The Quad Cities Chamber is promoting the expansion of eligibility for the Employee Retention Tax Credit that's included in the COVID-19 relief bill recently signed by President Donald Trump. | Pixabay
The Quad Cities Chamber is promoting the expansion of eligibility for the Employee Retention Tax Credit that's included in the COVID-19 relief bill recently signed by President Donald Trump. | Pixabay
The Quad Cities Chamber, an organization that seeks “to grow the Quad Cities economy,” is making businesses aware of “the expansion of eligibility for the Employee Retention Tax Credit” included in the COVID-19 relief bill signed Dec. 27 by President Donald Trump.
Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, which included coronavirus emergency response and relief, the Bill Announcement said.
“I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more,” Trump’s statement said.
The chamber, while praising the relief bill on its website, is letting businesses know about a provision in the bill that expands eligibility for the ERTC.
“Businesses that did not previously take advantage of the ERTC, including those that received and exhausted a PPP loan, now have the opportunity to claim the refundable tax credit before the end of the year to help with 2020 taxes,” the chamber’s website said. “The bill also clarifies PPP loans are not taxable, and businesses may deduct any regular expenses paid for with PPP loans for tax purposes.”
The Paycheck Protection Program, which initially closed Aug. 8, is a U.S. Small Business Administration loan helping businesses to keep their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, the SBA’s website said. The new bill renewed PPP’s funding with $284 billion for “forgivable loans to first- and second-time small business borrowers,” the Tax Foundation website said.
“Businesses taking a PPP loan will now be able to take the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), when previously they were only allowed to opt into one or the other,” the Tax Foundation website said.
The chamber’s website said in a Dec. 22 statement that the COVID-19 relief “package sent to” Trump will help keep businesses alive, but that it’s a “first step.”
“Additional relief, including funding for state and local governments and liability protections for good-faith employers, needs to be addressed in 2021,” the chamber's website said. “The Chamber will continue to advocate on behalf of our members as they navigate uncertain economic times brought on by the pandemic.”
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