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Here are some of the key tax-related deadlines affecting businesses and other employers during the first quarter of 2021. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you.

Beginning January 1, 2021, Illinois minimun wage is increasing to $11 an hour. This follows the path that Governor JB Pritzker signed into legislation in 2019. Minimum wage employees received increases on January 1, 2020 to $9.25 an hour and July 1 to $10 an hour.

These days, many offices and other workspaces are nearly empty as employees work from home. This can make companies that don’t safeguard their computers, printers and other equipment vulnerable to theft from outsiders. Even during normal times, businesses often lose assets because crooked employees walk out with them. Here’s how to protect valuable property — no matter who’s eyeing it.

As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good time to think about whether your business needs to buy business equipment and other depreciable property. If so, you may benefit from the Section 179 depreciation tax deduction for business property. The election provides a tax windfall to businesses, enabling them to claim immediate deductions for qualified assets, instead of taking depreciation deductions over time.

S corporations can provide tax advantages over C corporations in the right circumstances. This is true if you expect that the business will incur losses in its early years because shareholders in a C corporation generally get no tax benefit from such losses. Conversely, as an S corporation shareholder, you can deduct your percentage share of these losses on your personal tax return to the extent of your basis in the stock and any loans you personally make to the entity.

When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the standard deduction available to taxpayers, it also made it harder for people to deduct their charitable contributions. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act added a new deduction for charitable contributions, which is available to any individual who does not itemize.

Many businesses are closed or are limiting third-party access as COVID-19 surges across the United States. These restrictions could still be in place at year end — a time when external auditors traditionally observe physical inventory counts for calendar-year entities. Here’s how you can identify and overcome the challenges associated with inventory counts during the pandemic.

If you own a business, you may wonder if you’re eligible to take the qualified business income (QBI) deduction. Sometimes this is referred to as the pass-through deduction or the Section 199A deduction.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government enacted legislation that includes deferral of the employer’s portion of Social Security tax. The IRS then significantly revised Form 941-X, “Adjusted Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund,” to allow for adjustments and corrections to COVID-19 tax relief on previously filed Forms 941.

Due to the pandemic and current economic climate, unemployment insurance fraud is a growing area of concern. Many states have adopted an online unemployment filing process, which makes it easier for individuals to file legitimate claims but also opens the door for fraudulent claims. A recent data breach with the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) may have exacerbated the problem for Illinois taxpayers; however, this type of fraud is not limited to individuals in the state of Illinois.

A startup franchise needed a solution to integrate POS data into their accounting software. They wanted to automate as much as possible while keeping budget in mind. The POS system needed to send summary data to the backend accounting software, and the franchisees used this data for reporting. The franchisor used the data to create transactions.

The IRS recently announced the 2021 dollar limits and thresholds for retirement plans, reflecting the latest cost-of-living adjustments. Here are some relevant amounts for 401(k)s and similar plans.