Covid Reduction Invoice provides PPP tax aid that Treasury has spoken out towards

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Leaves a meeting on Capitol Hill on December 18, 2020.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Legislators have given small businesses an extra lifeline in the next round of Covid incentives: more forgivable loans and the ability to take a tax write-off on covered expenses.

Members of Congress reached an agreement on Sunday on a $ 900 billion rescue package.

The measure includes $ 600 stimulus testing for most adults and every child, plus a $ 300 weekly unemployment rate.

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There are also a number of regulations targeting sick small businesses.

According to a joint statement by Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Senate minority, the Democrats would provide $ 284 billion in forgeable loans under the paycheck protection program.

Lawmakers also said it would extend PPP eligibility to nonprofits and local newspapers, television and radio stations.

The PPP was originally introduced in the spring in the CARES Act. In total, approximately 5 million companies received approximately $ 525 billion in loans under the program.

In general, borrowers are eligible for PPP lending if they use at least 60% of the proceeds on payroll. Partial lending may be available to those who don’t reach this threshold.

Any amounts not wiped off must be repaid and are subject to an interest rate of 1%.

A second tie from PPP

A New York waiter sets a table in a plastic bubble outside the Olympic Flame Diner in Manhattan on December 15, 2020.

Carlo Allegri | Reuters

Small businesses may get a second PPP loan if they have fewer than 300 employees and can show their earnings have decreased by 25%, according to a summary by the House Small Business Committee.

The maximum amount for a second drawing is $ 2 million.

Listed companies will be banned from participating, according to Republicans on the House Small Business Committee.

There’s no denying that small businesses are in dire need of cash to keep their doors open.

Whether these business owners have an appetite to borrow more money is a different story, said certified financial planner Dan Herron, CPA and director of Elemental Wealth Advisors in San Luis Obispo, California.

“I don’t think customers will want to do it again,” he said. “The constantly moving goal posts, the lack of consistency in forgiveness applications – it’s a pain.”

Forgiveness, Deductibility, and Tax Complexity

The legislation also creates a simplified application for forgiveness for companies that have taken out PPP loans under $ 150,000.

Companies that have received an advance payment through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program also no longer need to deduct the advance payment from their PPP loan amount.

Finally, the aid package answers a burning question on the minds of borrowers: Yes, entrepreneurs can request deductions for expenses that are covered by PPP loan proceeds

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Monday morning, confirmed that Congress had agreed to allow tax deductibility for these expenses.

The subject was controversial. The PPP loan is tax-free, but the Treasury Department and IRS have stated that expenses that are covered are not deductible.

I don’t think customers will want to do it again. The constantly moving goal posts, the lack of uniformity in forgiveness applications – it’s a pain.

Dan Herron, CPA

Director of Elemental Wealth Advisors

Allowing the deduction would create a double tax break, the agencies previously said. The Treasury and IRS said last month that business owners who “reasonably believe” that their PPP loans will be issued cannot deduct the cost.

In the meantime, tax experts have said the deductibility lock could saddle owners with higher taxes.

While the ability to write off the expense would be welcome news for small businesses, tax professionals are aware of any restrictions – or guard rails – that Congress may impose on companies wishing to deduct the expense.

For small businesses that made estimated payments as early as the fourth quarter, relief may be too late.

“For some borrowers who have already deposited, it will be too late like they won’t receive any deductions,” said Tony Nitti, partner with RubinBrown Tax Services Group.

“You will still be grateful to be deductible, but there are some difficult planning issues as we get into the last few days of the year,” he said.

Millionaires see robust market good points in 2021

America’s millionaires are betting on a strong stock market for the next year. According to the CNBC Millionaire Survey, many are expecting double-digit growth.

According to the survey of households with investable assets of $ 1 million or more, 70% of millionaires expect the S&P 500 to gain at least 5% over the next year. Almost a third of those surveyed expect growth of at least 10% in 2021.

The S&P 500 is going up almost 14% in the final weeks of 2020.

Although the market is close to or at record highs, the survey shows that most millionaires plan to hold or add to their inventory levels for the next year. Only 9% plan to reduce their shareholding. This upward move in the face of the Covid pandemic and economic uncertainty could be a strong tailwind for the market as millionaires own more than 85% of the individually held stocks.

“I expected more of them to make plans to get out of the market at these levels,” said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group, a research and consulting firm. “You have clearly adapted to the volatility.”

