The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) was signed into law in late December. The sprawling legislation contains billions of dollars in additional stimulus funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s take a closer look at the provisions that are most likely to affect your company’s bottom line.
Paycheck Protection Program
Background on the loans
In March of 2020, the CARES Act became law. It authorized the SBA to make loans to qualified businesses under certain circumstances. Ultimately, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided up to 24 weeks of cash-flow assistance through 100% federally guaranteed loans to eligible recipients. Taxpayers could apply to have the loans forgiven to the extent their proceeds were used to maintain payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic and to cover certain other expenses.
The CAA includes another $284 billion in funding for forgivable loans through the PPP, for both first-time and so called “second draw” borrowers. New loans can be made through March 31, 2021, or until the funding is exhausted. The new law expands the allowable uses for PPP funds, provides a simplified forgiveness process for smaller loans, and clarifies the proper tax treatment of loan proceeds and forgiven amounts.
Second draw loans
The second draw loans are intended for smaller and harder hit businesses. To qualify for a second draw, a borrower must have no more than 300 employees and have used (or will use) all of the proceeds of its first PPP loan. Borrowers must also demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts in one quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter in 2019. For loans of $150,000 or less, a borrower can submit a certification attesting that it meets the revenue loss requirements on or before the date it submits its loan forgiveness application.
Loans are limited to 2.5 times average monthly payroll costs in the year prior to the loan or calendar year 2019 or 2020, up to $2 million. Accommodation and food service businesses may receive loans for up to 3.5 times their average monthly payroll. Businesses can obtain only a single second draw loan, and businesses with multiple locations that are eligible under the initial PPP requirements can have no more than 300 employees per physical location.
The CARES Act, which created the PPP, limited the funds to payroll, mortgage, rent and utility payments. The CAA allows businesses to also apply the funds to:
- Covered operating expenses, including software or cloud computing services that facilitate business operations, product and service delivery, payroll processing, human resources, sales and billing, accounting or tracking supplies, inventory, records, and expenses,
- Uninsured costs related to property damage, vandalism or looting during 2020 public disturbances,
- Supplier costs according to a contract, purchase order or order for goods, in effect before taking out the loan, that are essential to the borrower’s operations, and
- Worker protection expenses incurred to comply with federal or state health and safety guidelines related to COVID-19 (for example, personal protective equipment, ventilation systems and drive-through windows).
As with the first round of PPP loans, full forgiveness requires a 60/40 cost allocation between payroll and nonpayroll costs. In other words, you must spend at least 60% of the funds on payroll over your covered period, which may range from eight to 24 weeks.
The CAA creates a simplified forgiveness application for loans up to $150,000. Such loans will be forgiven if the borrower signs and submits to the lender a one-page certification form from the Small Business Administration (SBA). The certification requires a description of the number of employees retained due to the loan, the estimated total amount of funds spent on payroll and the total loan amount. Borrowers must retain relevant records regarding employment for four years and other records for three years.
The CAA also eliminates the previous requirement that borrowers deduct the amount of any SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advances from their PPP forgiveness amount.
Deductibility of expenses paid by PPP loans
Additionally, the CAA addresses some of the confusion that had arisen regarding PPP tax issues. It specifies that a borrower need not include any forgiven amounts in its gross income. And — contrary to the position taken earlier by the IRS — it states that borrowers can deduct otherwise deductible expenses paid with forgiven PPP proceeds. The CAA also provides that tax basis and other attributes aren’t reduced by loan forgiveness (special rules apply to partnerships and S corporations). These tax provisions apply to second draw loans, too.
Employee Retention Credit
To encourage businesses to maintain their workforces, the CARES Act created the Employee Retention Credit, a refundable credit against payroll taxes for employers whose:
- Operations were fully or partially suspended due to a COVID-19-related governmental shutdown order, or
- Gross receipts dropped more than 50% compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
Employers with more than 100 employees could receive the credit if they closed due to COVID-19. Those with 100 or fewer employees received the credit regardless of whether they were open for business.
The credit equaled 50% of up to $10,000 in compensation — including health care benefits — paid to an eligible employee from March 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The CAA extends the credit for eligible employers that continue to pay wages during COVID-19 closures or reduced revenue through June 30, 2021.
Notably, as of January 1, 2021, the CAA hikes the credit from 50% of qualified wages to 70%. It also expands eligibility by reducing the requisite year-over-year gross receipt reduction from 50% to only 20% and raises the limit on per-employee creditable wages from $10,000 for the year to $10,000 per quarter.
In addition, the threshold for a business to be deemed a “large employer” — and thus subject to a tighter standard when determining the qualified wage base — is lifted from 100 to 500 employees.
The CAA includes some retroactive clarifications and technical improvements regarding the original credit, as well. For example, it provides that employers that receive PPP loans still qualify for the credit for wages not paid with forgiven PPP funds.
Business meals deduction
For 2021 and 2022, you can deduct 100% (up from 50%) for food and beverages as long as they’re “provided by a restaurant.” The IRS will likely issue guidance on the deduction, particularly the meaning of the term “provided by a restaurant.”
Charitable deductions
The CAA extends, through 2021, the CARES Act provision that increases the limitation on corporations’ cash charitable contributions from 10% of taxable income to 25%. Any excess corporate cash contributions will be carried forward to subsequent tax years. The limitation on deductions for donations of food inventory, which the CARES Act increased to 25% for 2020, is similarly extended through 2021.
A loaded law
At almost 5,600 pages, the CAA contains many more components that could impact your business and personal taxes. We recently hosted a webinar to discuss the provisions outlined above. The recording can be viewed on our website here. As always, we are here to help, so please contact your DunlapSLK team member if you have questions.