Really, Your Check Is In The Mail

You’ve heard from friends, colleagues, acquaintances and family members that they’ve received their stimulus checks. Yet, you still haven’t received yours and you know you meet all of the qualifications. So, what’s the problem, you wonder? Well, for starters, there are 328 million people in this country, and it takes quite some time to make deposits and issue checks. Be patient.

However, there are many instances being reported of checks being sent to previous addresses and the current residents have either lost or destroyed the checks. So, getting a check reissued is probably not going to happen. Of course there are dozens of other stories of dead people getting checks, minors getting payments and an array of others who are not eligible. Kind of gets your craw when you are a law-abiding taxpayer on the edge of financial despair, and you haven’t a clue whether you’ll be getting the help you need or not.

The IRS advises those taxpayers whose checks do not arrive or are lost or otherwise missing that they will be able to deduct the amount they should have received when they file their 2020 taxes. Not much in the way of gratification, but you have to understand the immensity of the task the IRS has on its hands now.

You may be out of luck if you haven’t yet received your stimulus payment and may have to wrangle with the IRS to determine whether or not you’ll be getting it or will have to apply it to your tax return. There are still 4 million people who will be receiving pre-paid debit cards in the mail. So, yours could be among this batch.

In The Meantime Your Business May Be Eligible Disaster Relief

Since you have until July 15, 2020 to file your taxes, and if you haven’t yet filed, there may be an opportunity to declare disaster losses for your business. That’s because a federal emergency declaration triggers a number of tax provisions that taxpayers can use to get financial relief while weathering the impact of the disaster. Most commonly IRC Section 165(is) is accessed in the wake of an actual hurricane, storm or other natural disaster. However it was activated on March 13, 2020, nationwide when the president declared an emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Section 165(i) may be particularly useful to small businesses because it allows you to deduct 2020 COVID-19 losses on last year’s (2019) return—meaning that Section 165(i) could provide financial relief right now, without the need to wait and file the 2020 return. Even if you applied for and were granted a PPP loan, waiting to file 2020 taxes might be too late for your business.

Give Us A Call If You Haven’t Filed Your Taxes Yet

If you haven’t yet filed your taxes, you may be able to make up for some of the losses your business has incurred. Give us a call and let us help you make the most of this otherwise devastating time through which we are all navigating. Just maybe we can help you keep your head above water.