Advocacy Updates

Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is accelerating Connecticut’s age-based rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to proceed on a quicker schedule than was originally anticipated when it was announced last month.

Hanging behind Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk is the painting “Right to Know.” Norman Rockwell completed it in 1968, years after the artist best known for folksy Saturday Evening Post illustrations had turned to serious themes, including distrust in government.

When her car started making a noise more than a year ago, Chinara Johnson parked the vehicle and hasn’t used it since.

As Governor Lamont is expected to sign House Bill No. 6516, An Act Mitigating Adverse Tax Consequences from Employees Working Remotely During COVID-19, and Concerning the Removal of Liens on the Property of Public Assistance Beneficiaries and a Three-Tiered Grants in Lieu of Taxes Program, into law, the purpose of this Commissioner's Bulletin is to make taxpayers aware of the impact the legislation will have on tax filing and payment obligations, including individual income tax returns and associated liabilities due on or before April 15th, 2021.

After ceding unprecedented authority to Gov. Ned Lamont during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, the General Assembly is reasserting itself — just as Washington is poised to send more than $4 billion in new aid to Connecticut.

2020 was clearly not like any other year — and navigating through the tax season will be no different. The Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) is warning residents to pay close attention to the accuracy of their 2020 financial documents, especially 1099s recording unemployment funds received.

President Donald Trump on Sunday night signed into law the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill passed Dec. 21 by Congress. Trump had said he would not sign the bill because he wanted $2,000 stimulus checks for individuals instead of the $600 in the legislation. His signature Sunday came a day after unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans and only hours before the federal government would have shut down due to a temporary funding bill expiring.

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule Wednesday to clarify the standard for determining whether a worker should be considered an employee or an independent contractor. The rule is one of many contentious regulations that the Trump administration has been rushing to finalize in its waning days and is likely to have an impact on labor relations, pay scales and benefits for workers. It also has an impact on the taxes they pay and whether taxes need to be withheld from their paychecks or simply reported on a Form 1099 and sent to them before Jan. 31. More companies in recent decades have been classifying their workers as independent contractors as opposed to full-time employees to save on salaries and benefits, and that trend has only accelerated in recent years with the growth of the gig economy.