The American Rescue Act was signed into law last March 11, and provides additional pandemic relief for small businesses, adds grants for restaurants, increases funding for grants for entertainment venues, and makes changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Now that the dust has settled, what does this mean for your business?
$7.25B in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Funding
The new law adds about $7.25 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program. This popular program provides forgivable loans to small businesses, independent contractors, freelancers, and proprietors. The loans will only be forgiven, however, if at least 60% of the money is used to support payroll expenses and the remainder goes to mortgage interest, rent, utilities, personal protective equipment or other business expenses.
PPP loan forgiveness is also expanded to include payments made for premiums on behalf of individuals who qualify for COBRA health insurance continuation coverage. The expansion applies only with respect to loan forgiveness applications received after March 10, 2021.
The rules of the program have been changed to target businesses that have suffered revenue declines and expanded to include more eligible businesses. This time around, money has been set aside specifically for businesses in low-income communities.
The final day for applications is on March 31, although there is new legislation that proposes to extend the deadline two months through the end of May. You can apply by finding a Small Business approved lender here.
What This Means for Your Business
Whether or not you took out a PPP loan the first time, if your business had continued to struggle in 2020, consider applying if you believe your business qualifies. These loans, just like the first round, may qualify for full forgiveness. And if you didn’t apply the first time because you didn’t think your business was big enough, now may be the time to consider it, as second draw PPP loans put even more emphasis on very small businesses (300 employees or fewer).
Again, these funds are forgivable, so if you realize you might have qualified for more in loan funds the first time, having that cushion could be what your business needs to get through the coming months.
Using Your PPP Loan for Employee Benefits
At least 60 percent of the PPP loan must be used to fund payroll and employee benefits costs.
What does this mean? In addition to salaries, the rules include, “covered benefits for employees (but not owners), including health care expenses, retirement contributions, and state taxes imposed on employee payroll paid by the employer (such as unemployment insurance premiums).”
So yes, you can use the PPP loan towards the health plan premium that you pay for or partially pay for. However, ‘payroll costs’ do not include expenses for group health care benefits paid by employees (or beneficiaries of the plan) either pre-tax or after tax, such as the employee share of their health care premium.
Where and When to Apply
You can apply through any existing SBA lender. The final day for applications is on March 31, although there is new legislation that proposes to extend the deadline two months through the end of May. You can apply by finding a Small Business approved lender here.
Things are looking hopeful that the economy will recover in 2021. But regardless of this recovery, many small businesses still need help recovering from the devastating financial impact of the prior year. Our advice for employee retention? Take advantage of as many of these stimulus programs as you can.
The full American Rescue Plan Act can be found here.
