Coronavirus Aid Includes PPP Changes for Farmers

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was designed by Congress to help small businesses stay open and keep their employees on the payroll. Pat Wolff, senior director of congressional relations with the American Farm Bureau, talks about how the important program worked to keep businesses running during COVID-19

“The way that it did that was to provide loans, and then forgive repayment if the loans were used for three things: wages, mortgages/rent, and utilities,” she said.

Wolff says when Congress passed PPP, they were very clear that the loan amount would not be taxable. She said the Treasury Department took an unfortunately different position.

“They were going to deny tax deductions for expenses paid with those loans, and in effect, they were canceling out Congress’s intent to provide those loans tax-free,” she said. “That is one thing that got fixed in the bill that passed last week and was signed into law by the president.”

Wolff added that the COVID-19 relief bill also had another important item that will benefit U.S. farmers.

“The COVID relief bill did one other thing—it expanded the things that PPP loans can be used for,” she said. “The bill added personal protective devices. Now when a farm employer has to buy special gear or make accommodations for his workers to stay safe, you can use PPP loans for that and have the repayment forgiven.”

Recommended Posts

Loading...