Although the first round of stimulus payments hasn’t yet been fully dispersed, Sen. McConnell is already talking about considering a second round of stimulus payments, as well as a fourth and final relief package. A decision on both items will be made by the end of June.
The Senate bill that would clarify whether payroll-related expenses would be considered deductible in relation to a PPP loan still hasn’t seen much movement, but there is now an identical bill in the House. There has also been co-sponsoring on a bipartisan level in recent weeks, which is encouraging.
A third bill was passed by the House last Thursday. While not technically a part of the PPP “corrections” legislation, it provides excellent flexibility for small businesses who have received the PPP loans but have still been forced to remain closed. The Senate version of the bill is close to a vote and varies slightly from the House version. The House bill proposes that small businesses have 24 weeks to spend the PPP money (instead of eight weeks), while the Senate bill proposes 16 weeks. Additionally, the House bill proposes that instead of requiring busiensses to spend 75% of the loan on payroll expenses, the requirement drops to 60%, allowing greater flexibility for businesses who haven’t been able to get their workforce back but who still need to cover fixed expenses such as rent and utilities. (The Senate bill holds firm at the 75% payroll requirement.) Lastly, if part of your loan is not forgivable, the House bill proposes changing the two-year loan repayment period to five years. (There’s no information currently available as to what the Senate proposes for loan repayment terms.) The final bill that passes will likely be a compromise of both the House and Senate versions. This new legislation will change the interim PPP loan repayment terms that have been published on SBA.gov.
The CARES Act addressed net operating losses (NOL) by giving businesses the ability to take losses they may have incurred and carry them back five years to get back taxes they had paid on previous profits. This is important because the 2017 tax reform bill took away the ability to carry NOLs back; they could only be carried forward. Regardless of the entity type, all small businesses showing losses on their 2018, 2019, or 2020 tax returns will be able to file amendments carrying those losses back and get refunds on taxes previously paid. That will be a huge tax planning consideration for the many small businesses that will incur losses this year, aiding them in cash flow and other decisions that need to be made now.
Heather will now be appearing on the show every Monday to give ongoing updates. Tune in next Monday at noon on the PAC-TV community channel and Plymouth government channel (Comcast 13 and 15, and Verizon 43 and 47), or online at PAC-TV’s streaming channel. You will have the opportunity to ask questions via email. The email address will be shown onscreen during the PAC-TV broadcast.