In a move to make it even easier for small business owners to have 100% of their PPP loans forgiven, the SBA issued a simplified version of the PPP Loan forgiveness application as follows:
- Form 3508EZ: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP-Forgiveness-Application-3508EZ.pdf
- Instructions to the Form 3508EZ: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP-Loan-Forgiveness-Application-Form-EZ-Instructions.pdf
According to the instructions, you qualify to use the EZ version if you meet one of the following three criteria:
- The Borrower is a self-employed individual, independent contractor, or sole proprietor who had no employees at the time of the PPP loan application
?
- The Borrower did not reduce annual salary or hourly wages of any employee by more than 25 percent during the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period compared to the period between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2020 AND the Borrower did not reduce the number of employees or the average paid hours of employees between January 1, 2020 and the end of the Covered Period. (Ignore reductions that arose from an inability to rehire individuals who were employees on February 15, 2020 if the Borrower was unable to hire similarly qualified employees for unfilled positions on or before December 31, 2020. Also ignore reductions in an employee?s hours that the Borrower offered to restore and the employee refused.
?
- The Borrower did not reduce annual salary or hourly wages of any employee by more than 25 percent during the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period compared to the period between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2020 AND the Borrower was unable to operate during the Covered Period at the same level of business activity as before February 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements established or guidance issued between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, related to the maintenance of standards of sanitation, social distancing, or any other work or customer safety requirement related to COVID-19.