CATA News

By Peter Welch, NADA President & CEO

 

The coronavirus pandemic has taught everyone in and around the auto industry a number of important lessons.

One of the biggest lessons is that the business of selling and servicing cars and trucks is absolutely essential to the safety and well-being of Americans.

Our personal vehicles have proven instrumental in getting us through this pandemic. They’ve gotten doctors, nurses and patients to hospitals. They’ve gotten researchers to the lab. They’ve gotten our kids to schools when schools are open. And they’ve gotten just about all of us to the grocery store more times than any of us would care to count (or personally owned vehicles have brought the groceries to us).

As we wade through another spike in COVID cases, it is critical that policymakers everywhere remember that not every vehicle sale is a discretionary purchase. Tens of thousands of cars and trucks break down, get totaled in accidents or need to be scrapped every single day in America. Those that can’t be repaired need to be replaced, so auto dealerships must be able to conduct vehicle sales in some capacity no matter how bad conditions are on the ground.

Which brings us to another lesson: Auto dealers are more willing to embrace change and disruption than most people give them credit for.

 

In the early days of the pandemic, dealers scrambled to create an entirely new way of doing business that was safe for their employees and customers, compliant with local health regulations, and convenient and flexible for the scores of customers that simply needed to purchase vehicles or have vehicles serviced.

I personally am so proud of the resiliency, innovation and determination that America’s franchised auto dealers have shown on behalf of their brands and their customers. Dealers see these adaptations as overly positive to their operations and their customer interactions, which is why I have no doubt that this innovation and flexibility will endure long past the pandemic.

What concerns me, frankly, are the lessons that should have been learned, but that haven’t been.

As part of the Summer 2020 Dealer Attitude Survey, the NADA in July asked dealers a series of questions designed to gauge dealer sentiment specifically on conducting business and operating a franchise during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

We wanted to hear from the dealers themselves about what changes to auto retailing were here to stay in a post-COVID world, and about what changes needed to be accelerated to keep up with rapidly changing customer expectations. We also wanted to know what dealers believed their automakers should be focused on — and what they shouldn’t — to support their dealers with this evolution.

Dealers spoke resoundingly and clearly. In fact, the NADA received more than 11,000 dealer responses from the questionnaire.

First, we asked dealers: "Which, if any, of the following business adaptations do you plan to continue post-crisis?" Eighty-two percent of dealers said the digital sales process is here to stay; 73% said home test drives and home delivery will continue; and 65% said home pick-up and delivery for service appointments is here to stay permanently.

This doesn’t mean that these digital services will work for every customer in every instance. We shouldn’t think that way, because it’s false.

In fact, while we know the pandemic accelerated customer adoption of a fully digital sale, we also know that many, many customers will still want to do what they’ve done before, which is start the sales and financing process online, but come to the store at some point to complete the transaction.

But it does mean that dealers must have the capability to make these services work for every single customer who wants to capitalize on them. And most dealers are well on their way to making their own digital retail tools second to none.

Next, we asked dealers to evaluate on a 1-10 scale the importance of six different aspects of the physical store in a post-COVID environment. The most important aspect was location and convenience for customers, scoring a 7 out of 10. In the middle of the pack fell size and capacity of their service center; co-location of sales and service facilities; on-premises customer amenities; and overall facility size.

Ranking last was OEM facility image programs.

This tells us that for most dealers and their customers, what was important as far as facilities at the start of the year has changed significantly in the intervening months.

For many dealers, factory image programs are costly and burdensome even on good days, with little evidence that they ever had a positive influence on a customer’s car-buying experience.

But particularly now, as the digital retail experience evolves even further, most dealers believe OEMs need to rethink their costly and ever changing image programs to better align with the evolving consumer — a customer that places a far higher premium on flexibility and convenience than they do on rigidity and opulence.

