year definitely worse than Orn and other tax experts keep in mind too. It's not encourage employers to at the federal level. Un-
it's been in prior years." recommend filing for a too late to claim the em- keep workers on their pay- like other types of loans,
The IRS said earlier this tax extension this year, like ployee-retention credit. roll. The credit ended on PPP loans are tax-exempt
month it was hiring 10,000 most years. The program, established Oct. 1, 2021, but businesses whether or not they were
workers to deal with a "We file an extension for ev- in 2020 to help businesses can still apply retroactively forgiven. Businesses may
backlog of 23 million items ery single client, although during COVID, was sub- by filing an amended pay- have to report some infor-
triggered by limiting opera- they should pay estimated ject to changing eligibility roll tax return. mation about the loan if
tions during the coronavirus taxes throughout the year," rules several times during Also, many companies that it was forgiven and if they
pandemic. But with under- Orn said. "It gives us more the pandemic, so not all struggled through 2020 ac- are deducting related
staffing at both the fed- time do the tax return prop- businesses realized they tually had a better year expenses.q

Chip shortage forces GM to pause production at Indiana plant

DETROIT (AP) — General more than 4,000 blue collar possible shortages of rare
Motors is shutting down its workers. earth metals brought on
pickup truck factory in Fort "There is still uncertainty by the Russian invasion of
Wayne, Indiana, for two and unpredictability in Ukraine.
weeks next month because the semiconductor supply "We're not a new auto-
the company has run short base, and we are actively maker. We've got lots of
of computer chips. working with our suppliers volume, lots of partnerships.
The auto industry continues to mitigate potential issues We've got over 20,000 sup-
to face supply chain issues moving forward," GM said pliers, $88 billion of material
more than a year after a Friday. that we run through that
global chip shortage first All of GM's North Ameri- chain to make our cars,
emerged in late 2020. can assembly plants have trucks and crossovers," he
Chip supplies have im- been running on at least said. "We're not new to this
proved during the first three one shift since Nov. 1 of last game. We work on it every
months of this year com- year, the company said. day, and it's never over."
pared with 2021, GM said, Throughout the chip short- The roots of the computer This Jan. 27, 2020 photo shows the General Motors logo.
improving production and age, GM has sent most of chip shortage bedeviling Associated Press
deliveries in the first quarter. the semiconductors it gets auto and other industries
But there's still uncertainty in to pickup truck and large stem from the eruption hunkered down at home, makers did begin to open
getting supplies from chip SUV factories. Those are the of the pandemic in early demand for laptops, tab- their factories, they found
manufacturers. company's most profitable 2020. U.S. automakers had lets and gaming consoles, that chip makers had shift-
The Fort Wayne plant will be vehicles. to shut factories to help technology heavily reliant ed production to other
closed the weeks of April 4 Earlier this week, GM Presi- stop the virus from spread- on computer chips, sky- electronic goods being
and 11. It has been running dent Mark Reuss said he's ing and some parts com- rocketed. bought in vast quantities by
on three shifts per day mak- confident the compa- panies canceled orders for And though auto factories people sheltering at home,
ing Chevrolet Silverados ny can manage its way semiconductors. were closing, demand for creating a shortage of
and GMC Sierra light duty through supply chain diffi- At the same time, with vehicles remained surpris- weather-resistant automo-
pickups. The plant employs culties including chips and tens of millions of people ingly strong. When auto tive-grade chips.q