MADA Fast Facts

Legal reminder from Colombo & Colombo, P.C.

As part of the IRS cash reporting rule, on or before the January 31st following the calendar year for which the Form 8300 was filed, dealerships must provide a written statement to each individual who has been identified on a Form 8300. 

Therefore, for transactions that were reported to the IRS for 2021, it is necessary to inform any customer of the Form 8300 filing on or before January 31, 2022. This notification must include the name, telephone number and address of the dealership, the amount of cash that was received by the dealership and that the information has been reported to the IRS.  Please note: The law requires written notification. Merely informing the customer at the time of the sale that you will be filing the Form 8300 is not sufficient. If you sent the customer the notice letter at the time of the transaction, you do not need to send a notice at this time. 

Click Here for a sample letter that the dealership can use to notify the customer of the Form 8300 reporting. Failure to send written notice to customers as specified above can result in civil penalties ranging from $250 to $500 per customer. The IRS recommends that businesses keep a copy of every Form 8300 it files and the required statement sent to each customer for at least five years from the date filed.

An update on the future, franchises, enforcement and operations...

At the end of our article last year on Twenty One issues for ’21, we wished for motor vehicle dealers a 2021 as free from unpleasant surprises as possible. What we got was a year that was Dickensian -- one best described by the opening phrase from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….”

Some of the worst aspects of 2021 for dealers are easy, but painful, to list:

• Severe vehicle inventory shortages due to COVID work interruptions and chip unavailability; 
• Dealing with the uncertainties of a new federal administration dedicated to ending all programs of the previous administration whether they worked or not;
• Continuing to keep the doors open to serve customers with concerns about COVID; and
• Keeping reasonable staffing levels with worker shortages made worse by COVID and employee concerns such as quarantining for suspected COVID infections and arranging schedules for children required to stay home and pretend to learn virtually.

The best aspect for dealers is also easy to list: while new vehicle inventory shortages and shortages of used vehicles were significant problems, they drove dramatically increased pricing unlike anything dealers have seen or are likely to see again in their lifetimes, with resulting record profitability.

What can dealers expect in 2022? More of the same for the first few months, with changes as the year progresses...

Michigan employers are required to post the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2021. The information gathered from these logs greatly benefits employers, workers and MIOSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace and making the necessary changes to eliminate hazards.  

MIOSHA requires most Michigan employers with 11 or more employees to log and maintain these records and make sure they are available in the event of an investigation. 

These records include: 

• MIOSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses)  

• MIOSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report)  

• MIOSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses)  

In accordance with this requirement, employers must post the MIOSHA Form 300A in their establishments from Feb. 1 to April 30, 2022.  

Any employer with 250 or more employees, and employers in a select group of industries with 20 to 249 employees, must electronically submit MIOSHA Form 300A data to federal OSHA between now and March 2, 2022. For questions on OSHA electronic tracking, please visit OSHA’s website.  

Additional recordkeeping information, including general guidelines, forms and FAQs, are available on the MIOSHA website at www.michigan.gov/recordkeeping. 

More than 35 years ago, MADSIF was formed by dealers to develop self-insured workers’ comp plans for dealers. Today we offer the industry’s most competitive plans and proactive loss control services. And because we’re working for our own, we’ve made sure that our plans don’t just help you save money, but put some of it back in your pocket. For information please contact Jennifer Monkiewicz, Fund Administrator, at jmonkiewicz@madsif.com

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If you need a little humor this afternoon, check out the complete list of snowplow names here.

ADM Capitol Corner

Michigan Legislative News from MIRS

Provided by the Auto Dealers of Michigan, LLC.