The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is providing an important lifeline to help keep millions of small businesses open and their workers employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many borrowers will have these loans forgiven; eligibility for forgiveness requires using the loan for qualifying purposes (like payroll costs, mortgage interest payments, rent, and […]
Nearly 90,000 Wisconsin small businesses that have taken out loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will face hundreds of millions of dollars in state income tax liability on those loans this spring, despite the loans being tax-free at the federal level. Unless the legislature acts, businesses that have received PPP loans and related […]
In releasing details of his coronavirus relief plan Thursday evening, President-elect Joe Biden envisions a two-part response to the pandemic and economic crisis. The first aspect builds on previous rounds of relief enacted in 2020, and would provide larger payments to individuals, expanded relief for households and small businesses, funding for vaccine distribution, and aid […]
Leadership in the U.S. House and Senate came to an agreement in December over the details of a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021) to be attached to a broader $1.4 trillion omnibus which will fund the federal government for the 2021 fiscal year. The COVID-19 relief bill extends and modifies several provisions first enacted in […]
Sunday evening, leadership in the U.S. House and Senate came to an agreement over the details of a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill, to be attached to a broader $1.4 trillion omnibus which will fund the federal government for the 2021 fiscal year. Congress also voted to extend a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal […]
As Congress works to provide another round of emergency relief for individuals and businesses impacted by the pandemic and pass a bill funding the government for FY 2021, it is a good time to step back and consider how tax policy affects entrepreneurs and small businesses. In addition to short- and long-term tax policy issues, […]
State tax collections declined 4.4 percent in aggregate through the end of September compared to the same nine months in 2019, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today. The median state experienced a decline of 3.6 percent, and total state tax collections were $37.4 billion lower in the first nine months of 2020 than […]
Monday, a bipartisan group of congressional policymakers released two compromise relief bills to address the COVID-19 pandemic, totaling about $908 billion: The Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act and the Bipartisan State and Local Support and Small Business Protection Act. The latter bill addresses both state and local aid and liability protection for businesses operating during the […]
A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights the ways federal policymakers and the White House could build on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn. As part of this report, GAO reviewed how the relief measures for businesses and individuals have worked through 2020, including information about tax refund […]
With fewer than 10 days until government funding runs out, congressional lawmakers are down to the wire to fund the government and provide additional pandemic-related relief to the households and businesses trying to make it through the winter. This week, both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers released new […]