 

Finally, we asked dealers to identify where they’d like to see additional focus from their OEMs post-COVID. The number one area, by 11 percentage points, was to simplify incentives to support digital retailing. In fact, 64% of franchised dealers said this has to be the top item their OEMs focus on in order to effectively embrace and harness the change that is happening in customer preferences all across America.

 

And the reason is simple: Because to be successful and credible with digital retailing, dealers have to be able to offer a sales process that is transparent to the consumer. For this reason, OEMs should work even harder to make dealership incentives as simple and non-complex as possible.

 

Throughout 2020, dealers have done a tremendous job working to meet their customers where they are comfortable — physically and logistically — and to provide those customers with the flexibility and transparency they so need and desire.

 

Dealers will continue to do so. The services they provide to their customers—and to the nation—are too important.

 

It is my hope that the rest of the industry, including automakers, heed the lessons already learned, and truly listen to what their own customers are telling them about the importance of convenience, flexibility, transparency and fairness in the vehicle sales process.

 

Businesses have jumped through a lot of hoops this year in order to remain open. With coronavirus vaccines still on the near horizon, proactive companies are incorporating testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into a workplace COVID-19 preparedness, response, and control plan.

Swabbing all employees, coupled with temperature checks and other safety precautions (masks, gloves) can help prevent virus outbreaks and also give peace of mind to a business’s staff.

Many laboratories have sprung up to meet business demands for walk-in clinics or on-site testing to verify whether persons are COVID-19 symptomatic. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that some scammers are promoting unauthorized COVID-19 tests, so make sure to only use tests that are authorized by the FDA.

Two reputable companies operating in Chicago are Belle Meade AMP, (312) 420-4900, and Northshore Clinical Laboratories, (773) 217-5065. Both administer antibody tests that determine who is COVID-19 immune; those individuals would be able to continue to work without having to shut down or lock down an entire population. Results can take up to 48 hours.

For antibody testing, a health care professional takes a blood sample, usually by a finger prick or by drawing blood from a vein in the arm. Then the sample is tested to determine whether the person has antibodies against the virus. The immune system produces these antibodies — proteins that are critical for fighting and clearing out the virus.

Another test, for antigen, detects certain proteins in the virus. Using a long nasal swab to get a fluid sample, antigen tests can produce results in minutes. Because these tests are faster and less expensive than antibody tests, antigen tests may be more practical to use for large numbers of people. A positive antigen test result is considered accurate when instructions are carefully followed, but there is an increased chance of false-negative results — meaning it’s possible to be infected with the virus but have a negative result.

To help employers think through the pros and cons of testing employees for COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance that describes five scenarios in which testing might be effective or appropriate.

In general, employers should be strategic about testing and have a plan for what to do when results are positive, the agency advised in its guidance for testing in non-healthcare workplaces.

Testing is most appropriate in areas where there is moderate to substantial community transmission of COVID-19 and at workplaces where employees are in close contact with each other or the public, the CDC said.

Ben Shapiro, who owns a delicatessen, said some of his employees were apprehensive when he announced plans to test them. But soon, the workers realized how much they depended on one another to remain healthy. 

"They became more of a team," he said.

 

Illinois employers, remember that all employees must be certified by Dec. 31 each year to having received sexual harassment prevention training. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed The Workplace Transparency Act last year after the sweeping legislation cleared both chambers of the General Assembly without opposition. 

 

By statutory mandate, the Illinois Department of Human Rights developed a training template, and a PowerPoint presentation is free at https://www2.illinois.gov/dhr/Training/Pages/State-of-Illinois-Sexual-Harassment-Prevention-Training-Model.aspx. Employees can scroll through it at their leisure, then complete and sign a certificate of completion that is on the last page of the presentation. 

 

Since there is no requirement in Illinois that the training be delivered live, or even be delivered by a qualified trainer, scrolling through the PowerPoint (or identical pdf file) actually satisfies the statutory requirement.

 

Chicago Automobile Trade Association membership dues, unchanged for nearly 20 years, increase in 2021 to $800 a year. The current rate is $400 annually.

