New Easy Road to 100 Percent Forgiveness

How much is clarity worth?

A lot, a whole lot.

And how much is making things easier worth? Of course, it’s
a lot, a whole lot, too.

We now have both the new (a) clarity and (b) easy road to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness for
the self-employed with no employees. Get ready to smile.

New Easy Road to 100
Percent Forgiveness

Say thanks to the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility
Act of 2020. This new law creates a 24-week period for you to spend your PPP
loan proceeds.

If you obtained your loan proceeds before June 5, you can
elect to use the eight-week period to spend your PPP loan proceeds.

Here’s the big difference:

• If the 24-week covered period applies, your loan
  forgiveness for your deemed payroll is capped at 2.5 months of your
  2019 Schedule C net profit, not to exceed $20,833.
• If you elect the eight-week covered period, your loan
  forgiveness for your deemed payroll is capped at eight weeks, not
  to exceed $15,385.

Why Is This Important?

When you file as a Schedule C taxpayer and have no
employees, your PPP loan is based on 2.5 times your 2019 Schedule C, line 31,
net profit, limited to $20,833.

Here’s how the loan amount works:

Okay, you have your loan proceeds either in hand or in play
at this point.

Let’s keep our eyes on the “easy road” to forgiveness. Under
the new 24-week rule, you achieve 100 percent forgiveness when you pay yourself
the total loan amount within 10.8 weeks of the date you received your loan
proceeds. Let’s round the 10.8 to 11 weeks.

Yes, you are reading this correctly. By simply using the
loan proceeds on yourself during the first 11 weeks, you achieve total
forgiveness.

Note this. By using the 11 weeks, you achieve total
PPP loan forgiveness without having to spend any money on rent, utilities, or
interest.

When Can I Apply for
Forgiveness?

According to SBA guidance issued on June 22, 2020, you may
submit your loan forgiveness application anytime on or before the maturity date
of the loan—including before the end of the covered period—if you used all the
loan proceeds for which you requested forgiveness.

Example. Ron receives his $20,833 PPP loan on May 15,
2020. He puts the money in his business checking account. During the 11 weeks
beginning with May 15, 2020, Ron writes checks to himself that total $20,833.
Ron can apply for $20,833 of loan forgiveness anytime after the 11th week.

Is It Really This Easy?

Yes.

What About
Interest, Rent, and Utilities?

With the 11-week program described above, you don’t have to
consider interest, rent, or utilities to achieve 100 percent forgiveness.

In fact, why bother? By simply using the 11 weeks, you have
less paperwork and worry.

Of course, you might want to consider interest, rent, and
utilities if this takes you to earlier forgiveness. To obtain full forgiveness,
you could spend as little as 60 percent on payroll and the balance on interest,
rent, and utilities.

Example. Jane files a Schedule C and has no
employees, and on June 1, 2020, she obtains a PPP loan of $20,000. During the
first eight weeks, Jane spends $12,000 on herself and $8,000 on qualified
Schedule C deductible business interest, rent, and utilities. Jane can elect
the eight-week period and qualify for 100 percent forgiveness.

Here are the basic PPP forgiveness requirements that apply
to your 2020 Schedule C business deduction payments for interest, rent, and utilities:

• Interest payments on any business mortgage obligation on
  real or personal property where such obligation was in place before
  February 15, 2020 (but not any prepayment or payment of principal).
• Payments on business rent obligations on real or personal
  property under lease agreements in force before February 15, 2020.
• Business utility payments for the distribution of
  electricity, gas, water, transportation, telephone, or internet access for
  which service began before February 15, 2020.

Meet the Paid Rule

On page 2 of the 3508EZ instructions, you find this:

Enter any amounts paid to a
self-employed individual. For a 24-week Covered Period, this amount is capped
at $20,833 (the 2.5-month equivalent of $100,000 per year) for each individual
or the 2.5-month equivalent of their applicable compensation in 2019, whichever
is lower.

We may suffer from unfounded paranoia because we find the word
“paid” a word to be reckoned with. But in our opinion, you should have your
Schedule C business write you checks from its business account. If there’s no
separate business account, make sure the business writes checks that pay your
personal expenses in the amount of the deemed compensation.

If you would like to discuss this PPP forgiveness rule with
me, please don’t hesitate to call me on my direct line at 408-778-9651.

IRS postponed almost all tax payments due in the past few months until July 15, 2020

Due to COVID-19, the IRS postponed almost all tax payments
due in the past few months until July 15, 2020.

Now—it’s time to pay Uncle Sam.

If you have the cash, you may be wondering what’s the best
way to make your payments.

If you don’t have the cash, you may not know what to do.

What’s Due on July 15

The following payments are due by July 15, 2020:

• Your 2019 individual tax return balance due,
• Your 2019 calendar-year C corporation balance due, and
• Your 2020 first and second quarter estimated tax payments.

If you don’t pay on July 15, you’ll start to accrue
penalties and interest on the above amounts beginning on July 16, 2020.

And don’t forget that even if you file an extension for your
2019 tax returns, you still have to pay your 2019 balance due by July 15, 2020,
to avoid penalties.

Mailing Payments

We don’t recommend mailing your federal tax payments if you
can avoid it. With the IRS mail backlog from the COVID-19 shutdown, it could
take a long time to get processed, or the IRS could misplace the payment.

If you decide to pay your 2019 individual balance due by
check:

• Make the check payable to “United States Treasury” and put
  your Social Security number and “2019 Form 1040” on the memo line of the
  check.
• Mail the payment to the correct
  address.

If you decide to pay your 2020 individual estimated tax
payments by check:

• Complete the Form 1040-ES payment voucher.
• Write one check totaling your combined first and second
  quarter payments.
• Make the check payable to “United States Treasury” and put
  your Social Security number and “2020 Form 1040-ES” in the memo line of
  the check.
• Mail the payment to the correct
  address.

And, remember, the IRS will consider your payments timely
made if postmarked on or before July 15, 2020.

Electronic Payments

You have two ways to make your tax payments electronically:

1. IRS Direct Pay
2. Electronic Funds Tax Payment System (EFTPS)

We like the IRS Direct Pay system more than EFTPS for filing
your individual tax return and making estimated tax payments.

In addition, IRS Direct Pay recently changed to allow you to
schedule payments up to one year in advance, so you can pre-schedule all your
quarterly estimated tax payments.

Don’t Overpay Your
Estimates

Due to the economic troubles from COVID-19, cash is king.
The last thing you want to do is send too much to the IRS in estimated tax
payments while not having enough to meet your personal needs.

You’ll avoid an estimated tax payment penalty on your 2020
individual return as long as one of the following occurs:

• You owe less than $1,000 in tax on your 2020 return after
  subtracting your withholding and credits, or
• You paid at a minimum the smaller of 90 percent of your 2020
  total tax or 100 percent of your 2019 total tax.

If you will have both lower income and lower tax in 2020
compared to 2019, you would overpay if you use 2019 as your estimated tax
payment benchmark. In this case, estimate your 2020 tax to avoid overpaying
your estimated tax.

Example. In 2019, Paula had Schedule C net income of
$100,000. In 2020, Paula projects having Schedule C net income of $80,000. She
has no other income or deductions.

If Paula simply pays 100 percent of her 2019 total tax, she has
to make a $12,098 estimated tax payment on July 15, 2020.

If Paula estimates her 2020 income and tax benefits, then
she only needs to send in $6,118 as an estimated tax payment, saving her $5,980
in overpaid estimated taxes.

If you would like my help on planning your tax payments,
please call me on my direct line at 408-778-9651.