Windham Region Chamber of Commerce

Chamber News

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SLICE OF LIFE Living History Event in Windham, CT

The Slice of Life is a look into the everyday life of folks in Eastern CT in the early 1800’s.  You can meet and talk with actors of people who lived in our community during that time period, ask them questions, help them with their “chores” and be a part of history.  The event will be held on Saturday, April 30 from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM in Windham, CT.

Our region of CT has so many interesting stories that we want to share with you.  This living history event will be held at three different locations.  Spend part of your day or the whole day with your family learning about life in Eastern CT in 1830.  You can be a part of a town meeting, learn how they made bonnets, learn a lesson in a schoolhouse, go to a wealthy family’s house and learn how to dip candles, do your laundry (without machines!), play a musical instrument, make herbal teas to cure your illnesses, learn how to weave, bake bread, make soap and preserve food.  Join us in Windham Center for a wedding, some famous artwork, and visit the doctor!  You can even hear some ghost stories.  Did you know that horsed used to pull the trains on the tracks?  You will be able to talk to real live people and ask them question, listen to their stories, and learn lots of fun and amazing new things!

The event is free for people under 18 years, and $10 for anyone over 18 years.  Admission includes access to all events, people and museums.  We really appreciate your contribution to keeping these wonderful historical places available for all to enjoy!  You can register HERE or with cash on the day of the event.  You can start anywhere you want as most of the activities will be going on throughout the day.  However, there are only 2 official town hall meetings so don’t miss them!  Here are the locations:

Windham Town Hall, 979 Main Street (Town meetings at 10:00 and 2:00)
Jillson House, 627 Main Street
Windham Center, Rt. 14 & Rt. 203

This event is brought to you by the The Partnership for Arts and Culture, a nonprofit group whose mission is to promote the arts, history and culture of Eastern CT.  It is a collaboration between The Windham Region Partnership For Arts & Culture, Windham Arts, Windham Region Chamber of Commerce Foundation, The America Museum, CT Eastern Railroad Museum, Windham Historical Society, Town of Windham, Arts & Entertainment Commission, Windham Preservation, Dr. Chester Hunt Museum.

   

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STANDARD MILEAGE RATES FOR 2022 & OTHER MILEAGE TAX INFO

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2022 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 58.5 cents per mile driven for business use, up 2.5 cents from the rate for 2021,
• 18 cents per mile driven for medical, or moving purposes for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces, up 2 cents from the rate for 2021 and
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations; the rate is set by statute and remains unchanged from 2021.

The standard mileage rate for business use is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs.

It is important to note that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers cannot claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel expenses. Taxpayers also cannot claim a deduction for moving expenses, unless they are members of the Armed Forces on active duty moving under orders to a permanent change of station. For more details see Moving Expenses for Members of the Armed Forces.

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

Taxpayers can use the standard mileage rate but must opt to use it in the first year the car is available for business use. Then, in later years, they can choose either the standard mileage rate or actual expenses. Leased vehicles must use the standard mileage rate method for the entire lease period (including renewals) if the standard mileage rate is chosen.

Notice 22-03, contains the optional 2022 standard mileage rates, as well as the maximum automobile cost used to calculate the allowance under a fixed and variable rate (FAVR) plan. In addition, the notice provides the maximum fair market value of employer-provided automobiles first made available to employees for personal use in calendar year 2022 for which employers may use the fleet-average valuation rule in or the vehicle cents-per-mile valuation rule.

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DID YOU KEEP ANY OF YOUR EMPLOYEES THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

We have been speaking to a lot of businesses in the past several months because there are so many new laws, because they can’t find good employees, etc.  BUT one thing we are finding that hardly anyone knows about (even though we have written stories on this) is the

EMPLOYEE RETENTION TAX CREDIT

Let us get your attention.  We worked with a business who was unaware of this tax credit and after filing they received a $150,000 refund from the government.  Another business received $50,000.  This is some SERIOUS money!  If you kept employees during the pandemic you need to ask your CPA or tax expert about this credit.  Or if you like reading government documents, you can read the bulletin from the IRS (there are support groups for this kind of desire)…… GO HERE.

The Employee Retention Credit is a refundable tax credit against certain employment taxes equal to 50% of the qualified wages an eligible employer pays to employees.  This credit was extended so it is still in effect.

Eligible employers can now claim a refundable tax credit against the employer share of Social Security tax equal to 70% of the qualified wages they pay to employees after December 31, 2020, through June 30, 2021. Qualified wages are limited to $10,000 per employee per calendar quarter in 2021. Thus, the maximum ERC amount available is $7,000 per employee per calendar quarter, for a total of $14,000 in 2021.

Employers can access the ERC for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2021 prior to filing their employment tax returns by reducing employment tax deposits. Small employers (i.e., employers with an average of 500 or fewer full-time employees in 2019) may request advance payment of the credit (subject to certain limits) on Form 7200, Advance of Employer Credits Due to Covid-19, after reducing deposits. In 2021, advances are not available for employers larger than this.

Effective January 1, 2021, employers are eligible if they operate a trade or business during January 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021, and experience either:

  1. A full or partial suspension of the operation of their trade or business during this period because of governmental orders limiting commerce, travel or group meetings due to COVID-19, or
  2. A decline in gross receipts in a calendar quarter in 2021 where the gross receipts of that calendar quarter are less than 80% of the gross receipts in the same calendar quarter in 2019 (to be eligible based on a decline in gross receipts in 2020 the gross receipts were required to be less than 50%).

Employers that did not exist in 2019 can use the corresponding quarter in 2020 to measure the decline in their gross receipts. In addition, for the first and second calendar quarters in 2021, employers may elect in a manner provided in future IRS guidance to measure the decline in their gross receipts using the immediately preceding calendar quarter (i.e., the fourth calendar quarter of 2020 and first calendar quarter of 2021, respectively) compared to the same calendar quarter in 2019.

In addition, effective January 1, 2021, the definition of qualified wages was changed to provide:

  • For an employer that averaged more than 500 full-time employees in 2019, qualified wages are generally those wages paid to employees that are not providing services because operations were fully or partially suspended or due to the decline in gross receipts.
  • For an employer that averaged 500 or fewer full-time employees in 2019, qualified wages are generally those wages paid to all employees during a period that operations were fully or partially suspended or during the quarter that the employer had a decline in gross receipts regardless of whether the employees are providing services.

Retroactive to the March 27, 2020, enactment of the CARES Act, the law now allows employers who received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to claim the ERC for qualified wages that are not treated as payroll costs in obtaining forgiveness of the PPP loan.

For more information, see COVID-19-Related Employee Retention Credits: How to Claim the Employee Retention Credit FAQs​​​​​​.

If you would like to speak to someone to explain how this works, you can contact Bill Correll at 860-428-9541 or bill@pds2k.com.