Register for webinar to preview Roofing Day in D.C. 2024
Join NRCA’s government relations team for a webinar that offers a preview of Roofing Day in D.C. 2024, the roofing industry’s premier advocacy event. The webinar will provide advocacy 101 training for participants new to federal government processes and procedures, as well as an overview of the Roofing Day in D.C. agenda for April 16-17.
Learn more about the advocacy issues that will be addressed in Washington, D.C., and how to best speak with one voice to get our message heard in the halls of Congress. Register for the webinar.
The Employee Retention Credit Voluntary Disclosure Program ends March 22
The IRS recently reminded employers that the deadline to apply for the Employee Retention Credit Voluntary Disclosure Program is March 22. To learn more about the program and ways to resolve any incorrect or disputed claims, you can watch a recorded webinar found on the IRS YouTube channel.
According to the IRS, the webinar highlights include:
- ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program: The ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program helps employers whose claims were paid by Dec. 21, 2023, pay back the money they received after filing ERC claims in error. The key benefit of the program is employers have to pay back only 80% of the ERC they received, with no penalties or interest.
- ERC withdrawal process: The ERC claim withdrawal program is still available. Businesses who want to withdraw a claim that has not been processed or paid should quickly pursue this process if they see their claim is now ineligible. The IRS will treat withdrawn claims as if they were never filed. No penalties or interest will apply.
- ERC moratorium update: On Sept. 14, 2023, following concerns about aggressive ERC marketing, the IRS announced a moratorium on processing new ERC claims. A specific resumption date has not been determined. The IRS continues to process ERC claims submitted before the moratorium but with additional scrutiny and at a much slower rate than before the agency’s approach changed in 2023. During the coming months, the IRS plans to continue program integrity measures before the agency anticipates processing claims submitted after the moratorium began.
President Biden releases annual budget proposal for fiscal year 2025
On March 11, President Biden released his $7.3 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2025. The budget calls for $1.63 trillion in discretionary spending, which is the funding for federal agencies that Congress determines in the annual appropriations process. This total is $895.2 for defense spending with $770 billion for nondefense. This proposal includes $4.9 trillion in tax hikes, including a 28% corporate rate and an increase in the top rates paid by pass-through businesses. This proposal also increases the Net Investment Income Tax and expands it to cover the active business income of pass-through business owners; makes permanent the harmful loss limitation rules; makes it harder for family-owned businesses to survive from one generation to the next by gutting the existing grantor trust rules; nearly doubles the tax rate on capital gains; and imposes a new minimum tax on larger family businesses. On the bright side, the 199A deduction for pass-through businesses remains in the president’s budget, and the proposal also increases funding for Career and Technical Education Perkins State Grants—a top NRCA priority.
President Biden issues Executive Order regarding Registered Apprenticeships
On March 6, President Biden issued an Executive Order, “Scaling and Expanding the Use of Registered Apprenticeships in Industries and the Federal Government and Promoting Labor-Management Forums.” The purpose of the Executive Order is to use the federal government—as the U.S.’ largest employer and procurer of goods and services—as a model for the use and promotion of skills-based hiring under Registered Apprenticeships. The order directs agencies to review their financial assistance programs and procurement procedures to identify where they can incentivize the use of Registered Apprenticeships among government contractors and subcontractors. The Executive Order also will establish Labor-Management Forums, which it says will provide an “opportunity for managers, employees, and employees’ union representatives to discuss how federal government operations can promote satisfactory relations and improve the productivity and effectiveness” of the government.
