As previously mentioned, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Response and Relief bill into law on December 27, 2020. Here is a brief overview of some of the key points in the new bill.  I will keep this post updated as new information comes to light.

Unemployment Changes

Those on Unemployment receive an additional 11 weeks of Unemployment, can collect until April 4, 2021, and will receive a $300 bonus for 11 weeks.

Extension

• PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) & PEUC (Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation – extra 13 weeks for regular Unemployment) were going to expire on December 31st, 2020 but now expire on April 4th, 2021 for existing claims.

Extra $300 a week – FPUC

• There will also be an extra $300 for 11 weeks, starting from the week ending 01/03. You will get the $300 automatically for any of the 11 weeks that you receive UI or PUA, similar to the $600 from April-July 2020.

New Claims

• New PUA claims can be filed up until March 14, 2021.
• New claims can be backdated only back until December 1st, 2020.

Click here for a detailed post on the changes to Unemployment based on the new bill.

Stimulus Checks – EIP (Economic Impact Payments) #2

• One-off payments of $600 per eligible adult and $600 per qualified child under 17.
• You can check the status of your payment here.
• Income rules are the same as EIP #1 from March 27, 2020, which included $1,200 per adult and $500 per child.
• Note:  There was talk of the stimulus being $2,000 per person, but only $600 was actually passed into law. 

Click here for a detailed explanation about EIP #2.

PPP

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is free cash for eligible businesses and self-employed people!

The new bill includes:

1. First round of PPP for those that did not manage to get a loan last time.
2. Second round of PPP for those that received one in the first round.

Confused? We can help!

EIDL

Low-Interest Loan

• The EIDL loan (up to $150k low-interest loan), which was set to expire at the end of 2020, has been extended to December 31, 2021.

EIDL Advance (Grant)

• The EIDL loan originally included an option for a grant of up to $10,000 ($1k per employee, up to 10 employees). The funding for the grant ($20bn) ran out in July 2020.
• The new bill allocated new funding for the grants. This should mean that all those who applied after the grant funding depleted, or will apply, should be receiving $1k per employee, up to $10k. However current guidance on the SBA’s website is that the standard EIDL Advance is no longer available.

Targeted EIDL Advance (Grant)

• $10,000 grant for businesses and self-employed people in a low-income area who suffered a 30% loss in income in any 8-week period compared to the same 8-week period the previous year.
• What is the grant? In the first round, in the addition to the low-interest loan, the EIDL gave $1,000 per employee grant, up to $10,000. The grant does not have to be repaid. So, if your business is in a low-income area and suffered a 30% loss, you should be eligible for the full $10k grant even if you have just one employee (or no employees if you are self-employed / single-owner LLC).

Confused? We can help!

Other Assistance in The Bill

• SNAP: 15% increase for six months
• Evictions: Extended CDC eviction moratorium until 01/31/2021
• Emergency Rental Assistance: $25bn for states/local governments to provide assistance for low-income people who are having financial difficulties due to the pandemic
• Employee Retention Tax Credit: Refundable payroll tax credits
• Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit: You can use your 2019 eligibility if that makes you eligible for more credits
• Flexible Savings Accounts: Option to roll over balances from 2020 to 2021, and balances from 2021 to 2022
• Deduction for Business Meals: 100% of business meals can be deducted as a business expense.
• Childcare Providers: $10bn for child-care providers
• Schools: $82bn for schools
• Testing and Tracing: $22.4bn for testing, tracing and Covid-19 mitigation efforts
• Airlines: $15bn for airlines