With President Trump’s signature, PPP has become simpler, more forgiving

Following President Trump’s signature, the PPP Flexibility Act will practically ensure that a surviving business can receive full forgiveness of its loan. Here are the key terms:

• The covered period currently extends for 8 weeks, beginning on the date of loan origination.
  • The new bill would change the covered period to a span:
    • Beginning on the date of loan origination, and
    • Ending on the earlier of:
      • 24 weeks later, and
      • December 31, 2020.
  • However, a borrower who received a PPP loan prior to enactment of the PPP Flexibility Act (i.e., June 5, 2020) may nonetheless opt to keep an 8-week covered period.
• The 75%/25% rule is replaced by a 60%/40% rule, such that at least 60% of the forgiven sum must constitute payroll costs. However, this provision is mostly moot, because a 24-week covered period makes any payroll threshold easier to reach.
• The CARES Act has a safe harbor of June 30, 2020 to re-hire or eliminate pay cuts. Now it is December 31, 2020.
• The headcount penalty will not apply to a given employee/position, if the borrower:
  • is unable to rehire an individual who was an employee of the eligible recipient on or before February 15, 2020;
  • is able to demonstrate an inability to hire similarly qualified employees on or before December 31, 2020; or
  • is able to demonstrate an inability to return to the same level of business activity as such business was operating at prior to February 15, 2020, due to compliance with Covid-19 related restrictions.
• Loans will have a maturity date of not less than 5 years. Currently, SBA has set maturity periods of 2 years.
• The deferral of principal and interest will end at the earlier of (1) the date that the borrower submits a forgiveness application to its lender, and (2) ten months after the covered period ends.
• PPP borrowers will be permitted to delay payments of payroll taxes, which is a provision of the CARES Act previously unavailable to PPP borrowers.

Read the full bill here.

Our firm will be advising borrowers and lenders on forgiveness applications over the next several months. Contact me at [email protected] for assistance.

Tags: Business Law, Capital and Finance