Directors of the CATA made the move at their November board meeting amid the uncertainty of a 2021 Chicago Auto Show and escalating costs of providing the member services to dealerships and allied companies during the pandemic.

Billings for legal services are certain to escalate in the months ahead as the association negotiates with unionized technicians on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires next July 31. A favorable contract with unionized technicians would help all area new-car dealerships, whether or not they have Local 701 employees.

The DriveChicago.com portal — free to dealer members and only for members — sends thousands of customers each month directly to dealership vehicle detail pages. In 2021, DriveChicago’s goal is to deliver 100,000 customers to CATA dealers.

In a Dec. 7 letter to all members, CATA President David Sloan noted that the benefits of a CATA membership exceed the annual dues even at $800 a year.

"The CATA board of directors has always sought to deliver benefits to members that far exceed the cost of membership, and it is the CATA’s promise to continue to deliver on that pledge," Sloan wrote.

 

The maximum amount that Illinois dealers can charge in 2021 for documentary preparation fees is $303.60, the Illinois attorney general’s office announced Dec. 10.

The $3.60 increase over the 2020 maximum fee reflects a 1.2 percent rise in the federal Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending Nov. 30. The index is tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor. As always, the DOC fee is taxable and must be substantiated upon request by the attorney general’s office.

The CATA is developing a poster about the DOC fee that dealer members can display. On the poster, the DOC fee amount is left blank for dealers to fill in; any amount up to the maximum allowed may be charged, but all customers should be charged the same amount. Systematically charging one group but not another — all males but no females, for instance — could bring charges of profiling.

Two copies of the poster will be mailed to dealers later this month. For limited additional copies, call the CATA at (630) 495-2282.

IMPORTANT: The new maximum fee cannot be charged before Jan. 1.

 

Lee G. Drabek, 78, principal of Gateway Chevrolet-Oldsmobile-Kia in Chicago from 1987 to 2008, died Nov. 18.

Mr. Drabek also served on the board of directors of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association from 1999 to 2008; and he was a president of the Chicagoland Chevrolet Dealers Advertising Association.

Survivors include a son, Lee "Buddy"; a daughter, Tracey; four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. His wife, Arlene, died earlier this year.

Memorials appreciated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

By MichaelSilver, Certified Public Accountants & CATA member

 

As another tax year comes to a close, it is time to consider dealership tax planning opportunities and year-end tasks. 

 

Year-end planning

1. Owners who operate their businesses as a pass-through entity such as Partnerships and S Corporations are entitled to a deduction of up to 20% of their qualified business income (QBI). The deduction can be maximized through salary planning and entity aggregation.

 

2. The Section 179 expensing limit for 2020 is $1,040,000 with a $2,590,000 investment limit phase-out. This allows businesses to expense the cost of fixed assets such as equipment and furniture and fixtures. This expensing opportunity is also available for certain qualified improvements to property. Consider placing eligible assets into service before the end of 2020 to take advantage of this expensing limit.

 

3. 100% bonus depreciation also can be used to write off the cost of both used and new fixed assets that are placed in service before year end. This is not available if you will need to use the floor plan interest exception to fully deduct interest expense for 2020.

4. If you plan to make any charitable contributions, consider making them in 2020 to receive a tax deduction. Payments by credit card are deductible on the day they are made even if the payment to the credit card company occurs on a later date. With the increase in the standard deduction, consider bunching two years of contributions into one year in order to benefit from itemizing your deductions. 

5. Confirm you have made all required personal and corporate income tax deposits for 2020 and see that your personal income tax withholding is adequate. 

6. Consider maximizing your retirement contributions, $57,000 for defined contribution plans. This $57,000 limit includes your employee elected deferrals ($19,500 for 2020). An additional $6,500 catch-up deferral is allowed for age 50 or over.

7. If you or the dealership own stock that has unrealized losses, consider discussing with your tax or investment professional the benefit of selling them by year end to offset realized gains recognized earlier in the year.

