The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said the Treasury Department “missed the mark” in new guidance that limits tax breaks for businesses that get their Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven.
In a joint statement Thursday, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley and Democrat Ron Wyden said the Treasury is depriving some small businesses of much-needed economic relief by forcing them to choose between getting their PPP loans forgiven or claiming write-offs on expenses they covered with the loan money. The IRS published guidance on the issue Wednesday.
“Regrettably, Treasury has now doubled down on its position in new guidance that increases the tax burden on small businesses by accelerating their tax liability, all at a time when many businesses continue to struggle and some are again beginning to close,” Grassley and Wyden said.
The congressional reaction to the guidance puts additional pressure on the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service to allow taxpayers to claim the expense deductions. Grassley and Wyden encouraged the IRS to reverse its position.
The lawmakers said they are working to include language in year-end legislation clarifying that taxpayers qualify for expense deductions even if their loans are forgiven. That could be included in government spending legislation that Congress must pass by Dec. 11 before federal funding runs out.
Chris Moran, a tax attorney for law firm Venable LLP, said, “the IRS guidance seems to be inconsistent with congressional intent” in the CARES Act, which created PPP loans for businesses struggling from the pandemic. The law stated that the forgiven loan won’t be taxed, but didn’t specify whether companies could still write off the expenses they covered with that money.
Gene Marks, CPA, is a columnist, author, and small-business owner. A past columnist for both The New York Times and The Washington Post, he now writes regularly for The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Forbes Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and Fox Business.
He has written five books on business management, specifically geared towards small and midsized companies. His most recent is "The Manufacturer’s Book of Lists." Nationally, he appears regularly on MSNBC and Fox News as well as The John Batchelor Show and SiriusXM’s Wharton Business Channel, where he talks about the financial, economic and technology issues that affect business leaders today.
Through his keynotes and breakout sessions, Marks helps business owners, executives and managers understand the political, economic and technological trends that will affect their companies and — most importantly — the actions they can take to continue to grow and profit.
He owns and operates the Marks Group PC, a 10-person firm that provides technology and consulting services to small and midsized businesses. Prior to starting the Marks Group, he spent nine years in the entrepreneurial services arm of the international consulting firm KPMG in Philadelphia where he was a senior manager.
Paul S. Hugel, Esq, is an attorney who has been practicing in the federal and state courts of New York for over 20 years. He is a partner in the law firm of Clayman & Rosenberg, LLP and has represented numerous clients in civil and criminal matters arising under United States securities laws. He can be reached at hugel@clayro.com.
Eduardo Singerman, CFE, CPA, is a Litigation Director in the Global Forensics practice at BDO USA, LLP in the firm’s New York office with more than 25 years of experience in public and private accounting. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, and holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Accounting from the City University of New York. He has published articles in Forbes, Accounting Today, The CPA Journal, Benefits Compensation Digest, and Employee Benefit Journal. He can be reached at esingerman@bdo.com.
Excluding the forgiven loan from tax “is essentially meaningless if the expenses funded by the loan are nondeductible,” Moran said.
Still, many taxpayers aren’t expecting to get permission to claim the deductions, from the IRS or Congress, in the short term.
“I think most of them are, at least for now, resigned” to not getting the write-offs, Joe Kristan, a partner at the accounting firm Eide Bailly LLP in Des Moines, Iowa. “They’d certainly like to be allowed by Congress to step in and allow their deductions, but they’re not counting on it.”