SBA PPP Loan Forgiveness

SBA PPP Loan Forgiveness

If you have received the SBA’s PPP loan from F&M Bank, you may be eligible to request loan forgiveness.  We know that getting your loan forgiven is important to you and your business and that you may have questions.

The SBA has issued regulations governing forgiveness of your SBA PPP loan and they have released the loan forgiveness application and instructions including a list of supporting documents you will need to collect and submit with your application (links below).  These final interim rules (regulations) have been revised and may continue to be revised.  Please refer to the SBA’s and the US Treasury’s websites for the most up to date information.

For information from the SBA on applying for loan forgiveness, please follow this link: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#section-header-5

Form 3508

PPP -- Loan Forgiveness Application and Instructions -- Form 3508 (1.19.2021).pdf

Form 3508EZ

PPP -- Loan Forgiveness Application and Instructions -- Form 3508EZ (1.19.2021).pdf

Form 3508S

PPP -- Loan Forgiveness Application and Instructions -- Form 3508S (1.19.2021).pdf

 

Here’s what we know at this time:

As you continue to use your PPP loan proceeds to operate your business, it is important that you do so with one eye towards the loan forgiveness process.  The Small Business Administration, which oversees the program, will ask the bank to verify certain information so that we may attest that you have met the qualifications for forgiveness.

The Covered Period is either (1) the24-week (168-day) period beginning on the PPP Loan Disbursement Date, or (2) if the Borrower received its PPP loan before June 5, 2020, the Borrower may elect to use an eight-week (56-day) Covered Period.  For example, if the Borrower is using a 24-week Covered Period and received its PPP loan proceeds on Monday, April 20, the first day of the Covered Period is April 20 and the last day of the Covered Period is Sunday, October 4th.  In no event may the Covered Period extend beyond December 31, 2020.

The Alternate Payroll Covered Period is defined as: For administrative convenience, Borrowers with a biweekly (or more frequent) payroll schedule may elect to calculate eligible payroll costs using the 24-week (168-day) period (or for loans received before June 5, 2020 at the election of the borrower, the eight-week (56-day) period) that begins on the first day of their first pay period following their PPP Loan Disbursement Date. For example, if the Borrower is using a 24-week Alternative Payroll Covered Period and received its PPP loan proceeds on Monday, April 20, and the first day of its first pay period following its PPP loan disbursement is Sunday, April 26th, the first day of the Alternative Payroll Covered Period is April 26 and the last day of the Alternative Payroll Covered Period is Saturday, October 10. Borrowers that elect to use the Alternative Payroll Covered Period must apply the Alternative Payroll Covered Period wherever there is a reference in this application to “the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period.” However, Borrowers must apply the Covered Period (not the Alternative Payroll Covered Period)wherever there is a reference in this application to “the Covered Period” only.  In no event may the Alternative Payroll Covered Period extend beyond December 31, 2020.\

Summary of Costs Eligible for Forgiveness:

Borrowers are eligible for loan forgiveness for the following costs:

  1. Eligible payroll costs.  Borrowers are generally eligible for forgiveness for the payroll costs paid and payroll costs incurred during the 24-week (168-day) or 8-week (56-day) Covered Period (or Alternative Payroll Covered Period) (“payroll costs”).  Payroll costs are considered paid on the day that paychecks are distributed or the Borrower originates an ACH credit transaction.  Payroll costs are considered incurred on the day that the employee’s pay is earned. Payroll costs incurred but not paid during the Borrower’s last pay period of the Covered Period (or Alternative Payroll Covered Period) are eligible for forgiveness if paid on or before the next regular payroll date. Otherwise, payroll costs must be paid during the Covered Period (or Alternative Payroll Covered Period).  For each individual employee, the total amount of cash compensation eligible for forgiveness may not exceed an annual salary of $100,000, as prorated for the Covered Period.  Count payroll costs that were both paid and incurred only once.  For information on what qualifies as payroll costs, see Interim Final Rule on Paycheck Protection Program posted on April 2, 2020 (85 FR20811)(as amended by the Revisions to First Interim Final Rule, posted on June 11, 2020).  Include only payroll costs for employees whose principal place of residence is in the United States.
  2. Eligible nonpayroll costs.  Nonpayroll costs eligible for forgiveness consist of:
    1. covered mortgage obligations: payments of mortgage interest (not including any prepayment or payment of principal) on any business mortgage obligation on real or personal property incurred before February 15, 2020 (“business mortgage interest payments”);
    2. covered rent obligations: business rent or lease payments pursuant to lease agreements for real or personal property in force before February 15, 2020 (“business rent or lease payments”); and
    3. covered utility payments: business payments for a service for the distribution of electricity, gas, water, telephone, transportation, or internet access for which service began before February 15, 2020 (“business utility payments”).