8. Confirm you have substantiation for your 2020 meal and travel expenses. Travel expenses continue to be 100% deductible.  Meals, including those provided to employees, are 50% deductible.  Entertainment expenses are no longer deductible.

9. Accrued interest on loans from shareholders and other related parties, as well as rents, must be paid in order for the dealership to deduct these amounts in the current year.

 

Keep the accounting records open at the end of December 

1. Maximize LIFO deductions. Record all new vehicles that were built and invoiced in 2020 as vehicle purchases in 2020 by keeping the new vehicle purchase journal open the first few days of 2021.

2. You must include a reasonable estimate of your LIFO adjustment for the year on all versions of your December financial statements. There are no exceptions.

3. Compare your actual parts inventory to the accounting parts inventory and make adjustments where appropriate. Have your parts manager determine which parts should be considered worthless and disposed of by year end.

4. Make sure all miscellaneous inventories are adjusted to actual, including labor inventory, sublet, gas-oil-grease, etc.

5. Record December finance chargebacks in December. 

6. Keep your accounts payable journal open to record all 2020 expenses in 2020.

7. If you did not pay your 2020 real estate taxes by year end, adjust your property tax payable account to equal what you anticipate it will be.

8. If any vehicle deal is not a 100% completed deal in 2020 (all paperwork and funding in 2020), then treat it as a 2021 vehicle sale.

9. All wages and commissions paid in 2021 for 2020 services should be accrued in 2020. Make sure the first payroll in 2021 (even though some portion of the payroll was for 2020 services) is not included on your W-2s for 2020, but will instead be on the W-2s for 2021. 

 

a. All accrued payroll for non-shareholders must be paid no later than March 15, 2021 for it to be deductible in 2020. 

b. If you are a C Corporation, make sure you pay any salaries, commissions, or bonuses to stockholders and related parties in December (if their ownership exceeds 50% including related party interests) in order to take a 2020 tax deduction.

c. If you are an S Corporation, wages to a shareholder cannot be accrued and deducted for tax purposes. You must pay them in 2020 and include the wages on the 2020 W-2.

10. Distributions paid to S Corporation shareholders should be equalized in accordance to their ownership percentage before year end.

11. Reconcile, where possible, all balance sheet accounts before closing the year.

 

Additional year-end TO DOs

1. If you are not on LIFO for used vehicles, adjust all of your used vehicles to current wholesale market value at year end. On an annual basis, used vehicle LIFO should be discussed with your tax advisor. 

2. Businesses should consider the "de minimis safe harbor election" to expense the costs of lower value capital assets, materials, and supplies. Regulations allow businesses to write off small asset purchases. The safe harbor amount that can be written off is up to $5,000 per item or invoice if you have an audited financial statement and $2,500 if you do not. However, you can set a write-off policy at any level that is material to you. 

3. Review all past due accounts receivables, including employee receivables. Write off those receivables that are uncollectible.

4. Review prepaid assets and expense all items in this account that are not valid as prepaid at year end.

5. All payroll tax and sales tax payable accounts must equal the actual amount of the applicable taxes paid in 2021 for the 2020 fourth quarter and year-end filings.

6. Compute the Dec. 31, 2020, accrued vacation wages payable and adjust the books accordingly. Accrued vacation wages paid Jan. 1-March 15, 2021, are deductible in 2020 for tax purposes. No vacation accrual is allowed for any shareholders.

7. Review bank reconciliations for checks (including payroll checks over 60 days old) not expected to clear. These checks should be voided and reissued.

 

Year-end tax reporting

1. New IRS Form 1099-NEC must be issued to all businesses that are not incorporated (including LLCs) and received $600 or more during 2020 for payment of services, awards, commissions, or fees for services. This form must be issued for payments to an attorney even if they are incorporated. Form 1099-MISC must be issued for all rents paid to non-corporate taxpayers, including shareholders, and Form 1099-INT must be issued for interest paid to shareholders and any other individuals.

