Show Eligibility and the covered period.The covered period is the time during which businesses must incur or pay expenses to be considered for forgiveness. Your covered period starts on the date your PPP loan funds are disbursed and ends on any date of your choosing that is between 8 and 24 weeks from the disbursement date. In summary, your loan funds can be used for the following business-related expenses:
To determine whether your loan forgiveness amount is subject to reduction due to a decrease in average weekly FTE during your covered period (only applicable to borrowers applying for forgiveness using Form 3508), you must select a pre-COVID reference period to make the necessary comparison. You can choose any of the following:
For each employee, follow the same method that was used to calculate Average FTE on the PPP Schedule A Worksheet.
Only compensation for employees whose principal place of residence is the United States is eligible for forgiveness. Yes, there are several situations where a reduction in FTE would not be counted against you. These include:
You should refer to the SBA Form 3508 instructions for details about FTE reduction exceptions. Yes, you can receive full loan forgiveness if all PPP loan proceeds are used for eligible payroll costs. If so, you do not need to document any non-payroll costs during the covered period. Payroll costs are considered paid on the day that paychecks are distributed, or you originate an ACH credit transaction. Payroll costs are considered incurred on the day that the employee’s pay is earned. Payroll costs incurred but not paid during the last pay period of your covered period are eligible for forgiveness if paid on or before the next regular payroll date. Otherwise, payroll costs must be paid during the covered period. For each individual employee, the total amount of cash compensation eligible for forgiveness may not exceed a gross annual salary of $100,000, as prorated for the covered period. For an 8-week covered period, that’s a maximum of $15,385 per employee; $46,154 per employee for borrowers using a 24-week covered period. Note: the cap does not include eligible non-cash benefits. Cash compensation:
Employee benefits, the total amount paid by the borrower for:
Up to 40% of the forgiveness amount can come from eligible non-payroll costs. An eligible non-payroll cost must be paid during the covered period or incurred during the covered period and paid on or before the next regular billing date, even if the billing date is after the covered period. Amounts due for services or obligations during the covered period must be prorated to align with the covered period window. Eligible expenses, incurred or paid during the covered period:
Any rent or lease payments made pursuant to lease agreements for real or personal property that were in force prior to February 15, 2020. This includes equipment leases. A service for the distribution of transportation refers to transportation utility fees assessed by state and local governments. Payment for any business software or cloud computing services that facilitates business operations, product or service delivery, the processing, payment, or tracking of payroll expenses, human resources, sales and billing functions, or accounting or tracking of supplies, inventory, records and expenses. Cost related to property damage and vandalism or looting due to public disturbances that occurred during 2020 that were not covered by insurance or other compensation. This includes an expenditure made by an entity to a supplier of goods for goods that are essential to the operations of the entity at the time at which the expenditure is made, and is made pursuant to a contract, order or purchase order that was in effect at any time before the covered period, or, with respect to perishable goods, in effect before or at any time during the covered period. An operating or capital expenditure to facilitate the adaptation of the business activities of an entity to comply with requirements or guidance issued by HHS, CDC, or OSHA, or any equivalent requirements issued by state or local government from March 1, 2020 until the President declares and end to the national emergency for COVID-19. Expenses may include the purchase, maintenance, or renovation of assets that create or expand:
Quarterly “gross receipts” for one calendar quarter in 2020 and the “gross receipts” for the corresponding calendar quarter in 2019. Per the U.S. Treasury borrower guidance for Second Draw loans, the following are the primary sets of documentation that can be provided to substantiate your certification of a 25 percent gross receipts reduction (only one set is required):
SBA defines gross receipts as all revenue in whatever form received or accrued (in accordance with the entity’s accounting method) from whatever source, including from the sales of products or services, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, fees or commissions, reduced by returns or allowances. Generally, receipts are considered “total income” (or in the case of a sole proprietorship, independent contractor, or self-employed individual “gross income”) plus “cost of goods sold,” and excludes net capital gains or losses as these terms are defined and reported on IRS tax return forms. Gross receipts do not include the following: taxes collected for and remitted to a taxing authority if included in gross or total income (such as sales or other taxes collected from customers and excluding taxes levied on the concern or its employees); proceeds from transactions between a concern and its domestic or foreign affiliates; and amounts collected for another by a travel agent, real estate agent, advertising agent, conference management service provider, freight forwarder or customs broker. All other items, such as subcontractor costs, reimbursements for purchases a contractor makes at a customer's request, investment income, and employee-based costs such as payroll taxes, may not be excluded from gross receipts. Applying for loan forgivenessYou must have reached the end of your covered period before