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.
Megan Ryan is a payments professional specializing in digital innovations and emerging technologies. For five years, until 2026, she worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as a payments policy specialist. At the Federal Reserve she focused on examining how technological advancements are reshaping the way individuals and businesses move money, with attention to the policy implications of these innovations. Her publications have covered the evolution of cryptocurrency and stablecoins, the impact of quantum computing on payments, offline digital payment capabilities, digital identity feasibility, and financial inclusion. She is passionate about understanding the gap between technological possibility and practical implementation, ensuring that payment innovation serves the broader goals of efficiency, security, and accessibility of the financial system. She has a Masters in public policy from Northwestern University and a Bachelors in Marine and Conservation Biology from Seattle University.
Travis Hoffman is a vice president and account executive in B. F. Saul Insurance's commercial lines practice. With over 18 years of experience designing insurance programs for complex commercial needs, he specializes in real estate, contractor risk, and multifaceted coverage analysis.
Jennifer Neal is a vice president and account executive in B. F. Saul Insurance's commercial lines practice. With over two decades of experience in the industry, Jennifer oversees and manages the commercial book of business and assists with agency policies and procedures.
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.”