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.
Dr. Arindam Samanta leads property underwriting product management efforts in the areas of weather and natural hazards, including FireLine, Verisk’s wildfire risk management tool for the insurance industry, and a range of other property risk assessment tools related to hail, wind, and lightning. Additionally, he supports ISO’s personal lines product innovation pipeline and agenda.
Dr. Samanta did his academic and research work at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Caltech, and Boston University. National and international news media—including the BBC, as well as Nature and Science magazines—have highlighted his research. He has contributed to articles and been quoted by trade journals such as Insurance Journal, Business Insurance, CLM Magazine,PropertyCasualty360,Risk & Insurance, and Canadian Underwriter. He has also received Verisk’s highest award: the Verisk Citizenship Award.
Chris Mier is President of Rosebud Strategies LLC
Kristen Griffin is vice president of student services at University of Phoenix
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.