July 1, 2020

The Senate voted last night to extend the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by five additional weeks, a surprise move that would allow small businesses weathering the pandemic to continue receiving aid.

Less than four hours before the PPP was scheduled to end with more than $130 billion in loan money unspent, the Senate approved extending the application period until Aug. 8.

The program was designed to offer small businesses loans to help prevent shutdowns and help businesses keep employees in their jobs. The loan could be forgiven if the borrower spends the money on eligible expenses.

More than 4.8 million small business owners have utilized the program, which has lent borrowers more than $520 billion.

The legislation now heads to the House, which had finished voting before the bill cleared the Senate, and will require President Trump’s signature for the program to continue. Members of both chambers are expected to leave Washington for the Fourth of July and are not set to fully return for two weeks.

“The resources are there,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland and one of the architects of the program, which offers low-interest loans to help small businesses maintain their payrolls. “The need is there. We just need to change the date.

We will continue to update you on new developments. Please visit our  COVID-19 Resource Page  for more alerts.

Feel free to contact any member of our team at (610) 828-1900 (PA) or (732) 341-3893 (NJ) with questions. Rich Higgins, CPA, managing principal – New Jersey office can be contacted at [email protected] . I can be reached at [email protected] .  As always, we are happy to help.

 

Stay safe,

 

Marty McCarthy, CPA, CCIFP

Managing Partner

McCarthy & Company

Source: The New York Times

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