CPAs have not been untouched by the pandemic; their industry, too, faces specific challenges directly pertaining to the pandemic. These challenges come in the form of different deadlines, IRS closures, various tax credits, stimulus payments, and amendments to law during tax season.

The IRS closed in March of 2020 due to the threat of the pandemic, and as of Summer 2021, was still in the process of slowly reopening facilities. This closure meant that employees were working from home, or on furlough, while tax returns and other tax-related communications rolled into the temporarily closed IRS facility. Citizens who mailed in their tax returns or estimated tax payments during this period of time are most likely still waiting for the process to be fulfilled as the IRS had millions of backlogged mail. Unfortunately for their clients and their own peace of mind, CPAs could do nothing to rectify this situation. It was certainly equally stressful for CPAs to not receive their clients’ filed tax returns, estimated tax payments, and other related matters. General communication with the IRS was/is also virtually impossible, which makes it even more difficult to determine the status of anything. These issues may take months, if not years, to fully unravel and rectify.

Despite the pandemic and the closure of the IRS, there were many federally implemented changes to either tax deadlines, tax law, or the creation of credits and payments that would eventually affect the accounting industry. While it is not necessarily uncommon for the government to move the tax filing deadline, the circumstances for this movement were unique, and the deadline was extended further out than normally done. Deadlines for tax extension payments and for retirement contributions were also altered. Licensed accounting professionals were expected to keep up with these random, sudden changes as they occurred to keep their clients informed, even when the occurrences weren’t clear or were unprecedented with no prior examples for reference.

A widely-documented and much-discussed phenomena is occurring in the housing market right now – homes are being listed well above the estimated value, and furthermore, people are buying these houses at amounts even higher than the already inflated asking price. Home inspections are being waived and offers are being rejected if buyers try to suggest them. Sellers are heavily counter-offering. Buyers are putting down fully cash offers. Deals are closing within 3 weeks. The list goes on. If there were two words to describe the housing market for most of 2020 and 2021, the words would be “frantic” and “unprecedented.” Real estate brokers have adapted to these conditions now, but what about the theoretical inevitable stagnation of these conditions?

Many economics and real estate industry experts have been hypothesizing for months if, and when, these aforementioned conditions will change and the market will revert to a calmer, more seller-buyer balanced harmony. Generally speaking, there are multiple reasons why these conditions cannot be sustained or will not sustain themselves. Although the demand is extremely high, the reasons for it are subject to change. Conditions of the pandemic have created these circumstances by which people either have the freedom to move elsewhere due to the prevalence of remote work, or because staying at home for so long has caused individuals to reevaluate their home space and to pursue better ventures. Similarly, sellers are listing their houses solely, in many cases, just to get a chance to sell their houses at a higher price than valued due to the high demand from buyers. If a buyer purchases a home above the asking or listing price, they could have trouble reselling the home when the market calms down or lose their equity when the amount they purchased it for is impossible to recapture upon selling it. While this does not necessarily affect the market overall, it certainly affects the experience of the seller and buyer.

If the conditions of the pandemic effectively created the market as it is, then the eventual improvement of the current health crisis may also affect the duration of this frantic, unprecedented market. As infections reduce and businesses reopen, and society goes back to “normal,” priorities and needs will inevitably change. The waves generated by the fervency of buying and selling will calm down, and people will either stay rooted and enjoy their new neighborhoods and cities, or alternatively, feel trapped by their decision and unable to resell at the amount in which they purchased the house. Just as they had to learn to navigate the current market, licensed professionals in the real estate industry will also have to (re)learn how to navigate calmer and smoother waters. Market literacy is a must.

Even before the pandemic began in March of 2020, the city of Chicago had been collecting data that residents are moving out of downtown to other parts of Illinois, or even out of state. Despite a couple of particularly pandemic-contingent experiences, the pre-pandemic reasons are mostly similar to the current conditions that are encouraging people to move away from the heart of the city.

Identifying a couple of pandemic-contingent situations that very obviously influence the want and need to leave downtown are lack of activity and lack of amenities. It is certainly a benefit to live downtown amongst numerous restaurants, museums, various stores, and pretty much every other possible resource a resident could possibly want. If one works downtown, there is also the allure of a short commute. The accessibility of all these experiences was also one of the main reasons why cost of living is/was so high downtown. With the pandemic, most people started working from home and most facilities closed. Suddenly there were no restaurants open, no stores, completely empty streets, and with this, lack of ability to use most or all the amenities of living downtown.

With downtown Chicago effectively being a ghost town, residents who paid what was considered high cost of living felt they were paying an exorbitant amount for a downtown residence with none of the benefits that they had previously experienced. Thus, with no incentive to stay downtown, many individuals took this rare and peculiar opportunity to move to the suburbs of Chicago, or further north. In general, real estate brokers have noted the surge of prospective homebuyers that are funneling out from downtown, which also leads to the current housing boom we are experiencing.

Since the global pandemic began in March of 2020, it has transformed and altered many professional industries. Although it is one of the most disturbing and tragic components of the pandemic, the rate of death associated with COVID-19 has severely impacted the working conditions and environment of, of course, physicians and nurses who work in a medical setting, but less often discussed are how licensed professionals in the funeral home industry have experienced and managed the COVID-19 Pandemic.

There are a variety of factors within the conditions of the pandemic that uniquely and directly affect funeral home directors and embalmers. When epidemics or pandemics occur, there is commonly a large increase in deaths, sometimes known as “excess deaths.” Funeral homes, which are equipped to handle sometimes just several deceased individuals in one day (depending on the size of the facility), become overburdened and overwhelmed with the deceased. This manifests in multiple ways. First, there is the physical and logistical issue of having too many bodies for the facility. This creates the conditions by which funeral homes must rent refrigerated trucks to store bodies in the interim while they work on others, or temporary storage solutions like pallets or wooden boxes. This can also result in mass storage sites for bodies that have already been prepared or unclaimed bodies. Alongside the logistical issue of having excess deaths is the emotional and mental toll upon the licensed professional. While funeral home directors and embalmers are very acquainted with death, the emotional turmoil of experiencing their facilities struggle to adapt to the surplus of deceased individuals, in addition to the trauma of the effects of the pandemic, can greatly affect their ability to perform their duties.

With the chaos of the pandemic as described above, it can lead to various situations and oversights that could invite investigation of one’s license or even generate complaints that the IDFPR will investigate. If facilities are unable to keep up with the demand, and these licensed professionals are subject to traumatic conditions, then it is inevitable that protocols might be adjusted, things might slip through the cracks, records might falter, corners might be cut, or a variety of other situations. It is important to try and maintain diligence and normalcy within these situations, yet the inevitability of error is always present in such situations.

In January 2020, the Adult Use Act 410 ILCS 705 came into effect. Adults over the age of 21 years old are now able to legally purchase cannabis for recreational use from licensed dispensaries across the state.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDPFR) has the sole authority to regulate cannabis dispensaries and its employees. However, the rules governing dispensary agents are murky. We outline preventative measures all dispensary agents can take to reduce the risk of compliance violations.

Agents and Agents-in-Charge

Dispensary employees are designated as “agents” for purposes of regulation, while dispensary managers are designated as “agents-in-charge.” Both must hold valid agent identification cards and must comply with the following: