NCCPAP Endorses the Small Business Expense Protection Act of 2020 (S.3612)
As the month of July comes to a close, there are several aspects of the CARES Act, that are scheduled to end, which will impact both businesses and individuals. Currently, Congress is busy working on additional legislation that would assist those businesses and individuals who are still affected by the pandemic.
As this legislation is being discussed, there are two issues that NCCPAP would like to bring to the attention of Congress for immediate consideration for this pending legislation. When the CARES Act was originally written, there were several portions of it that were ambiguous and subject to interpretation. With regard to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), established by Section 1102 of the CARES Act, the original intent of Congress was for any funds used under this program, and subsequently forgiven, to be treated as deductible expenses of the business. However, the Internal Revenue Service, misinterpreting Section 1106 of the Act which states that any monies received under PPP “shall be excluded from gross income” by reason of forgiveness, concluded that the expenses be excluded from business deductions for income tax purposes. This ruling is in direct contrast to the intent of Congress.
On May 5, 2020, Senator John Cornyn of Texas introduced S.3612, “Small Business Protection Act of 2020”. This bill specifically states that “no deduction shall be denied or reduced, no tax attribute shall be reduced, and no basis increase shall be denied, by reason of the exclusion from gross income.” The legislation, if passed, would overturn the ruling issued by the IRS under Notice 2020-32. This has a direct impact on all businesses. Furthermore, if the business is an S Corporation, Partnership, or Sole Proprietorship, the individual taxpayers would also be affected. As of this time, this legislation has bi-partisan sponsorship, and the number of sponsors is growing.
The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) endorses S.3612 and in the strongest possible terms requests that it be passed on its own or, at a minimum, incorporated into any future legislation being considered. In addition, NCCPAP supports adding automatic PPP loan forgiveness for any loan amount under $150,000 to any future legislation.