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.
Michael Cohn, editor-in-chief of AccountingToday.com, has been covering business and technology for a variety of publications since 1985. Prior to joining Accounting Today and WebCPA, he worked for Red Herring, Internet World, Beyond Computing, Accounting Technology and PC Magazine, and freelanced for a variety of other business publications. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in English, he studied accounting at the Wharton School of Business, and currently lives in New York City.
Ori Eisen has spent the last twenty-two years in the cybersecurity and information technology industry, and is respected for his business knowledge and leadership. His background includes an in-depth application of innovative solutions for preventing online fraud.Priorto founding Trusona, Mr. Eisen was the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at 41st Parameter – the leading online fraud prevention and detection solution for financial institutions and e-commerce and travel merchants. 41st Parameter was acquired by Experian in 2013.Prior to 41st Parameter, Mr. Eisen served as the Worldwide Fraud Director for American Express focusing on Internet, MOTO and counterfeit fraud. During his tenure with American Express, Mr. Eisen championed the project to enhance the American Express authorization request to include Internet specific parameters.Prior to American Express, Mr. Eisen was the Director of Fraud Prevention for VeriSign/Network Solutions. By developing new and innovative technologies, he skillfully reduced fraud losses by over 85 percent in just three months.Mr. Eisen has an extensive background in developing system infrastructure and implemented solutions, and he is highly regarded in the information and payment technologies industry as a noted leader and technology innovator. Based on this reputation Mr. Eisen is often quoted by industry insiders, and receives numerous invitations to appear as a keynote speaker for industry events and conferences.Mr. Eisen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Montclair State University.
Phil Cunningham is CEO of Advicent, an enterprise technology solutions provider.
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.”