2. W-2s for S Corporation shareholders must include in wages health insurance premiums paid by the corporation. This amount is not subject to social security or Medicare tax.

3. Under the Affordable Care Act, if you have 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees, you are considered an Applicable Large Employer ("ALE"). ALEs are required to complete Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage for all full-time employees. 

 

Review procedures for the use of Demonstrators to ensure you comply with the current IRS regulations

1. All individuals who are provided a demo to drive should sign a written demonstrator agreement.

2. There are two IRS approved methods that can be used for full-time salespeople. The first method, used by most dealers, is the partial exclusion method. Under this method, an amount is added to wages on a monthly basis. The IRS has provided daily income amounts based on the value of the vehicle. For example, for a vehicle valued at $40,000, the daily inclusion is $9. Under this method, employees are not required to maintain logs. The second method provides them with tax-free use of the demo. This method is fairly complicated and restrictive. 

3. For employees who are not full-time salespeople and any other individuals who drive demos, the annual lease value method is used. The amount included in income is based on personal-use mileage and the IRS annual lease table. The IRS requires that logs be maintained in order to verify business versus personal use of the vehicle.

4. The amount included in income is to be added to each employee’s W-2. Non-employee family member income amounts must also be included in the employee’s W-2. This income is subject to social security and Medicare tax. Shareholders not on the payroll and any other non-employees must be issued a Form 1099-MISC for the income. 

5. You can obtain more information about the personal use of autos, including sample demonstrator agreements, by requesting our Dealer Demonstrator Guidelines.

 

Other

1. Form 8300 must be filed if you receive cash in excess of $10,000 from a customer. This includes cashier checks, money orders, and traveler’s checks except those issued by financial institutions requiring a lien on the vehicle.

2. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides refundable tax credits that reimburse you, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave to their employees for leave related to COVID-19 between April 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020. These credits are received on Form 941 payroll tax returns. 

3. If the dealership has a Section 125 plan (cafeteria plan), make sure eligible employees complete the 2021 election forms before the first 2021 payroll. Remember that stockholders owning more than 2% in S Corporations (LLCs, etc.) are not eligible to participate.

4. If you offer a health care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) as part of your cafeteria plan, in order for it to be a qualified benefit under a cafeteria plan, the maximum salary reduction contribution to the health care FSA for 2021 is limited to $2,750. Stockholders owning more than 2% in an S Corporation or an LLC are not eligible to participate. If your company offers a qualified high deductible health insurance plan, you and employees might be able to contribute to individual Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Contribution limits for 2021 are $3,600 for an individual and $7,200 for a family with a $1,000 additional contribution for those who are age 55 and over. 

5. Applications and instructions for PPP loan forgiveness are available at https://www.sba.gov/document/sba-form-paycheck-protection-program-loan-forgiveness-application. Businesses have up to 10 months after their chosen covered period (8 or 24 weeks) to apply for forgiveness.

 

The CATA will issue a special notice following an announcement by the Illinois attorney general’s office, expected Dec. 10, on the maximum documentary service fee that can be charged in 2021.

Annual adjustments to the DOC fee are based on changes in the federal consumer price index.

 

Antioch-based Raymond Auto Group covered $20,000 towards a 2020 Chevrolet Express Cargo van to Open Arms Mission, a local food pantry which recently received a $20,000 grant administered by the Lake County Board. The dealership jumped at the opportunity to cover the remaining $20,000. 

Open Arms Mission provides daily living necessities such as food and toiletries to individuals and families in need while encouraging self-sufficiency. The pantry has remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue serving its community, making health and safety adjustments such as offering a drive-thru distribution to eliminate indoor face-to-face contact. Since last spring, Open Arms Mission has distributed more food — especially to families with children — in an effort to ease food insecurities during the pandemic.

