SBA Announces Opening of Paycheck Protection Program Direct Forgiveness Portal

Aug 23, 2021

The SBA has published new guidance on PPP loan forgiveness on loans of $150,000 or less. A new portal has been established in which borrowers can request forgiveness directly w the agency instead of going through their lenders. The portal, launched in early August, is the latest attempt by the SBA to make the PPP loan forgiveness process easy and streamlined.

“The SBA’s new streamlined application portal will simplify forgiveness for millions of our smallest businesses — including many sole proprietors — who used funds from our Paycheck Protection Program loans to survive the pandemic,” said Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman.  “The vast majority of businesses waiting for forgiveness have loans under $150,000. These entrepreneurs are busy running their businesses and are challenged by an overly complicated forgiveness process.

The SBA has also created a PPP customer service team that will answer questions and directly assist businesses with their loan forgiveness applications. This team can be reached at 877-552-2692, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

Click here to access the Paycheck Protection Program Direct Forgiveness Portal.

Categories: COVID-19

PPP Deadline Extended Through May 2021

Mar 31, 2021

The PPP Extension Act of 2021 passed by Congress last Thursday has now been signed into law by President Biden. The PPP Extension Act of 2021 expands the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application due date two months from March 31, 2021, to May 31, 2021. With nearly 190,000 pending applications, the law provides small businesses and nonprofits 60 additional days to apply for the roughly $79 billion of funds remaining. This extension comes just two weeks after the American Rescue Plan (ARP) made several changes to the PPP, which we previously outlined here.

An additional provision of the Act allows the Small Business Administration (SBA) until June 30, 2021, to process lender applications.

Categories: COVID-19

$1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Relief Bill Signed Into Law

Mar 11, 2021

Today, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that allocates federal funding to a variety of matters, including aid for vaccinations and testing, state and local governments, schools, rental assistance, restaurants, and the airline industry. It also includes several tax-related provisions and additional business relief.

Here are some of the key individuals and businesses provisions:

Individuals

Stimulus Checks – Funding has been allocated for a third round of stimulus checks. Notable changes include the income cutoff at which payments phase out from $100,000 to $80,000 for individuals and $200,000 to $160,000 for couples filing jointly. Those who qualify will receive the full direct payment of $1,400 per person. Individuals will also receive an additional $1,400 payment for each dependent claimed on their tax returns. Dependents over the age of 17 and qualifying relatives who are claimed as dependents also now qualify.

Unemployment Benefits – Unemployment benefits previously set to expire on March 14 have now been extended almost 6 months to September 6, 2021. In addition, recipients will receive an extra $300 per week through the fall deadline along with making the first $10,200 of benefit payment nontaxable for households with incomed below $150,000. The 10,200 exclusion only applies to benefits received last year, 2020.

Child Tax Credit – A temporary expansion of the existing child tax credit with significant adjustments including those noted below.

  • 17-year-old- children are now able to qualify.
  • Increase of the credit to $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 or $3,600 per child under the age of 6
  • Removal of the $2,500 earning floor
  • Credit is now fully refundable
  • A 50% credit advancement by the IRS paid in periodic payment from July 2021 to December 2021

Low-Income Support – In an effort to target low-income families afflicted by the pandemic, $4.5 billion has been set aside for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, to help families with home heating and cooling costs.

Businesses

Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) – The expanded ERTC provisions under the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) were set to expire on July 1 which has now been extended through December 31, 2021, for eligible employers. In addition, eligibility has been expanded to include start-up businesses established after February 15, 2020, with annual gross receipts of up to $1 million.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – Provides an additional $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and expands eligibility to include nonprofit entities. Importantly, eligible nonprofit organizations would now qualify for a PPP loan as long as they employ not more than 500 employees per physical location (300 per physical location for Second Draw loans) and meet all other criteria.

Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) – The new law also includes an additional $15 billion in funding for targeted EIDL advances. One-third of this EIDL funding is earmarked for businesses that suffered a revenue loss of greater than 50 percent and employ fewer than 10 people.

Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Paid Leave Credits – The new law also extends these tax credit provisions through September 30, 2021. However, adjustments have been made for wages paid between April 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021, including increasing eligible wages to $12,000 per employee (up from $10,000 in 2020), expanding types of leave to include vaccination, and covering as many as 60 days of paid family leave for self-employed individuals (instead of 50 days under previous law).

Industry-Specific Funding

  • Restaurants – A $25 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund has been established for 2021. Grant amounts will be limited to a restaurant’s pandemic-related revenue loss (measured as the difference in gross receipts in 2020 compared to 2019) up to $10 million and limited to $5 million per physical location. For more details on this U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administered program, check out our blog.

Categories: COVID-19

3 Major Changes to PPP Under Biden Administration

Feb 23, 2021

On Monday, the Biden administration announced significant changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) aimed at assisting those businesses who had previously been unable to access funding. These provisions include:

Small Business Priority Window For Applying – Starting Wednesday at 9 a.m. EST, small businesses with fewer than 20 employees will have a two-week exclusive window, ending March 9 at 5 p.m. EST to apply for the funding. During this time, larger businesses will be prohibited from apply allowing lenders to focus on the smallest businesses

Funding Formula Altered for Self-Employed, Sole Proprietors, and Independent Contractors – To improve equitable distribution of loans, the PPP funding formula for these categories of applicants has been modified to allow for more money. Previously self-employed and sole-proprietor loan applicants would use “net income” to calculate their loan amount which dramatically reduced the value of PPP funds as it excluded eligible expenses. Now, this group will use gross income to make such calculations which ultimately will allow for more funds.

Lifted Restrictions for Certain Businesses – Restrictions that once prevented some specific small business owners from obtaining relief have now been eliminated. These include:

  • Business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions are now able to apply for relief whereas before they were prohibited.
  • Business owners delinquent on their federal student loans could initially access PPP funds, but could not receive the loan forgiveness.  New changes allow for this group of individuals to be eligible for forgiveness.
  • Those who do not yet have a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number can apply for PPP funding using their Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). This new modification prohibits lenders from denying PPP funding to business owners who use ITINs to pay their taxes.

These new changes will allow for more businesses to obtain federal funds through the Paycheck Protection Program. Should you have questions regarding your circumstance, please reach out to our PPP Task Force or to your William Vaughan Company advisor.

Connect with Us.

Michelle Klement, CPA

PPP Task Force Partner

419.891.1040 | michelle.klement@wvco.com

Categories: COVID-19

SBA Releases New Forms In Preparation for Paycheck Protection Program Re-Opening

Jan 11, 2021

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the Treasury Department, announced the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will reopen today initially for community financial institutions (CFIs) that serve minority- and women-owned businesses to make loans. Specifically, CFIs can begin making loans to first-time PPP borrowers today and second-time PPP borrowers on Wednesday.

The SBA and Treasury said the PPP would open to all lenders a few days after the opening for CFIs, but they did not specify a date. Borrower loan application forms were also released:

Form 2483 is updated from previous iterations starting with the original PPP program. Form 2483-SD is a new form for qualified PPP borrowers to seek a second draw of a forgivable loan as they try to navigate economic seas churning in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, the SBA released additional guidance outlining top-line summaries of the first-draw and second-draw PPP loans and a pair of procedural notices.

For more information regarding the PPP and second-draw loans under the Consolidated Appropriates Act, 2021, check out our latest webinar here or review our PPP Application Guide here. As always, connect with your William Vaughan Company advisor for questions or concerns.

Categories: COVID-19

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