The world is still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It has been a few months now and some countries are still grappling with the effects of COVID-19. What makes the COVID-19 worse than any other illness is that there is no vaccine yet and there is no cure.
However, the effects of COVID-19 are not limited to health. There are also economical, emotional and psychological effects. But let’s focus on the economic effects. Many people lost their jobs. So, how can these people buy food and pay their rent?
The role of the government is to ensure that disadvantaged people will have help. In this case, everybody is disadvantaged. The 116th Congress then passed the aptly named CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act), which gave Americans some sort-of allowance to help them out during this trying time.
Another legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, complemented the CARES Act. This was mainly for paid sick leave for people who may be affected by the coronavirus.
Now, some states passed their own complementary legislations. But what about California? The state imposed some new tax changes of their own, but didn’t pass anything new. Still, these changes allowed families to cope with the pandemic better.
Tax changes
In California, the Net Operating Losses (NOLs) are suspended for three years—from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2022.
There were some exemptions to the suspension though. For one, taxpayers whose personal income tax if net business income or modified gross income comes out less than $1 million. The same could be said for those with corporate income tax if business income subject to California taxation is also less than $1 million.
Now, there may be NOL or NOL carryover that will be disallowed because of the suspension. What happens then? A maximum of 20-year carryover period will be extended by three years for NOL that occurred before 2020. An extension of two years will be imposed on NOLs that happened in 2020. Meanwhile, a one-year extension will be given to NOLs that incurred next year.
There are also some changes to the business credit limit.
For the same taxable years mentioned in the NOL, business credits in California may not reduce tax by more than $5 million. This limitation may cause some credits not be used. In this case, the carryforward period will be increased. By how much? It will depend on the number of taxable years the credit, or a portion of it, was not allowed.
Changes were also made for first-year LLC and LP tax exemption. Using the same time period of taxable years, there will be a new first-year exemption starting from the $800 tax on LLPs and LPs that filed a certificate of limited partners or at least have registered with the Secretary of State. The same could be imposed on LLCs that registered with the Secretary of State.
An exemption of such nature was previously only applied to corporations.
You know what this implies? If at all possible, taxpayers who want to form a new LLC or LP should wait until 2021 to start their business.