New bill gives businesses flexibility with use & repayment of PPP loans

Congress has passed and Pres. Trump has signed legislation giving small-business owners who received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program more flexibility and time to use COVID-relief loan money. Nearly 48,000 businesses in Utah received $5.2 billion in loans through the program.

Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act is designed to take the pressure off of borrowers in the use and repayment of funds received through the program, which gives forgivable loans to small businesses to keep people on payrolls. 

Initially, Paycheck Protection loans would only be forgiven if a business spent 75 percent of the loan money on payroll. The new bill lowers that threshold to 60 percent. Businesses will also have more time to spend the money — six months instead of two.

Without the new bill, the first businesses to receive Paycheck Protection loans would have to start paying them back this week. The legislation also defers payroll taxes for businesses getting the loans, and it gives them more time to repay any part of a loan that isn’t forgiven.