CARES Act Sec. 1102 provides that a recipient of a PPP loan may use the loan proceeds to pay payroll costs, certain employee benefits relating to healthcare, interest on mortgage obligations, rent, utilities, and interest on any other existing debt obligations. If a PPP loan recipient uses their PPP loan to pay those costs, they can have their loan forgiven in an amount equal to those costs. PPP loan forgiveness doesn’t give rise to taxable income and the Code generally doesn’t allow a taxpayer to deduct expenses that are paid with tax exempt income.
New law. COVIDTRA clarifies taxpayers whose PPP loans are forgiven are allowed deductions for otherwise deductible expenses paid with the proceeds of a PPP loan, and that the tax basis and other attributes of the borrower’s assets will not be reduced as a result of the loan forgiveness. (CARES Act Section 1102 as clarified by COVIDTRA Sec. 276)
Effective date. This provision is effective as of the date of enactment of the CARES Act. (COVIDTRA Sec. 276(a)(2))
More updates will follow soon.
