Small businesses that manage to get their Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven may find themselves losing valuable tax breaks, according to new guidance from the Internal Revenue Service.
Companies that qualify for loan forgiveness under legislation Congress approved won’t be able to deduct the wages or other businesses expenses they paid for using the loan, according to an IRS notice published Thursday.
“This treatment prevents a double tax benefit,” the agency said in the notice. “This conclusion is consistent with prior guidance of the IRS.”
The guidance clarifies a point of confusion in the $670 billion small business loan program to help businesses struggling as the coronavirus has brought the economy to a standstill. The law states 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.
Matthew Commons is CFO at Transparent Energy. He has more than 25 years of financial executive experience across both public and private equity-backed companies. He also serves as president of Commons Partners LLC.
Ian Drysdale is CEO of One Inc. since 2021. Named one of the top CEOs in insurtech in 2025. Ian brings over 30 years of senior leadership experience from major payments platforms, including Zelis, Elavon, and WorldPay.
Before joining One Inc, Ian was executive in residence at Great Hill Partners, focused on investments and advisory in the financial technology sector. He holds a BA from Bishop's University in Canada and an MBA in International Business from Florida Atlantic University.
Pankaj "Romy" Malviya is a renowned technologist, patent holder, and serial entrepreneur with a track record of building transformative enterprise software companies. He is the founder and CEO of Pulpstream, which he established with the
vision to streamline business processes through innovative technology solutions. Malviya's entrepreneurial ventures have consistently resulted in successful exits, with his products being utilized by some of the largest companies in the world.
The tax code permits companies to write off businesses expenses, such as wages, rent and transportation expenses, but generally doesn’t allow write-offs for tax-exempt income.
The ruling adds to the list of stumbling blocks facing businesses as they try to qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program loans.
Small businesses have reported technical issues in trying to apply for the funds, which restarted Monday after the first round of funding ran out after just 13 days.
The program, run by the Small Business Administration, provides funds to cover eight weeks of payroll costs and the loans are forgiven if the employers keep workers on the job or quickly rehire laid-off workers.