Course Description

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), legislation designed to provide economic relief for those impacted by COVID19, became law.  This course provides a general review of the principal provisions of the CARES Act and of other federal tax-related stimulus legislation passed during 2020. In addition, the current course includes a discussion of the American Rescue Tax Plan Act (ARPA) that became law on March 11, 2021.  

The course begins with an examination of three important provisions of the CARES Act: recovery rebates, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. It considers the CARES Act recovery rebates specifically with respect to filing status, the associated amount of the rebate, and the effect of a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income on the tax treatment of the rebate and the taxpayer’s eligibility for it.  The PPP’s provisions for SBA forgivable loans and taxability of loan proceeds is discussed as are the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provisions of the CARES Act, including its enhancement and augmentation of normal unemployment benefits, and the ways in which PUA benefits differ from other types of unemployment benefits. It also addresses several additional issues, including the changes brought about by the Act with respect to health savings accounts (HSAs), qualified medical expenses, high deductible health plans (HDHPs), foreign earned income, tax-free exchanges of investment property, correction of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provision addressing the depreciable period applicable to qualified improvement property, changes to the deduction of losses by non-corporate taxpayers, modifications of business interest limitations, employer student loan payments and SBA loans referred to as economic injury disaster loans (EIDLs).

Course Learning Objectives

After completing this course, students should be able to:

• Apply the recovery rebate rules;
• Identify the provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program;
• Recognize the rules related to unemployment benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program;
• Apply the provisions regarding expanded tax-favored use of retirement funds;
• Identify the changes to net operating loss (NOL) carryback rules;
• Apply the changes in charitable contribution rules;
• Recognize the changes in health savings account (HSA) rules related to first-dollar payment for telehealth and COVID-19 testing and treatment;
• Apply the rule changes to qualified improvement property depreciation; and
• Recognize the rules related to miscellaneous provisions, including –
  • Changes to the rules related to the business deduction of food and beverages,
  • Changes to the CTC and EITC rules,
  • Changes to the foreign income exclusion,
  • Section 1031 exchange timing,
  • Correction of the deductible period applicable to qualified improvement property,
  • Modification of limitation on losses for non-corporate taxpayers,
  • Changes to the limitation on business interest expense deductions,
  • Exclusion of certain employer payments of student loans, and
  • Expansion of economic injury disaster loans (EIDLs).
• Identify the principal individual income tax provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Learning Objectives

• Please refer to the course description for the learning objectives.

Prerequisites

• None