The Wisconsin Restaurant Association (WRA) agrees a discussion is needed regarding the current federal minimum wage. It has been over a decade since it was increased, and those discussions are overdue. The WRA is ready to have a conversation about a balanced way to address wage levels—including preserving the tip credit—in the hospitality industry and the unique impact any change would have on the its employees and restaurant operators.
0 Comments
WRA Annual Meeting
Monday, February 6th, 2023 at 9:00 am Virtually streaming from the Concourse Hotel, Madison Information on how to connect remotely to the annual meeting will be posted in mid-January. Click here to find the agenda, 2022 minutes and a proxy form link if you are unable to attend and would like a WRA representative to cast your vote for you. If you will not be attending, please click here to send back the proxy notice. If you have any questions, please feel free to call your WRA office at 800.589.3211. That’s a wrap! The all-new Restaurant Insights Summit was held last week in Green Bay at the Resch Expo, and it was a great success. A powerful 24 hours was filled with outstanding programming presented by the best of the best in our industry. Attendees, presenters, and exhibitors spent the time in Green Bay—together—collaborating, socializing, and partnering to continue moving our industry forward in 2023. WRA is the proud host of this well-received, unique event that we crafted into an intimate, forward focused conference. On occasion the Department of Revenue's Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Unit confiscates contraband alcohol beverages. The DOR is authorized to sell the confiscated product to the highest bidder. Many times, bottles sell well below wholesale price.
This sale consists of 1,430 bottles of Taxed Intoxicating Liquor. Bids for the entire lot will be accepted from either a wholesale permittee or persons licensed to sell wine at retail (Class A or B Liquor License). Items within the lot may NOT be bid on separately. Sealed bids must be received at 265 W Northland Ave., Appleton, WI not later than November 22, 2022. Bid opening at 9:00 am on November 28th, 2022. Successful bidder must pick up product by December 16, 2022. Product is located in Madison, WI. The IRS is warning small businesses about “improper” claims for the employee retention tax credit (ERTC). As you know, restaurants were uniquely qualified for the COVID-related ERTC due to partial closure orders and/or revenue declines in 2020 and three calendar quarters of 2021. However, the IRS is reporting that some third-party companies are offering bad advice to small businesses regarding eligibility or the estimated value of the ERTC. We urge you to closely review the information from the IRS. Click here to see the IRS press release. An ERC Company That You Can Rely On We at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association know how important it is to be comfortable with the companies that you choose to do business with. Especially when it involves your finances. WRA, along with many of its other state restaurant association partners across the country, has partnered with Adesso Capital to offer ERC filing services. Adesso provides concierge financial services to small and mid-sized businesses. And when the pandemic drove business into a downturn, Adesso assembled a team of tax experts to help businesses maximize the federal COVID relief available to them. Adesso takes compliance and qualifications very seriously. Adesso also has other guardrails in place to protect their clients.
Click here to read Adesso’s statement on the recent IRS warning. Q2 2023 Deadline for Q2 2020 Filing Have you claimed your ERC dollars yet? It not, the first deadline is coming up in Q2 of 2023. You have until then to amend your Q2 2020 taxes and claim your employee retention credit if you qualify. We encourage you to sign up for a 10-minute consultation with an Adesso ERC tax expert to see if you have money to claim. So far Adesso has filed for nearly $5 million in ERC dollars in just the past few months for restaurant owners in Wisconsin alone and over $300 million across the country. Check Today To See If You Qualify for ERC Want to talk about this first, feel free to reach out to Dawn Faris – 608.444.9481 – dfaris@wirestaurant.org On occasion the Department of Revenue's Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Unit confiscates contraband alcohol beverages. The DOR is authorized to sell the confiscated product to the highest bidder. Many times, bottles sell well below wholesale price.
