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.
Serhat Guven is Willis Towers Watson’s Insurance Consulting & Technology Global Leader for P&C Pricing, Product, Claims, and Underwriting propostion. He and his team are responsible for the delivery of consulting services and technology solutions that are uniquely designed to help insurers respond to significant industry trends; as well as provide carriers support in core areas that are fundamental for effective business management and profitability.
Prior to his current role, Serhat Guven was Willis Towers Watson’s Regional Line of Business Leader for the Americas. In this capacity he was responsible for go to market strategy and development of the full range of consulting services and software solutions to insurance companies. Before joining Willis Towers Watson, Serhat spent nine years in a variety of positions at United Services Automobile Association (USAA), where he was the technical expert on multivariate pricing, demand modeling, classification and tiering analysis, territorial ratemaking, and data management.
Serhat’s primary area of expertise is developing advanced analytics solutions for a wide variety of insurance applications.
In May 2021, Marlene was selected as a senior analyst in RSM’s cutting-edge Industry Eminence Program, which positions its senior analysts to understand, forecast and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the insurance industry. As an accomplished leader, she brings her clients a matchless perspective having spent more than 20 years in the insurance industry.
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.