Congress Reaches Deal on $450 Billion Package
COVID-19 Daily CommunicationsInformation accurate as of 04/21/20
Highlights:
PPP & EIDL Loan Update
Congress appears to of passed a new $450 billion stimulus deal--with another $370 billion earmarked for popular small business funding programs. The new package is expected to add about $310 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The program's initial $349 billion allotment was exhausted after just 14 days. The new round of funding would also add $60 billion the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL). While the replenished funds undoubtedly will be helpful for businesses that have been hard hit by the pandemic and unable to secure Covid-19 financial relief, this next tranche is expected to go quickly--perhaps even outpacing the first round.IRS Employee Retention Credit
The Employee Retention Credit is a fully refundable tax credit for employers equal to 50 percent of qualified wages (including allocable qualified health plan expenses) that Eligible Employers pay their employees. This Employee Retention Credit applies to qualified wages paid after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021. The maximum amount of qualified wages taken into account with respect to each employee for all calendar quarters is $10,000, so that the maximum credit for an eligible employer for qualified wages paid to any employee is $5,000.
Eligible Employers for the purposes of the Employee Retention Credit are those that carry on a trade or business during calendar year 2020, including a tax-exempt organization, that either:
Fully or partially suspends operation during any calendar quarter in 2020 due to orders from an appropriate governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19 or;
Experiences a significant decline in gross receipts during the calendar quarter. A significant decline in gross receipts begins with the first quarter in which an employer’s gross receipts for a calendar quarter in 2020 are less than 50 percent of its gross receipts for the same calendar quarter in 2019.
Eligible employers will report their total qualified wages and the related health insurance costs for each quarter on their quarterly employment tax returns, which will be Form 941 for most employers, beginning with the second quarter. The credit is taken against the employer's share of social security tax, but the excess is refundable under normal procedures. In anticipation of claiming the credit, employers can retain a corresponding amount of the employment taxes that otherwise would have been deposited, including federal income tax withholding, the employees' share of Social Security and Medicare taxes, and the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare taxes for all employees, up to the amount of the credit, without penalty, taking into account any reduction for deposits in anticipation of the paid sick and family leave credit provided in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
Main Street Lending Program
The Federal Reserve has not yet released full details about its Main Street Lending Program, under which the Reserve Bank will set up a program to purchase 95 percent participations in loans originated by eligible lenders. Lenders will retain 5 percent of the loans. U.S. businesses are eligible for loans if they meet either of the following conditions: (1) the business has 10,000 employees or fewer; or (2) the business had 2019 revenues of $2.5 billion or less. Loans would have a four-year maturity, and principal and interest payments on the loans will be deferred for one year.
State and Local: Cities Offering Emergency Business Relief Programs
Covington: city website, checklist and application
Fort Thomas: city website, press release, application, promissory note
Newport: city website, guidelines, pre-application
Fort Mitchell: city website, article
Business helping Business: The U.S. Chamber has launched the Save Small Business Fund, a pillar of the Save Small Business Initiative. The program provides $5,000 supplemental grants to small employers in economically vulnerable communities.
NKY Chamber Daily: http://www.nkychamber.com/news/covid-19/
US Chamber of Commerce:https://www.uschamber.com/members/small-business