This sale consists of 925 bottles of Taxed Intoxicating Liquor. Bids for the entire lot will be accepted from either a wholesale permittee or persons licensed to sell wine at retail (Class A or B Liquor License). Items within the lot may NOT be bid on separately. Sealed bids must be received at 265 W Northland Ave., Appleton, WI not later October 17, 2022. Bid opening at 9:00 am on October 8th, 2022. Successful bidder must pick up product by October 31, 2022. Product is located in Madison, WI. Central Standard Craft Distillery Co-Founders Evan Hughes and Pat McQuillan are launching a month-long campaign encouraging Wisconsinites to request hand-crafted brandy from local, family-owned distilleries in their Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned cocktails and has created the Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame. Individuals deserving of Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame status can be nominated for this unique honor. Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame inductees get some fantastic perks:
Nominations will be accepted through September 30, the last day of Brandy Old Fashioned month. A panel of judges will select the inaugural class of Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame inductees based on the strength of their nomination and their Brandy Old Fashioned story. The honorees will be announced in mid-October. September is Brandy Old Fashioned Month in Wisconsin! Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has proclaimed September Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned month and the first day of fall (Sept. 22 in 2022) as Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned Day. The Wisconsin Restaurant Association encourages all of our members to exercise their right to vote and participate in each election. This primary has two high profile statewide primaries—Democrat candidate for US Senate and Republican candidate for Wisconsin Governor. There are other statewide office primaries, along with races in Wisconsin Assembly and Senate districts. To check and make sure you are a registered voter, to see where your polling place is located or to request an absentee ballot, go to MyVoteWisconsin. If you are interested in discussing issues important to the restaurant industry and how they play out for any of the primary races, please email squam@wirestaurant.org to set up a time to talk with a WRA Public Affairs team member. Are you supporting a candidate? Many WRA members are active supporters of candidates for Wisconsin Assembly and Senate and make personal donations to their campaigns. If you are already making personal contributions to candidates, please consider making those contributions through the WRA’s Bipartisan Conduit Fund. The WRA Conduit fund helps you distribute your personal funds to any candidate for local or state office, at any time. As an individual, you have full control over your political contributions. The WRA Conduit is a bipartisan fund and contributions can be made to any registered candidate, regardless of political affiliation or party. Keep in mind that contributions to conduit must be personal contributions, not from a business. All contributions via the WRA Conduit not only give you credit to the candidate’s campaign, but WRA as well. Please contact Susan Quam, WRA Executive Vice President to learn more the WRA Conduit and how you can use it for supporting the candidates of your choice. Having video gambling machines at your establishment is (and has been) illegal in the state of Wisconsin. The state of Wisconsin informed WRA of a recent court decision regarding the penalties for businesses who provide video gambling machines in their establishment. Businesses that do NOT have a Class B liquor license that provide video gambling machines in their establishment can incur serious penalties including fines of up to $10,000, imprisonment, revocation of alcohol beverage license, removal of video gambling machines and closure of business as a public nuisance. Local law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions have begun enforcing this law. Penalties for establishments WITH a Class B license are different and generally constitute a misdemeanor. Questions? Email or call the Ask WRA Team at 608.270.9950 The news that we did not get the RRF replenishment bill through was a gut-punch to our Wisconsin Restaurant Community. Everybody, including myself and my entire team at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, are upset and, honestly, scared for the future. Even though we are crushed by the outcome, it was not without a great deal of effort on your part and on ours. I want to share some of the actions and activities that have been part of our ongoing efforts to tell the story of devastation and impact the pandemic has, and continues to have, on our industry. We knew from the beginning Congress did not fully fund the RRF and replenishment was an uphill climb, but one that was critically necessary. The likelihood of replenishment was always a longshot, but that did not stop us from working to overcome every obstacle we could. Through your calls, messages, emails and engagement through our action alert system, many thousands of messages had been sent during this fight to that end, I wanted to provide you with a more detailed outline of what and how the WRA and National Restaurant Association have been working on your behalf:
There is no other issue in our history that garnered more action from you, our members. Thank you for your passion and unwavering support of these efforts. We hear you and you can be rest assured that we will continue to fight for our industry in every way possible. We will continue to engage on a host of issues critical to your success and recovery efforts will remain a top focus for us at the local, state, and federal levels. Though RRF replenishment is likely no longer an option, we will continue to fight in any way possible to help our industry survive. Kristine Hillmer
President & CEO Wisconsin Restaurant Association |
Archive
May 2024
Categories |