06/22/2020The U.S Small Business Administration (SBA,) with the help of Treasury, has altered the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application. The SBA also revealed a new EZ application for PPP loan forgiveness.
NOTABLE CHANGES TO THE PPP LOAN FORGIVENESS APPLICATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
- For S corporations, the shareholder portion of employer contributions for employee health insurance are excluded. Instead, they are included in their cash compensation total.
- Borrowers can use safe harbors prior the December 31st forgiveness application deadline. The safe harbors for excluding salary and hourly wage reductions and Full Time Equivalent employee (FTE) reductions from loan forgiveness adjustments can be applied as of the date the loan forgiveness application is submitted.
- Borrowers who received loans prior to June 5 can choose between using the original 8-week covered period or the extended 24-week covered period.
THE NEW EZ APPLICATION
REVISED INTERIM FINAL RULES
The Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act tripled the original 8-week covered period (the period in which PPP funds must be spent to receive forgiveness) and expanded it to 24 weeks. As such, interim final rules have been revised to adjusts and makes additions to prior guidance for calculations under the original 8-week covered period.
The original PPP legislation allowed forgiveness for cash compensation (salary, wages, tips, etc.) limited to $15,385 per individual (8-week equivalent of $100,000 per year). The revised interim rule establishes that the 24-week maximum for full loan forgiveness is increased to $46,154 per individual.
OWNER COMPENSATION LIMITATIONS
Even though the employee compensation limit for the 24-week period is increased, the revised interim final rules aren’t as generous with owner compensation which is limited as follows:
- For 8-week covered period: 8 weeks’ worth of their 2019 compensation up to a maximum of $15,385
- For 24-week covered period: 2.5 months’ worth of their 2019 compensation up to a maximum of $20,833