In addition to worrying about keeping their business afloat these days, businesses are focusing on whether their Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan will be forgiven. Without loan forgiveness, many of these businesses will not survive. Consequently, the stakes are high!
The eligibility requirements for PPP loan forgiveness are complex. As we discussed previously, in large part, loan forgiveness is based on the borrower using the loan proceeds within the eight-week period immediately following receipt of the loan on specified expenses, including payroll and rent.
Some landlords have been generous enough to reduce or even abate rent for a period (e.g., three months) to assist the tenant in salvaging its business. Consequently, these businesses may have little or no rent to pay during the eight-week period. If a business owner asks the landlord for advice on what to do in this situation, the landlord will likely say:
Love thy landlord – pay me anyway!
Whether the prepayment of rent (or the payment of rent for a period preceding the eight-week period) applies for purposes of the loan forgiveness computation under the PPP is likely a question being pondered by many businesses and their advisors.
RSS Feed
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn
Larry J. Brant
Editor
Larry J. Brant is a Shareholder and the Chair of the Tax & Benefits practice group at Foster Garvey, a law firm based out of the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York, Spokane, Washington; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mr. Brant is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. His practice focuses on tax, tax controversy and business transactions. Mr. Brant is a past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section. He was the long-term Chair of the Oregon Tax Institute, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Portland Tax Forum. Mr. Brant has served as an adjunct professor, teaching corporate taxation, at Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College. He is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national tax and business conferences for CPAs and attorneys. Mr. Brant is an Expert Contributor to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Catalyst. He is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. Mr. Brant publishes articles on numerous income tax issues, including Taxation of S corporations, Taxation of C corporations, Reasonable Compensation, Circular 230, Worker Classification, IRC Section 1031 Exchanges, Choice of Entity, Entity Tax Classification, and State and Local Taxation. Since 2019, he has been a multiple-time honoree of the JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards for Tax, recognizing him as a Top Author for thought leadership and reader engagement on its platform. Mr. Brant was the 2015 Recipient of the Oregon State Bar Tax Section Award of Merit.