Half of the millionaires surveyed expect their personal wealth to grow over the next year, while another 40% expect it to stay the same.

Millionaires’ views of the biggest financial risks in the coming year depend more on political party affiliation than on wealth. Republican millionaires cited taxes as the biggest risk to their wealth in 2021, while Democratic millionaires cited the virus as the biggest risk.

Less than a third of millionaires say the economy will be weaker over the next year, and most say interest rates will stay the same, which will help stocks too. Their bright outlook is another sign of a K-shape recovery, with middle and under-earners and small businesses still struggling, while higher-income workers and investors continue to see improvements.

Stocks are the most popular asset class for millionaires over the next year. 44% plan to add stocks. When asked which market sectors they want to add more money to in 2021, technology came first, followed by healthcare and finance.

“Given everything that’s going on around us, they’re optimistic,” said Walper. “It’s the vaccine and the hope of reopening.”

The Spectrem Group conducted the survey for CNBC. In November, 750 participants with fixed assets of $ 1 million or more were surveyed.

Home Panel summons HHS, CDC chiefs as Covid response intensified

President Donald Trump speaks alongside HHS Secretary Alex Azar and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield, during a tour of the Center for Disease Control following a COVID-19 coronavirus briefing in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, on March 6, 2020.

Tom Brenner | Reuters

US Secretary of Health Alex Azar and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield, were summoned by a House panel looking into the Trump administration’s response to the Covid pandemic.

Rep. James Clyburn, chairman of the select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis, said the panel issued the subpoenas on Monday, instructing the two officials to come up with documents that Clyburn said show political interference that the nation is responding to the pandemic hampered until December 30th.

“The subpoenas were necessary because the Select Subcommittee’s investigation showed that efforts to disrupt the scientific work at the CDC were far more extensive and dangerous than previously known,” Clyburn said in a statement.

The subcommittee also released new emails listing political representatives from HHS trying to disrupt the publication of the CDC’s prestigious weekly reports on morbidity and mortality (MMWR). A series of emails released by the subcommittee on Monday showed candidates at HHS, including then-scientific advisor Paul Alexander, planning to publicly reprimand a published MMWR.

A draft of this counter-argument, which was never made public, claimed that the MMWR, which deals with the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, “presented factual information with an agenda” and could “prevent the news from providing proper coverage of a true” miracle cure “. ‘”

At the start of the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine was touted as a highly effective treatment for Covid-19 by President Donald Trump and others. The Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use to treat Covid, but later withdrew from approval, admitting that there was evidence that the drug could actually exacerbate some health conditions in Covid patients.

Dr. CDC’s Charlotte Kent stated in an interview with the subcommittee that public refutation of the CDC’s MMWR “could undermine confidence in the CDC and in the quality of science that is in MMWR.”

This is the latest news. You can find updates here.

A pandemic nurse’s diary reveals Trump’s vicious insurance policies, financial failures

Pandemic Nurse Diary of Sister T with Timothy Sheard. New York: Hardball Press, 2020. 143 pages.

Reading the diary of a pandemic nurse, especially against the prevailing media accounts of the experiences of healthcare workers during this pandemic, reminded me of the introductory words in the sketch by radical US writer Jesús Colón “Something to Read” from his A Puerto collection Rican in New York, in which he describes “a piece of working-class literature, brochure, progressive book or brochure” as “precious things”.

A Pandemic Nurse’s Diary was written by a nurse who is just leaving Nurse T, along with Timothy Sheard, who is himself a former nurse and founder of Hardball Press, one of the largest publishers in the United States dedicated to publishing working class literature have prescribed the fact “something to read” not only because it provides a concise account of the health care workers’ experience of the pandemic at that moment, but also because of the deeper analysis it brings from a worker’s point of view into US class society Provides and How It Affects People’s Health and Health Provision of Health Services in the US Furthermore, what makes this work most “valuable” and what sets it apart as working class literature is that it deals with workers and the trauma of the most Workplace deals that they directly suffer, a topic that unites in literature This country is rarely treated. Sister T and Sheard even include a final section of exercises and meditations for nurses and health care workers to help them cope with the trauma of that work that has been compounded during this pandemic.

While the process of vaccinating the U.S. population against COVID-19 is underway, which promises visibility and hope for an end to the pandemic, Sister T’s diary emphasizes that while vaccinations can provide some protection from the virus, the pandemic itself however, it has also exacerbated and alleviated long-standing and deeply rooted social grievances, often of a structural nature, which no vaccine, however strong, can cure.

