By Megan Roberts
Extension's Ag Business Management (ABM) team has updated information on the Payment Protection Program:
The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020,
H.R. 7010, passed both houses of Congress on June 3, 2020 and signed into law on June 5, 2020. The law changes several provisions of the
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), in particular loan forgiveness procedures were updated.
We anticipate being able to provide you with new forgiveness application examples that reflect the law changes in the coming week(s). In our examples, you will see several changes from the new law. Importantly, the June 5th revision allows for 60% or more being used for payroll expenses (and allows federal payroll tax to qualify as a payroll expense) and 40% or less being used for other eligible expenses.
This is a welcome change from a 75% payroll expense and 25% other eligible expenses that had previously been required. Furthermore, beneficial changes were made to the deadline requirements on the loans, the periods required for spending the money, and for safe harbor on any reductions to employee Full Time Equivalency (FTE) during the covered period.
Finally, we want to remind small business owners, including farmers, that PPP loans are still available. If you have not yet applied for a PPP loan, you still can by contacting a participating lender for more information. The loan application deadline remains June 30, 2020, but the time frame for using the funds and still qualifying for forgiveness has been extended up to 24 weeks. Act now to access this important COVID-19 financial relief program.