COVID-19 Relief Services

Yes, but there are some requirements that need to be met in order to do this.

Yes. It was determined that the relationship of a crewmember, described in Section 3121(b)(20) of the Internal Revenue Code, and a fishing boat owner or operator is analogous to a joint venture or partnership for PPP purposes. As a result, a fishing boat owner may include compensation reported on Box 5 of IRS Form 1099-MISC and paid to a crewmember described in Section 3121(b)(20) of the IRC, up to $100,000 annualized, as a payroll cost in its PPP loan application.

No. If a fishing boat crewmember obtains his/ her own PPP loan and seeks forgiveness of that loan based in part on compensation from a particular fishing boat owner, the fishing boat owner cannot also obtain PPP loan forgiveness based on compensation paid to that same crewmember. This restriction applies only if the crewmember is performing services described in Section 3121(b)(20) of the IRC for the particular fishing boat owner. This restriction is necessary to prevent fishing boat owners and crewmembers from claiming forgiveness fro the same payroll costs. As a result, only the crewmember's PPP loan is eligible for forgiveness, and the owner may not obtain forgiveness for any payroll costs paid to the crewmember. The fishing boat owner is responsible for determining whether any of the crewmembers, during the covered period for loan forgiveness, received their own PPP loans. Due to the increased risk of duplicate payroll costs, PPP loans to fishing boat owners are more likely to be subjected to an SBA loan review.

The period beginning on the date of loan origination (disbursement date) and ending on the earlier of a) 24 weeks after disbursement or b) December 31, 2020.

Yes, you can still use the original/ old rule as long as you received your loan money BEFORE June 5, 2020.

1. How much money you have remaining to use from the loan? 2. If you had no drop in pay OR headcount then use 8 weeks. 3. Can you maintain the full-time employees (FTEs) for the entire 24 weeks? d. With 24 weeks, you can hire people to meet the FTE requirement and release them from payroll the next day (only with December 31, 2020 period end).

Yes, but not if you are an owner ``if 24 weeks can not exceed 2.5 months' worth of 2019 compensation or capped at $20,833``. Also, as long as 8 week weeks doesn't exceed 8 weeks of 2019 compensation for sole proprietors and partners capped at $15,385.

For both options, the 60% payroll/ 40% eligible non-payroll cost rule applies.

Ten (10) months after the last day of the covered period.

After you submit your SBA Form 2508 or 3508EZ (with applicable documents) to the lender who serviced your loan, the lender has sixty (60) days from receipt (of completed application) to make a decision regarding loan forgiveness to the SBA. The lender then requests for payment at the time of determination of loan forgiveness. The SBA will, subject to any SBA review of the loan or application, remit the appropriate forgiveness amount to the lender, plus an interest accrued through the date of payment, not later than ninety (90) days after the lender issues its decision to the SBA. The lender is responsible for notifying the borrower of remittance by the SBA of the loan forgiveness amount and on the date on which the full amount of the loan is eligible for forgiveness and remits the full amount to the lender.

Yes

When the date on which the amount of forgiveness determination by SBA is remitted to the lender. (Maximum 150 days; the bank has sixty (60) days and the SBA has ninety (90) days to notify you of your ending loan amount).

Nonpayroll costs include covered mortgage obligations (payments of mortgage interest not including prepaid interest or principal payments) on any business mortgage obligation on real or personal property incurred before February 15, 2020; covered rent obligations including business rent/ lease payments pursuant to lease agreements for real or personal property if in force before February 15, 2020; covered utility payments including business payments for a service for electricity, gas, water, telephone, transportation or internet access for which service began before February 15, 2020. An eligible nonpayroll cost must be paid during the Covered Period OR incurred during the Covered Period and paid on or before the next regular billing date, even if the billing date is after the Covered Period. Eligible nonpayroll costs cannot exceed 40% of the total forgiveness amount.

Interest payments on debt obligations that were incurred before February 15, 2020 other than covered mortgage obligations: payments of mortgage interest (not including prepaid interest or principal payment) on any business mortgage obligation on real or personal property incurred before February 15, 2020.

No. Expenses needs to be incurred and paid during the covered period to be forgiven. With that said, there are open issues on whether payroll costs are deemed incurred and paid when funds are released to a third party payroll provider, or on the date it is paid to the employee. Most businesses are planning to take the former position unless contrary guidance is released in the interim.

No. We do not recommend this unless you are already contributing, and the expenses must be for the covered period.

Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals who had no employees at the time of the PPP loan application and did not include any employee salaries in the computation of average monthly payroll in the Borrower Application Form automatically qualify to use the Loan Forgiveness Application Form 3508EZ or lender equivalent and should complete that application.

The borrower should only take into account decreases in salaries or wages.

In calculating its loan forgiveness amount, a borrower may exclude any reduction in FTE employees if the borrower is able to document in good faith the following: (1) an inability to rehire individuals who were employees of the borrower on February 15, 2020 and (2) an inability to hire similarly qualified individuals for unfilled positions on or before December 31, 2020. Borrowers are required to inform the applicable state unemployment insurance office of any employee's rejected rehire offer within thirty (30) days of the employee's rejection of the offer. The documents that borrowers should maintain to show compliance with this exemption include the written offer to rehire an individual, a written record of the offer's rejection, and a written record of efforts to hire a similarly qualified individual.

Yes. The entire electricity bill payment is eligible for loan forgiveness (even if charges are invoiced separately), including supply charges, distribution charges, and other charges such as gross receipts taxes.

No. Payments of interest on business mortgages on real or personal property (such as an auto loan) are eligible for loan forgiveness. Interest on unsecured credit is not eligible for loan forgiveness because the loan is not secured by real or personal property. Although interest on unsecured credit incurred before February 15, 2020 is a permissible use of PPP loan proceeds, this expense is not eligible for forgiveness.

Yes. Example: A borrower received its loan before June 5, 2020 and elects to use a 24- week Covered Period. The borrower's Covered Period runs from Monday, April 20 through Sunday, October 4. The borrower has a bi-weekly payroll cycle with a cycle ending on Saturday, April 18. The borrower will not make the corresponding payroll payment until Friday, April 24. While these payroll costs were not incurred during the Covered Period, they were paid during the Covered Period and are therefore eligible for loan forgiveness.

A service for the distribution of transportation refers to transportation utility fees assessed by state and local governments. Payment of these fees by the borrower is eligible for loan forgiveness.

As long as a borrower submits its loan forgiveness application within ten (10) months of the completion of the Cover Period, the borrower is not required to make any payments until the forgiveness amount is remitted to the lender by the SBA. If the loan is fully forgiven, the borrower is not responsible for any payments. If only a portion of the loan is forgiven, or if the forgiveness application is denied, any remaining balance due on the loan must be repaid by the borrower on or before the maturity date of the loan. Interest accrues during the time between the disbursement of the loan and SBA remittance of the forgiveness amount. The borrower is responsible for paying the accrued interest on any amount of the loan that is not forgiven. The lender is responsible for notifying the borrower of remittance by the SBA of the loan forgiveness amount (or that the SBA determined that no amount of the loan is eligible for forgiveness) and the date on which the borrower's first payment is due, if applicable.

Nonpayroll costs are eligible for loan forgiveness if they were incurred during the Covered Period and paid on or before the next regular billing date, even if the billing date is after the Covered Period.

Yes. If a lease that existed prior to February 15, 2020 expires on or after February 15, 2020 and is renewed, the lease payments made pursuant to the renewed lease during the Covered Period are eligible for loan forgiveness. Similarly, if a mortgage loan on real or personal property that existed prior to February 15, 2020 is refinanced on or after February 15, 2020, the interest payments on the refinanced mortgage loan during the Covered Period are eligible for loan forgiveness. Example: A borrower entered into a five-year lease for its retail space in March 2015. The lease was renewed in March 2020. For purposes of determining forgiveness of the borrower's PPP loan, the March 2020 renewed lease is deemed to be an extension of the original lease, which was in force before February 15, 2020. As a result, the lease payments made under the renewed lease during the Covered Period are eligible for loan forgiveness.

No. The Alternative Payroll Covered Period applies only to payroll costs, not to nonpayroll costs. The Covered Period always starts on the date the lender makes a disbursement of the PPP loan. Nonpayroll costs must be paid or incurred during the Covered Period to be eligible for loan forgiveness. For payroll costs only, the borrower may elect to use the Alternative Payroll Covered Period to align with its bi-weekly or more frequent payroll schedule.

Transportation fees are actually called ``Transportation utility fees``. Transportation utility fees are a financing mechanism that treats the transportation system like a utility in which residents and businesses pay fees based on their use of the transportation system rather than taxes based on the value of the property they occupy. Some examples of transportation fees include street maintenance utility fees and pavement maintenance utility fees. These fees are assessed by state and local governments.