During the autopsy of a dead patient, Sister T once wrote: “In my silence, I wished the attending physician could enter the death certificate under the cause of death: Hospital poverty due to the government’s refusal to provide adequate resources and personnel for impoverished color patients. “

I found Sister T’s explanations and analysis of “hospital poverty” to be one of the most revealing aspects of the diary. She emphasizes, of course, that “poor patients – especially black and Hispanic patients – die far more often from Covid than their white counterparts” because “poverty has caused them several comorbidities such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and asthma. “Although I was aware of these health inequalities caused by our racist class system, I was less aware of how capitalist political economy and class system affected the functioning of hospitals. At some point one of Nurse T’s colleagues doesn’t express it bitterly, but just tiredly: “Tired of the bottlenecks and the outdated equipment. Tired of the protesting politicians who can’t afford to raise our refund rates. Tired of the government – city-state and state – channeling resources to the gold-plated medical centers in Manhattan. And Sister T explains that the Ritchie Rich private hospitals, which are often already profitable with wealthy patients and private donors, are getting Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements three times as their hospital for the same procedures. With access to the most advanced medicines and equipment, they are often sought after by Fortune 500 experimental drug study companies.

What Sister T reveals in her portrayal of the pandemic is the failure of our class system to meet the health needs of all. While the pandemic is challenging, it might have been manageable if we had had a humane economy designed to meet human needs rather than produce profit.

Sister T also represents failure as political. While she is movingly documenting many experiences with patients, one is the patient who listened to right-wing experts like Trump and drank a bottle of cleaning fluid, destroyed his esophagus and seriously and permanently damaged his body. Even the best health care, she complains, cannot counteract this political poison.

Most vividly and most importantly in the diary is simply how Sister T describes her work and the traumatic stress that she and her colleagues bring with it. Because they work in a contagious environment, the nurses stay in hotels and rarely see their families. Because they don’t have the right equipment, because the hospital doesn’t have modern filter and ventilation systems, the workplace is far more dangerous and deadly than necessary. Because politicians and the general public are not taking the pandemic seriously and promoting basic precautionary measures, they have to treat many more patients than they would otherwise need. Because the hospital is poorly equipped, they cannot treat patients optimally.

While there is an inherent traumatic dimension to this work, Sister T highlights the excess trauma that she and other health care workers experience, resulting from the day-to-day operations of our class system and political economy.

Much of the trauma and death of the nurses is less due to the pandemic than to the system we created and the policies we practice.

“Come on America, bring your story together,” Sister T.

She wants us to recognize that work solidarity is human solidarity. The inhumane working conditions not only hobble and hurt the nurses, they affect us all too. We all share the interests of the workers.

And we all share the interests of gender equality and women workers. It should be noted that Sister T speaks openly about race and class differences, that around 90 percent of nurses in the US are women. It’s no secret that women and their work have historically been devalued and less recognized.

In this historical context, a pandemic nurse’s diary must also be recognized for giving women workers a powerful voice in US society and the labor movement.

While we see health care workers represented on the nightly news these days, raising awareness of the incredible stress and danger they are facing, Sister T gives us a broader look beyond the pandemic to the minor diseases of our society that are desperately addressed must be the health and humanity of all of us. As the pandemic exacerbates these diseases, if we do not act to transform class society and its many inequalities, they will survive the pandemic and continue to undermine our lives.

Tim Libretti is a professor of American literature and culture at a state university in Chicago. A longtime progressive voice, he has published numerous academic and journalistic articles on culture, class, race, gender, and politics, for which he has received awards from the Working Class Studies Association, the International Labor Communications Association, and the National Federation of Press Women and the Illinois Woman’s Press Association.

Lizzo shocked her mom with a brand new Audi for Christmas

Lizzo

If there’s one thing we know the holidays can guarantee, celebrities are going to be giving away some of the most lavish gifts to their family and friends. With Christmas next week, many people exchange gifts early. Today Lizzo announced on Instagram that she surprised her mother with a brand new vehicle. Not just any vehicle, Lizzo blessed her mother with an Audi truck. She shared a video that captured her mother’s priceless reaction. In the video, her mother goes outside and Lizzo says, “Okay, Merry Christmas, Mom, open your eyes.” Immediately mothers start crying. Lizzo’s mother said, “You see these things on TV and you never think it will happen to you.”