applying for loan forgiveness. Your covered period must be a minimum of 8 weeks long (maximum of 24 weeks). For application types that require supporting documentation, that documentation is required to be submitted with the forgiveness application. You may need to wait for statements to be issued in order to submit your application. If you have a Second Draw loan, you must submit your forgiveness application for your First Draw loan either before or simultaneously with your Second Draw loan forgiveness application. The latest date you can apply for loan forgiveness is the maturity date of the loan. If you have not submitted a complete loan forgiveness application within 10 months after the end of the maximum 24-week covered period, payments will be due. If you complete your application after you start making payments and receive a forgiveness determination that exceeds your outstanding principal balance, a settlement process will occur for any overpayment. After submission of a complete and signed application, including required documentation, we will begin our review process. The U.S. Bank review process can take up to 60 days. We will contact you if there are any issues with your application. Following the completion of our review, we will submit a decision on your loan forgiveness application to the SBA for their final review; we will also notify you of that decision. From our submission date, the SBA has up to 90 days to provide us with the final forgiveness amount. When the SBA renders their final review results, we will let you know. Additionally, if the SBA requests more information one of our verification specialists will be in touch. Please note, in some cases we have not received the SBA’s final payment decision within the 90 days. The SBA has notified us that they are doing everything they can to review loan files in a timely manner. We will notify customers when we receive the SBA’s rendered decision. In addition to using your loan funds on eligible expenses, follow the guidance below to maximize your potential loan forgiveness:
Yes. The amount of loan forgiveness can be up to the full principal amount of the loan and any accrued interest. The actual amount of loan forgiveness will depend on whether the qualifying criteria is met. You will be required to repay any portion of your loan that does not qualify for forgiveness. No. We request that you do not attempt to submit the paper forms from the SBA. Through our digital forgiveness application portal, we are able to auto-populate and pre-fill fields from your loan. You will be notified when you are eligible to apply for forgiveness and provided directions on how to access our forgiveness portal. Please contact your banker if you have questions or would like to submit a request for early access.
No, with the extension of the covered period to up to 24 weeks, and additional changes to the forgiveness rules, you do not need to apply within 60 days of funding. You may select anyone as the authorized representative to complete the forgiveness application. Once designated, the representative will receive all communications regarding the application going forward. You may contact your banker to make this update. Please note that an individual’s signature as an “Authorized Representative” is a representation to us and the U.S. government that the signer is authorized to make the certifications contained in the application. You should consult your attorney to understand the potential ramifications and additional requirements of completing the sale of your business while you have an open PPP loan. If you sell your business before completing the loan forgiveness process, you may jeopardize your forgiveness claim. You can request to have your planned ownership change approved by U.S. Bank. No, you can only submit one forgiveness application. Our portal allows you to save your progress; however, a full application, including required documentation, must be completed and submitted through our digital portal before it can be reviewed. You’re encouraged to apply as soon as you have collected the required documentation. Yes. All borrowers, regardless of PPP loan amount, must submit an application (SBA Form 3508, 3508EZ, or 3508S, as applicable) in order to request loan forgiveness. The SBA issued several different forgiveness application forms. Below summarizes each form, based on the versions published January 19, 2021. Form 3508S - For borrowers with loans of $150,000 or less. Benefits include a simplified application and no supporting documentation required in most cases. Form 3508EZ - For businesses who did not reduce employee compensation by greater than 25% during the covered periods compared to the most recent full calendar quarter before their covered period (excluding employees who received, during any single pay period in 2019, annualized compensation of more than $100,000) and also meet one of the following criteria:
Benefits include:
Form 3508 - For borrowers who do not qualify to use any other forms or would like to claim a Safe Harbor reduction in FTE or compensation level is available through the full form. The digital forgiveness application will present you with questions to determine which form you’re eligible to use. If you’re eligible for the 3508EZ or 3508S, you will automatically be presented with that experience. No. The forgiveness application forms are the same for both First and Second Draw loans. If you have an application in process that has not yet been submitted to the SBA, we will continue to process your application unless you inform us that you would like to withdraw your application and reapply using Form 3508S. We have sent an email to those customers impacted with instructions on how to notify us. No. The forgiveness application forms are the same for both First and Second Draw loans. No. A separate forgiveness application must be submitted for each PPP loan. DocumentationIf completing a Form 3508S you may not need to submit any supporting documentation. Following are situations where additional documentation or disclosures are required.