"Raymond Auto Group has served Antioch and surrounding towns for 60 years, and is committed to being there when our community needs a little help," said Mark Scarpelli, president of the group. "This case is no exception."  

The dealer group has partnered with Open Arms Mission for the last decade on various projects to help those in need right within the Antioch community. 

"Our philosophy," said Open Arms Mission Executive Director Marytherese Ambacher, "has always been neighbor helping neighbor, and we feel blessed that Raymond Auto Group stepped up to help us meet the needs of community members who are food insecure,.

"The van will be used to pick up reclaimed food and donations from local grocery stores and deliver food to homebound neighbors."

Local new-car dealers are perfectly positioned to come to the aid of their communities. The Chicago Automobile Trade Association, the area’s new-car dealer association, has been a longtime supporter of local nonprofit organizations. Since the inception of its Chicagoland Dealers Care program in 2008, the CATA has donated more than $100,000 to local charitable organizations supported by its dealer members.

For more information on Raymond Auto Group and the CATA, visit RaymondDeals.com and CATA.info, respectively. For more about Open Arms Mission, see OpenArmsMission.org.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic puts new weight behind two longstanding complaints dealers have with OEMs, said Rhett Ricart, 2020 chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association. Automaker demands for expensive, lookalike facilities, which Ricart calls "mausoleums," are the first dealer complaint. The second is retroactive "stair-step" dealer incentives tied to hitting volume targets.

"Mausoleum mandates do nothing to help the dealers and the customers they serve," Ricart said this month during a webinar hosted by the Detroit-based Automotive Press Association. "If the OEMs think they’re so darned important, they ought to help the dealers with it."

Ricart ties both complaints to the current social-distancing environment imposed by the coronavirus. The NADA has complained for many years about OEM facility requirements — especially, the demand for uniform, corporate appearances.

Several OEMs put facility upgrades on hold during business shutdowns earlier this year. But the NADA is on guard in case some OEMs dust off those plans since sales have bounced back.

Such demands "didn’t do a damn thing to increase customer satisfaction before the pandemic," Ricart said. In his view, they make even less sense during the pandemic, when many customers want to avoid the dealership completely.

There always will be some customers who want to come to the dealership to get questions answered, and to see, hear, feel and smell the cars and trucks for themselves, Ricart said.

However, he said the pandemic has sped up the evolution of the dealership showroom to "more of a delivery center," where customers do most of the shopping and buying online and only come to the dealership to take possession — unless they opt for home delivery.

Under the circumstances, building a big showcase is out of touch with the new reality, Ricart said.

When a dealer builds a new building, "We’ve got to keep it for 30, 40 years from now," he said. "I think if you look around in 30 years, any building you have now is not going to look like a building you need, period."

Compared with OEM facility demands, tying COVID-19 to the NADA’s longstanding objection to stair-step incentives is a bit more of a stretch.

The NADA’s basic argument remains the same, Ricart said: Retroactive, stair-step incentives distort the market, create customer distrust and hurt the brand image for both the dealership and the OEM.

Ricart didn’t name any OEMs. Jared Allen, a spokesman for the NADA, said separately that Ricart was speaking in general terms about the entire industry.

What happens is, to earn the maximum dealer incentive per unit, say, for a whole month’s target volume for a certain vehicle, the dealership has to hit the target or else lose the per-unit bonus for the entire number, including the vehicles that are already sold. That’s the retroactive part. Dealerships that might miss the target are likely to drop prices at the end of the month.

"You come in one week and it’s one price, then you come in next week and it’s not the same price," Ricart said. "Nobody would like that on a big purchase, whether it’s a washer-dryer, or a hot tub, or anything."

The tie-in with COVID-19 is that during the pandemic, more customers are switching to digital shopping, at advertised prices, Ricart said.

"For the last eight months … digitization has made pricing so easy to understand," he said. "If you advertise a price online, that’s pretty much your best price."

That is, unless a stair-step incentive complicates pricing. "If we regress in this area, it is our customers that will suffer," Ricart said.