An eligible nonpayroll cost must be paid during the Covered Period or incurred during the Covered Period and paid on or before the next regular billing date, even if the billing date is after the Covered Period. Eligible nonpayroll costs cannot exceed 40% of the total forgiveness amount. Count nonpayroll costs that were both paid and incurred only once.

Documents that Each Borrower Must Submit with its PPP Loan Forgiveness Application

PPP Loan Forgiveness Calculation Form

PPP Schedule A

Payroll:  Documentation verifying the eligible cash compensation and non-cash benefit payments from the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period consisting of each of the following:

  1. Bank account statements or third-party payroll service provider reports documenting the amount of cash compensation paid to employees.
  2. Tax forms (or equivalent third-party payroll service provider reports) for the periods that overlap with the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period:           
    1. Payroll tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the IRS (typically, Form 941); and
    2. State quarterly business and individual employee wage reporting and unemployment insurance tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the relevant state.
  4. Payment receipts, cancelled checks, or account statements documenting the amount of any employer contributions to employee health insurance and retirement plans that the Borrower included in the forgiveness amount (PPP Schedule A, lines (6) and(7)).

FTE: Documentation showing (at the election of the Borrower):

  1. the average number of FTE employees on payroll per week employed by the Borrower between February 15, 2019 and June 30,2019;
  2. the average number of FTE employees on payroll per week employed by the Borrower between January 1, 2020 and February 29, 2020; or
  3. in the case of a seasonal employer, the average number of FTE employees on payroll per week employed by the Borrower between February 15, 2019 and June 30, 2019; between January 1, 2020 and February 29, 2020; or any consecutive 12-week period between May 1, 2019 and September 15, 2019.

The selected time period must be the same time period selected for purposes of completing PPP Schedule A, line 11. Documents may include payroll tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the IRS (typically, Form 941) and state quarterly business and individual employee wage reporting and unemployment insurance tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the relevant state.  Documents submitted may cover periods longer than the specific time period.

Nonpayroll: Documentation verifying existence of the obligations/services prior to February 15, 2020 and eligible payments from the Covered Period.

  1. Business mortgage interest payments: Copy of lender amortization schedule and receipts or cancelled checks verifying eligible payments from the Covered Period; or lender account statements from February 2020 and the months of the Covered Period through one month after the end of the Covered Period verifying interest amounts and eligible payments.
  2. Business rent or lease payments: Copy of current lease agreement and receipts or cancelled checks verifying eligible payments from the Covered Period; or lessor account statements from February 2020 and from the Covered Period through one month after the end of the Covered Period verifying eligible payments.
  3. Business utility payments: Copy of invoices from February 2020 and those paid during the Covered Period and receipts, cancelled checks, or account statements verifying those eligible payments.

 

Documents that Each Borrower Must Maintain but is Not Required to Submit

PPP Schedule A Worksheet or its equivalent and the following:

  1. Documentation supporting the listing of each individual employee in PPP Schedule A Worksheet Table 1, including the “Salary/Hourly Wage Reduction” calculation, if necessary.
  2. Documentation supporting the listing of each individual employee in PPP Schedule A Worksheet Table 2; specifically, that each listed employee received during any single pay period in 2019 compensation at an annualized rate of more than $100,000.
  3. Documentation regarding any employee job offers and refusals, refusals to accept restoration of reductions in hours, firings for cause, voluntary resignations, written requests by any employee for reductions in work schedule, and any inability to hire similarly qualified employees for unfilled positions on or before December 31,2020.
  4. Documentation supporting the certification, if applicable, that the Borrower was unable to operate between February 15, 2020, and the end of the Covered Period at the same level of business activity as before February 15, 2020 due to compliance with requirements established or guidance issued between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, related to the maintenance of standards of sanitation, social distancing, or any other work or customer safety requirement related to COVID-19.  This documentation must include copies of the applicable requirements for each borrower location and relevant borrower financial records.
  5. Documentation supporting the PPP Schedule A Worksheet “FTE Reduction SafeHarbor2.”

All records relating to the Borrower’s PPP loan, including documentation submitted with its PPP loan application, documentation supporting the Borrower’s certifications as to the necessity of the loan request and its eligibility for a PPP loan, documentation necessary to support the Borrower’s loan forgiveness application, and documentation demonstrating the Borrower’s material compliance with PPP requirements. The Borrower must retain all such documentation in its files for six years after the date the loan is forgiven or repaid in full, and permit authorized representatives of SBA, including representatives of its Office of Inspector General, to access such files upon request.