Helping Our Community

Navigating COVID-19 & Its Impact On Our Local Businesses & Community

Useful Links For COVID-19

Last Updated 5/21/2020
We will always keep the latest news on the COVID-19 developments here for you, and please feel fee to contact us or schedule an appointment if you have any questions or need further assistance though these trying times.

COVID 19 Latest News

 

Some of you may have gotten a letter from your SBA EIDL Loan application as seen below:

We have a video guide (below) to help address these new developments in the EIDL, Paycheck Protection Plan, and some good information on how to get your stimulus checks.

Dear Applicant,

On March 29, 2020, following the passage of the CARES Act, the SBA provided small business owners and non-profits impacted by COVID-19 with the opportunity to obtain up to a $10,000 Advance on their Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). The Advance is available as part of the full EIDL application and will be transferred into the account you provide shortly after your application is submitted. To ensure that the greatest number of applicants can receive assistance during this challenging time, the amount of your Advance will be determined by the number of your pre-disaster (i.e., as of January 31, 2020) employees. The Advance will provide $1,000 per employee up to a maximum of $10,000.

You may be eligible for another loan program, the Paycheck Protection Program, which is available through participating lenders. Below is a comparison of the two loan programs:

 

Paycheck Protection Program

Full EIDL Loan

PURPOSE

Forgivable if used for payroll (minimum of 75% of the funds received) and the remaining for certain operating expenses (amount of any EIDL advance is not forgivable)

To meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could have been met had the disaster not occurred (amount of any EIDL advance is forgiven)

TERMS

Up to $10 million

1% interest rate

Up to $2 million

3.75% for businesses

2.75% for non-profits

FORGIVABLE

YES

NO – EIDL Loan

YES – EIDL Advance

MATURITY

2 years

30 years

FIRST PAYMENT DUE

Deferred 6 months

Deferred 1 year

To locate a Paycheck Protection Program Lender, please visit: www.SBA.gov/PaycheckProtection.

Information on available resources may be found at www.sba.gov/coronavirus. For more information on these services, please go to www.sba.gov/local-assistance to locate the email address and phone number for the nearest SBA district office and/or SBA’s resource partners.

Form 7200

Using Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19, an employer may request advance payment of the qualified sick and family leave credits and the employee retention credit from the IRS, if necessary. 

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Families First Coronavirus Response Act

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act went into effect on April 1st, 2020, and included a couple key pieces of legislation which are detailed below:

  • Emergency Paid Sick Leave 
    Two Weeks (80 hours) at employee’s regular rate of pay where there employee cannot work due to quarantine, and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis.
  • Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act
    Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid leave at two-thrids the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee is not able to work because of a bona fide need to care for a child who is unable to attend child care or go to school for reasons related to COVID-19

Covered employers includes public and private employers with fewer than 500 employees.  Most federal government workers are not covered by this act, unless they are covered by Title II of the FFCRA.

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Paycheck Protection Program

On April 3, 2020, the first loan applications were able to be submitted under the Paycheck Protection Program, providing forgivable SBA loans for:

  • Any small business concern that meets SBA’s size standards (either the industry based sized standard or the alternative size standard)
  • Any business, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 501(c)(19) veterans organization, or Tribal business concern (sec. 31(b)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act) with the greater of:
    500 employees, or That meets the SBA industry size standard if more than 500
  • Any business with a NAICS Code that begins with 72 (Accommodations and Food Services) that has more than one physical location and employs less than 500 per location
  • Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed persons

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We are here, and working hard to help support our community through this crisis.  For the safety of our community, we are taking every precaution and are maintaining an online-first service structure.  If you have access to the internet, we will work with you over the internet and help you solve those tax issues from the comfort of your own home.  In the cases where you aren’t able to work with us remotely, we are still able to safely provide regular services at our office.

Some common questions specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on our customer’s financial health are:

What’s In the Bill?

NPR has a great article here, that details everything in the bill expected to become law.  We’ve done our best to provide pertinent information below as well.

Unemployment Eligibility

On a case by case basis, we can help you determine if you are eligible for unemployment and guide you through the application process.

In general, This bill adds $600 per week from the federal government on top of whatever base amount a worker receives from the state. That boosted payment will last for four months.  Individuals already on unemployment are able to extend their benefits for 13 weeks longer than before the legislation.  Also, typically, self employed people, contractors, and freelancers are not eligible for unemployment; however, this bill creates a new temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program through the end of 2020 to help people that lose work as a direct result of the public health emergency.

Government Payroll Relief

Emergency grants: The bill provides $10 billion for grants of up to $10,000 to provide emergency funds for small businesses to cover immediate operating costs.
All businesses: The bill establishes a fully refundable tax credit for businesses of all size that are closed or distressed to help them keep workers on the payroll. The goal is to get those employees hired back or put on paid furlough to make sure they have jobs to return. The credit covers to 50 percent of payroll on the first $10,000 of compensation, including health benefits, for each employee.

For employers with more than 100 full-time employees, the credit is for wages paid to employees when they are not providing services because of the coronavirus. Eligible employers with 100 or fewer full-time employees could use the deduction even if they aren’t closed.

SBA Loans

We are currently helping many clients through the process of learning how to apply, when to apply, and if they are eligible for Small Business Administration Loans.
The bill introduces expanded funding for the SBA to help with the impact to businesses.

Forgivable loans: Up to $10 million per business. Any portion of that loan used to maintain payroll, keep workers on the books or pay for rent, mortgage and existing debt could be forgiven, provided workers stay employed through the end of June.
Relief for existing loans: There is $17 billion to cover six months of payments for small businesses already using SBA loans.

Budget and Deferral Plans

We are helping our regular clients with budget planning to weather the economic storm caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Let Us Help

Every case is different, and your own circumstances will help us determine the best course of action for you.  Feel free to contact us and schedule some time to discuss your needs.