Lizzo also shared a cute message in the caption. She wrote: “I got my mother a brand new Audi for Christmas. I remember crying in my car when my daddy passed by. No job, no money, nowhere to live. I wish I could take care of my family one day … I couldn’t do it for my dad, so I have to make sure I spoil my mom. Happy Holidays everyone “

Although it is unclear what make and model the new foreign car is, we do know that Audi is not cheap. The vehicle is priced between $ 50,000 and $ 60,000.

Hats off to Lizzo! This is how you make Christmas!

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The brand new Covid pressure makes the UK a world pariah amid journey bans

LONDON – A highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus is causing countries in Europe and elsewhere to block travel from the UK.

The UK last week warned of a new variant of the coronavirus that is believed to be up to 70% more transmissible than the original strain of the disease. According to the World Health Organization, the new variant has so far been identified in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.

News of the strain forced the UK government to withdraw its plans to mix families over Christmas and lock down London and other areas of southern England where infections from the Covid mutation are highly concentrated.

Over the weekend, several countries announced plans to close their borders with the UK. In Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands have suspended flights from the UK, while Austria and Sweden are reportedly preparing to do so.

France banned people and goods from Britain, whether by road, air, sea or rail, for 48 hours starting Sunday evening. The port of Dover has also been closed to all vehicle traffic leaving the UK, according to a statement by authorities. The move is expected to cause miles of truck backups.

On Monday, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it was “a bit surprising” that France had closed its border to freight.

The federal government has now suspended all flights from Great Britain from midnight on Sunday. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn said the British virus mutation had not yet been identified in the country.

The Belgian ban prevents flights and trains – including the popular Eurostar high-speed train service – from arriving from the UK. Meanwhile, Italy has blocked all flights from the country until January 6th. The Italian Ministry of Health announces the first case of the new virus variant had been reported in Rome. The Netherlands banned flights from the UK until January 1st.

Ireland, which normally has significant passenger traffic with the UK at this time of year, announced that flights from England, Wales and Scotland will be banned for at least 48 hours from midnight onwards.

Crisis meeting

The British government has announced that it will hold a crisis meeting on Monday to discuss the international travel situation. The European Council is expected to hold talks on a coordinated EU response to the new variant of Covid at 10 a.m., London time.

The situation could make the Brexit talks even more difficult. The UK and the European Union remain stalled on post-Brexit trade relations as the December 31 deadline expires and disputes over issues such as fisheries plague negotiations. The pound sterling fell sharply against the dollar, falling 2.4% to around $ 1.32.

Other countries, including India, Canada and Israel, have also introduced new measures banning flights from the UK

India will suspend all flights from the UK from Wednesday through the end of the year, the country’s Aviation Department said in a tweet on Monday.

European stocks sold heavily on Monday amid the unrest over the new Covid variant. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 3.2%, with the proportion of travel even falling 4.6%.

What is the new coronavirus variant?

Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said Saturday that the UK had identified a new variant of Covid that “can spread faster” than previous strains.

It’s not clear if the new strain will transmit more easily, make people sick, or change the way their immune systems react to the virus if they were already infected or vaccinated. So far, Whitty said, studies suggest the new strain is significantly more transmissible, but there’s no evidence that it causes a higher death rate.

Whitty added there was a “working assumption” that vaccines should still work against the mutant strain.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the new variant was “out of control” and suggested it could be months before strict coronavirus restrictions were lifted.

“The new variant is out of control and we have to get it under control,” Hancock told BBC program Andrew Marr on Sunday.

“Essentially, we need to introduce this vaccine to keep people safe,” Hancock said in a separate interview with Sky News.

“I think given how much faster this new variant is spreading, it will be very difficult to keep it under control until we get the vaccine in place.”

The UK was the first country to begin adopting a leading Covid vaccine – namely that developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The vaccines are currently only being given to the UK’s most vulnerable people and it is not clear when they will be more widely available.

Authorities bond yields are falling regardless of financial progress as virus considerations persist

U.S. government debt prices were higher Monday morning as Congress prepares to vote on a $ 900 billion coronavirus aid package. However, there are concerns about a new strain of Covid-19 in the UK

At around 2 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield was lower at 0.9263%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury note fell to 1.6776%. The returns move inversely to the prices.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday lawmakers had reached an agreement on a $ 900 billion aid package that will be voted on Monday.

After the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine had already been introduced nationwide, recordings of the Moderna vaccine were distributed on Sunday. An advisory panel recommended that key workers and anyone over 75 should come first to get the shot.

