In response to rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted a Regional Stay At Home Order Dec. 5, 2020. The order will be enforced in regions where ICU capacity drops below 15 percent. The order impacts several sectors of business and notably the food and beverage industry. Restaurants are only allowed to be open for takeout or pick [...]

Also by Scott Ehrlich (Partner, Sklar Kirsh) In any transaction where a business changes hands, a buyer generally wants to make sure that there is no unpleasant surprise after making payment. Equally, a seller does not want to be concerned by a potential claim from the buyer after the sale. Therefore, various mechanisms have been developed to protect the parties in [...]

by Jason E. Squire GHJ’s Movie Business Podcast Series features Ilan Haimoff, Partner at GHJ, talking to Jason E. Squire, Professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts and Editor of The Movie Business Book Fourth Edition, about his predictions for the entertainment and media industry in 2021. Click here to find out what is on the horizon for streaming services, movie r [...]

UPDATED ON 1/13/21 QUESTIONGHJ OBSERVATION Is forgiveness available for PPP-2 loans? Yes. The forgiveness calculation and process is similar for PPP-2 loans as for the first round of funding. Importantly, the use of funds is expanded to cover additional areas including operations expenses, property damage costs, supplier costs and worker protection expe [...]

On Dec. 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“the Bill”), which is a comprehensive bill including COVID-19 relief, tax extenders and funding for the Federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2021. In addition to providing for a second round of PPP loans, the Bill contains some notable tax provisions, perhaps the most signi [...]

Under the current law, and prior to Proposition 19 (Prop 19), a parent could transfer (a) a primary residence, regardless of value or (b) up to $1 million of assessed value of real property (other than primary residence; such as vacation home, rental property etc.) to their children without a reassessment of property base value. In other words, the property taxes woul [...]

Originally published in the Los Angeles Business Journal Staying on a mission — no matter what obstacles stand in the way — is challenging for any nonprofit. Add in a pandemic and things can often get even more complicated, especially for healthcare organizations. COVID-19 is now the leading cause of death in the U.S. according to an article in Live Science that d [...]

Earlier this year the IRS issued Notice 2020-32 declaring their position that expenses paid with forgiven PPP funds would not be deductible for federal tax purposes. The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has taken the same position for California tax purposes. While this was unwelcome news for taxpayers (and may have been contrary to lawmakers’ intentions), it left some open [...]

On August 31, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 3088. AB 3088 provides a statewide framework for temporarily preventing evictions due to non-payment of rent that comes due between Sept. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021 for residential tenants who are under financial distress as a result of COVID-19. For rent payments that were due between March through August 20 [...]

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations are experiencing critical interruptions to operations, which in turn has impacted their ability to meet contractual obligations. Due to their inability to perform, businesses are asking if they can avoid a contractual breach by invoking what is known as a “force majeure clause to excuse performance temporarily [...]