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.
Melissa Angell is a reporter for Credit Union Journal in New York City. She graduated from the University of Virginia where she studied Cognitive Neuroscience and Media Studies. She's also an alumna of the Dow Jones News Fund, where she previously covered healthcare equities for TheStreet.
Nearly 35 years ago Richard Berkowitz, JD, CPA, was one of the founders of Berkowitz Pollack Brant. Today the firm and its Provenance Wealth Advisors and BayBridge Real Estate Group affiliates continue to provide his clients with a comprehensive set of services.
George White is Executive Vice President, Operations at Custodia Financial, a consortium of retirement industry executives working to solve the problem of retirement plan leakage from 401(k) loan defaults.
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.