However, news of a new and more communicable strain of Covid-19 in the UK has left investors concerned about the containment of the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that much of the country would put in place strict lockdown measures over the Christmas period, and a number of other countries have now closed their borders with Britain

Auctions will be held Monday for $ 54 billion in 13-week Treasury bills and $ 51 billion in 26-week bills, and $ 24 billion in 20-year bonds.

Lizzo surprises her mother with a automobile this Christmas is so cute

Lizzo Her mother felt so good as hell this Christmas season when she gave her a brand new Audi.

The “Truth Hurts” singer shared the video in which she presented her mother Shari Johnson-Jefferson by car on Instagram, along with an emotional caption.

“Remember crying in my car when my father died, no job, no money to live, and wish I could one day take care of my family,” wrote the flautist. “I couldn’t do it for my dad, so I’ll make sure I spoil mom. Happy Holidays everyone.”

In the video, Lizzo let her mother (who she is the likeness of) close her eyes before taking her to the driveway where her new vehicle was waiting. Shari immediately burst into tears.

After hugging her daughter and thanking her, Shari said, “You see these on TV, but you never expect it to happen to you.”

The fans loved Lizzo’s heartwarming gesture. One wrote in the comments: “THESE people do you with all your hard work! Take care of your parents … especially when they took care of you!”

Covid vaccines will possible defend in opposition to new strains of the virus: Physician

SINGAPORE – Existing vaccines against Covid-19 will be effective at warding off infections against new strains of the coronavirus, a US doctor told CNBC this week.

His comments came after the UK identified a new mutation of the virus on Saturday that can spread faster than previous variants.

Countries like Italy, Germany, Canada and Israel have suspended flights from the UK after reports of the new strain.

Vin Gupta, an assistant professor at the Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment at the University of Washington, said he was confident that current vaccines will protect against various strains of Covid.

“There is a strong belief here that the vaccine as it exists today, in addition to the old strain we have struggled with for months, will have effective defense against infection from this new strain in England,” said Gupta.

That’s because the new strain is likely “very similar” to previous strains at a genetic level, he told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Monday.

The effectiveness of these vaccines in making antibodies that can really attack and kill Covid-19 is exceptional

Vin Gupta

Affiliate Assistant Professor

He added that the vaccines produce “a really strong response in the body for making antibodies”.

Vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have efficacy rates greater than 90%. Great Britain was the first country in the world to approve and introduce the emergency vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. The US and Canada are among a handful of countries that have approved the use of the vaccine for emergency purposes as well.

“The effectiveness of these vaccines in making antibodies that can really attack and kill Covid-19 is exceptional,” he said. “I don’t expect these minor changes at the genetic level … to affect vaccine performance in the short term.”

Close-up of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination bottle.

Hugh Hastings | Getty Images News | Getty Images

However, future versions of the vaccine may need to take into account new strains of the virus, just as flu vaccines are updated, Gupta said.

“I think this could have an impact on our future work, but it won’t have any impact in the short term,” he said. “It will not affect the effectiveness of the current vaccines in ending the pandemic.”

Dr. Vivek Murthy, chosen by President-elect Joe Biden as the next US surgeon general, spoke on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.

“There is no reason to believe that the vaccines developed are not effective [the new U.K. strain] also, “he said, adding that there is no evidence that the new variant is more lethal.

“Being at home hearing this news will not change our precautions as people who can reduce the spread of this virus,” said Murthy, who was previously also a surgeon-general for the Obama administration. “It turns out that masking, keeping physical distance, and washing our hands … these are still the pillars of preventing the transmission of Covid.”

– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

New York Governor Cuomo briefs the press on the Covid pandemic because the state distributes vaccines

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will hold a press conference on Friday on Covid vaccine sales plans as the state threatens further economic shutdown.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Cuomo warned that unnecessary businesses may be forced to close again early next year unless the state restricts escalating coronavirus cases. However, whether the state will again impose an economic lockdown depends on what New Yorkers do in the remaining vacation time and whether new Covid-19 infections decrease or increase, he said.

“Of course, a shutdown in January is possible,” said Cuomo at a press conference in Albany. “But there is a big but,” he said, spelling the word letter by letter “BUT”.

According to a CNBC analysis of the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, New York is responding to a surge in Covid-19 cases above the levels reported in the spring, causing an average of 10,914 new infections per day over the past week.

Read CNBC’s live updates for the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak.