Integrity Tax Group and
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Our office policies have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Mandates being put in place for our health and safety.
We thank you for your continued support and understanding as we navigate these uncharted waters. We apologize in advance for not being able to provide the more personal service you’ve come to expect. In this situation, your safety and the safety of our team is our priority. We appreciate your business and want you to stay well!
What Can I expect for the 2021 Tax Season?
To encourage the safety and health of our team and clients, we will not be doing face-to-face appointments this year. Instead, we will be doing phone conferences. We didn’t want to do this, but given what’s going on in the world today, we have to adapt.
For this tax season, when you drop off your tax documents to us, we will have some paperwork for you to fill out, and we will schedule a phone conference with your tax advisor. This phone conference will be scheduled at least 1 week out from the date you drop off your documents to us.
You can also call ahead to schedule your phone conference. If this is the route you’d like, please know that we need your documents dropped off to the office at least 1 week before your scheduled phone call.
Call us for more information on this!
If I lost my job because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, can I apply for Michigan Unemployment?
Has your employment status been impacted by COVID-19, and you suddenly find yourself needing to file for unemployment? Here’s a silver lining to this unfortunate circumstance!
Normally when an employee files for unemployment they are required to show that they are actively looking for work. MI Unemployment has created the Seeking Work Waiver for employers to complete so their temporarily laid off employees can file for unemployment and not have to show they are actively looking for work. The Waiver allows the employees to draw unemployment from Federal money and not have it affect the employers reserve fund or unemployment tax rate. At this time, employees are allowed to be laid off for 45 days, but then must return to work after that or show that they are actively looking for work.
In order for the waiver to apply, employees filing for unemployment must use the same Last Date Worked and Back to Work Date as what the employer filed on the Seeking Work Waiver. This is important so that the employer’s reserve fund and unemployment tax rate are not affected. The Seeking Work Waiver will not let you put a Last Date Worked in the past, so time is of the essence.
Here is a handy checklist for those affected:
For Michigan Employees, please have your employer complete the notice below or:
-
Verify Last Date Worked and Back To Work Date with employer (note this may be way later than it actually will be, but it makes filing easier for both parties if the pandemic continues).
-
Obtain your employers UIA # and Federal ID Number.
-
File for unemployment with the Seeking Work Waiver (Go Here and Click/Select "For Employee")
-
Call MARVIN at 1-866-638-3993 to report if you are still out of work or if you are back.
For Michigan Employers:
-
Log into your MI WAM Account (Go Here and Click/Select "For Employers") or call your payroll provider--if we are your provider we are happy to help--give us a call or shoot us an email.
-
Enter Today's Date for the Last Date Worked and 45 days from now as the Back To Work Date (note this may be way later than it actually will be, but it makes filing easier for both parties if the pandemic continues).
-
Fill out the attached notice and provide it to your employees. Be sure to include Last Day Worked and Back to Work dates, along with all information below the line.
Where can I find Up-To-Date information on COVID-19?
If you're looking for updates on the Coronavirus, do NOT give in to the "apps" that give live updates. Those apps have been discovered to be Ransomware, a type of malicious software that is programmed and designed to lock you out of the device it is on until you pay a required amount of money.
If you are looking for updates on COVID-19, we urge you to check out the following verified websites:
Find out what's going on in the Payroll World:
Click the image to go to www.integritypayhub.com/coronavirus
Find out what's going on in the Small Business World:
Click the image to go to www.accountingwithintegrity.com/coronavirus
