SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program: Affiliation Still Matters

The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program went into effect March 27, 2020.  At that time many business owners faced confusion in trying to navigate the affiliation rules to determine their company’s eligibility for the program. Fast forward nearly two years and many businesses that received Paycheck Protection Loans have submitted applications for forgiveness of those loans. Some of those businesses are now having to consider potential affiliation issues that they may have initially overlooked in response to inquiries from SBA in its review of their loan forgiveness application.

We thought this would be a good time to revisit the basics of SBA’s affiliation rules for the Paycheck Protection Program.

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UPDATE: SBA Extends PPP Loan Payback Safe Harbor Provision Deadline (Again!) to May 18

Since our post yesterday, the SBA has once again updated the safe harbor deadline for paying back Paycheck Protection Program loans to Monday, May 18.

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UPDATE: Too Little, Too Late? SBA Updates Guidance on PPP Safe Harbor the Day Before May 14 Deadline

**UPDATE 5/14/20: Since publication of this post, the SBA has now updated the PPP Safe Harbor deadline to May 18. This post has been updated to include this additional information.

Just hours before the first extended May 14 deadline for businesses to return “unnecessary” Paycheck Protection Program loans without penalties, the SBA has published new guidance on how it will review borrowers’ required good-faith certifications.

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What Happens When a Company Takes a PPP Loan it Doesn’t Need?

As we said in this space a few days ago, the SBA has put in place a safe harbor until May 14 for companies to return Paycheck Protection Program loan money if they find they don’t need it. No harm, no foul.

So, what happens if they don’t need it, but don’t return it? Maybe Clubber Lang said it best.

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PPP Update: New $20 Million PPP Loan Limit for Corporate Groups

On Monday, May 4, the SBA will issue another Interim Final Rule updating the Paycheck Protection Program—this time limiting the “aggregate amount of PPP loans that any single corporate group may receive.”

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PPP Loan Payback? Safe Harbor Provision Lets Companies Pay Back “Unnecessary” Loan Money

**Update 5/6/2020: As of May 5, the SBA updated its PPP FAQ’s, announcing its intention to extend the PPP Safe Harbor period to May 14. This post has been updated to reflect this change.

***Update 5/14/2020: As of May 14, the SBA updated its PPP FAQ’s once again, announcing its intention to extend the PPP Safe Harbor period to May 18. This post has been updated a second time to reflect this change. The SBA has also supplemented its guidance on the Safe Harbor Provision, as discussed here.

If you’re a parent, you might be familiar with the SBA and Treasury Department’s current strategy to crack down on businesses taking Paycheck Protection Program funds when they don’t qualify: if ineligible businesses ‘fess up and return the money by May 14, nobody gets in trouble.

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SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program Expanded for COVID-19 Disaster

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act created the Paycheck Protection Program as one tool to help small businesses. But it also provided for additional emergency funds under the SBA’s existing Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Congress appropriated $10 billion for the program. Here are some of the main details on this program.

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