Loan repaymentThese loans are just like any other SBA loan. After the payment deferral period ends, you will receive monthly statements and can make payments online, at a branch or by mail. You can obtain a payoff quote by contacting the Business Service Center. No. Once a PPP loan is paid in full, you can no longer apply for loan forgiveness. You will not have to make any payments on your loan until we receive the SBA’s decision on your application for loan forgiveness. Once you have submitted your complete forgiveness application, the review process can take as long as 150 days – 60 days for U.S. Bank to complete the lender review process and up to 90 days for the SBA to complete their review under the current guidelines. If you do not submit an application for loan forgiveness within 10 months after the last day of the covered period, you must begin making payments on your loan at that time. All loans are subject to the updates from the PPP Flexibility Act, regardless of the loan agreement language. Therefore, as long as you submit an application for loan forgiveness within 10 months after the end of your covered period, loan payments will be deferred until we receive the SBA’s decision on your application. You will be responsible for interest accrued on the portion of the loan that does not qualify for loan forgiveness. Interest accrual begins on the date of disbursement. The loan accrues daily simple interest from the date of disbursement. Based on current SBA guidance, the SBA will pay the bank the loan forgiveness amount, plus any accrued interest on that amount, through the date of payment. Upon completion our review, we issue our decision to the SBA for their review. Our choices are one of the following:
No. Under current guidance, the SBA will not accept loan forgiveness applications submitted by a borrower that has fully repaid its PPP loan. Technical questions and additional supportUpdates that you receive during the application process will come from and , please make sure that your email settings will allow receipt from these addresses. Additionally, during the review process of the supporting documents that you provide, you may receive a direct email from one of our Verification Specialists. Reference this guide for more information about our secure email. These emails require action in order to fully process your application. To troubleshoot accessing your loan portal, please attempt to clear your internet browser cookies and cache and try again. Also, ensure that you are using the passcode provided to you in the most recent text message and not one from a prior message you received.
Access to our loan forgiveness portal will be granted through a direct email. We will send invitations to customers who had a First Draw PPP loan in 2020 in order based on the loan disbursement date. All 2020 borrowers should receive an invitation by the end of April. We expect to start inviting 2021 borrowers in mid-May. If you’re eligible to apply, but can’t locate your invitation to access the portal, please check your spam folder for an email from . You can also contact your banker directly or the Business Service Center at 877-357-4716. Representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. CT and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. CT. If you get a blank screen when entering the portal, notice that buttons are missing from the portal or you are experiencing issues when creating document placeholders, you may want to use a different web browser. The portal functions best in Google Chrome. Visit google.com/chrome to download. You can also try accessing the portal from a different computer or device. We take privacy seriously and will never publicly disclose the names of our clients, nor the nature of their business, unless required by law. However, the SBA has been required to disclose information related to your PPP loan. When information like this is made public, it creates an opportunity for fraudsters. If you receive an offer or advice related to your PPP loan that sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam. To help avoid fraud or scams be sure to:
If you suspect fraud, contact us immediately at 877-595-6256 We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help protect you. How do I check the status of my PPP loan forgiveness?Your lender is responsible for notifying you of the forgiveness amount paid by SBA and the date on which your first payment will be due, if applicable. Borrowers who need assistance with direct forgiveness can contact SBA at our dedicated forgiveness call center: 877-552-2692.
How do you ask for forgiveness on PPP loan?To apply for PPP loan forgiveness, use the SBA's Loan Forgiveness Application form, Form 3508, or your lender's equivalent form. You might be able to use Form 3508EZ or Form 3508S if you meet the eligibility guidelines. After completing the form and attaching any necessary documents, submit it to your lender.
What documentation does US bank require to forgive PPP loan?All borrowers, regardless of PPP loan amount, must submit an application (SBA Form 3508, 3508EZ, or 3508S, as applicable) in order to request loan forgiveness.
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