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What is the Gift Tax and How Does it Work?

Posted on November 22, 2021 by

Last week, I provided a brief overview of the gift tax in a vlog.  You can view the vlog here.  In this blog post, I’ll expand on basic gift tax concepts, just in time to make your holiday gifts. What is the gift tax?  Basically, the gift tax is a tax imposed on the gratuitous […]

Breaking News! Sixth Circuit to Hear OSHA ETS Challenge

Posted on November 16, 2021 by and

On November 16, 2021, a panel on multidistrict litigation announced that a panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will hear the OSHA ETS litigation. All petitions that have been filed will be consolidated to the Sixth Circuit in accordance with the Consolidation Order signed today. What does […]

Federal Appeals Court Halts OSHA ETS! What does this Mean for Employers?

Posted on November 8, 2021 by and

On November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted OSHA’s latest ETS by issuing an order staying the ETS until the court can conduct a full review.  BST Holdings v. OSHA (5th Cir 11/06/2021). The order states: Before the court is the petitioners’ emergency motion to stay enforcement of the Occupational Safety […]

CMS Issues Interim Final Rules with Comment Period Mandating Vaccination of Staff of CMS Regulated Providers/Suppliers

Posted on November 5, 2021 by

On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued Interim Final Rules requiring many of its regulated providers and suppliers to require staff and employees to meet COVID-19 vaccination requirements.  CMS chose to mandate vaccination by revising Conditions of Participations, requirements that providers and suppliers must meet to maintain certification to […]

2022 Qualified Plan Cost of Living Increases, 2022 Social Security Taxable Wage Base

Posted on November 4, 2021 by

On November 4, 2021 the Internal Revenue Service announced the cost-of-living adjustments for the various qualified retirement plan limits. The vast majority of the limits shown below have increased from last year.   Qualified Plan Limit Cost-of-Living Adjustments 401(k) and 403(b) elective deferral limit 2021 – $19,500 2022 – $20,500 $200,000 compensation limit 2021 – […]

Breaking News! OSHA Issues COVID Vaccination/Testing ETS for Large Employers

Posted on November 4, 2021 by , and

OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is here! The ETS and related guidance can be found on its website.  By December 5, 2021, employers must implement a vaccine policy in compliance with the ETS (choices are a hard mandate or a soft mandate) and advise employees as to whether or not testing will be an alternative […]

EEOC Issues Updated COVID-19 FAQs

Posted on October 26, 2021 by

Yesterday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) added more FAQs to its COVID guidance to what is becoming a very long list that started months ago. The EEOC highlights the additional religious exemption guidance as follows: Employees and applicants must inform their employers if they seek an exception to an employer’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement due […]

HIPAA and COVID-19 – OCR Publishes Online Guidance on the Application of HIPAA

Posted on October 18, 2021 by

The Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), which is the federal agency that enforces the health care privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), recently published guidance covering various health care privacy issues relating to COVID-19.  The recently published guidance addresses a variety of HIPAA issues including whether a business or individual […]

Breaking News: Social Security Administration Announces 5.9% Benefit Increase for 2022

Posted on October 13, 2021 by

Today, the Social Security Administration announced in a press release that approximately seventy million Americans who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (“COLA”) seeing an increase in their benefits of 5.9% in 2022. Sixty-four million Social Security beneficiaries will see their 5.9% COLA increase in January 2022. Eight […]

UPDATE for Federal Contractors… The Magic Language and updated FAQs!

Posted on October 8, 2021 by and

The Magic Language: The Federal Acquisition Regulation Council (FAR Council) was charged with drafting contractual language to require compliance with the guidance from the SAFER Task Force (Guidance). For a more in-depth discussion of the Guidance, see our blog post from September 24, BREAKING NEWS! Guidance Issued on Biden’s Contractor Vaccine Mandate! The FAR Council […]