INDIVIDUALS

Q: Unemployment Insurance – are the self-employed, gig workers, and contractors eligible? A:Yes,the bill expands unemployment benefits to cover more workers including self-employed and independent contractors, like gig workers and Uber drivers, who do not usually qualify for unemployment. Overall, the bill provides $250 billion in funding for expansion of unemployment benefits, the largest increase ever.

SMALL BUSINESS

Q: Are non-profits, chambers, physician practices, eligible for 7(a) loans? A: 501(c)3 non-profits are eligible. No other 501(c) organizations are eligible, including chambers structured as 501(c)6s.

Physician practices are eligible, no matter how they are structured.     Q: Can small businesses can hire back previously fired employees and still have the loans forgiven? If so, what is the hire-back date? A: Yes. There is flexibility in the program to allow businesses to hire new, or returning employees, by June, 30, 2020, and still qualify under the headcount requirements.  

Q: How quickly will business be able to access loans? A: We are working with the SBA on capacity issues, including onboarding new lenders. The SBA is assuring the Small Business Committee that they are ready to stand up all of the requirements within the Senate bill as quickly as possible.  

Q: What does this bill do to provide relief for rural communities and farmers? A: The bill includes a number of small business provisions designed to help farmers stay in business and take care of their employees during this difficult time. These include provisions that allow farmers to work with their trusted farm credit institutions for the purposes of securing payroll tax loans, along with 1-year deferrals, 100% guarantees, and low rates.   
The bill provides $14 billion for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), the funding mechanism for all major USDA programs. It also appropriates an additional $9.5 billion to specifically respond to losses due to COVID-19.   Additional funding is provided for USDA agencies that are on the front lines of responding to COVID-19, including the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and the Farm Service Agency (FSA).   The bill also includes $100 million to provide financing for rural broadband through the ReConnect program, and $25 million for the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program to provide grants for equipment and connectivity improvements.

Q: Employee retention credit – how will this work? A: The Employee Retention Credit provides a refundable payroll tax credit equal to 50 percent of up to $10,000 in wages per employee (including health benefits) paid by certain employers during the coronavirus crisis. The credit is available to employers: • whose operations were fully or partially shut down by government order limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to coronavirus, or • whose quarterly receipts are less than 50% for the same quarter in the prior year. Wages paid to employees during which they are furloughed or otherwise not working (due to reduced hours) as a result of their employer’s closure or economic hardship are eligible for the credit. However, for employers with 100 or fewer employees, all employee wages qualify for the credit, regardless of whether they are furloughed or face reduced hours.

To prevent double dipping, employers that receive Small Business interruption loans are not eligible for the credit.  Additionally, wages that qualify for the required paid leave credit are not eligible for the credit.

The credit is for wages paid by eligible employers from March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

For more information visit HERE: COVID-19 Response Phase 3 FAQ