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.
Kathleen Quinn Votaw is CEO of TalenTrust.
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Dr. David Crabtree grew up in a small mining and farming community in Virginia. He spent many hours shadowing physicians at his local community hospital and witnessed the impact of drugs on his hometown. Dr. Crabtree received an academic scholarship to attend East Tennessee State University, where he graduated summa cum laude and with University Honors. He went on to attend ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine, a school nationally recognized for rural medicine and primary care training. He also used this time to work in DC on health policy and education issues for U.S. Senator Mark Warner.
After earning his MD with AOA honors, Dr. Crabtree headed west for his residency training at the University of California – San Diego. After completing an internship in UCSD’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Crabtree began training in preventive medicine in UCSD’s Department of Family Medicine & Public Health. After residency, Dr. Crabtree completed fellowship training in addiction medicine at the University of Utah.
Dr. Crabtree is board certified in both preventive medicine and addiction medicine and works full time in addiction medicine. Outside of medicine, Dr. Crabtree spends time with friends and his Shiba Inu dog.
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.