In a surprise move, the SBA has begun asking paycheck protection program (PPP) lenders to issue loan necessity questionnaires to recipients of loans of at least $2 million.  The questionnaires are detailed and request significant information, and were issued without warning or fanfare.  It’s expected that these information requests might be used in enforcement of PPP loan requirements or in determining eligibility for forgiveness.

According to the SBA, the forms will be used to evaluate whether a recipient’s loan was made necessary by economic uncertainty.  Information provided in the forms must be certified under threat of criminal action for false statements.  The questions essentially ask borrowers to certify actual detrimental economic impact.  Borrowers will also have to provide information about local Covid-19 shutdown orders, other CARES Act aid, financial information and compensation to highly compensated owners and employees.  Upon receipt, the borrower has only 10 days to complete the questionnaire and submit supporting documents.  For more information on the PPP loan program, visit Tax Facts Online.  Read More

William Byrnes

William H. Byrnes has achieved authoritative prominence with more than 20 books, treatise chapters and book supplements, 1,000 media articles, and the monthly subscriber Tax Facts Intelligence. Titles include: Lexis® Guide to FATCA Compliance, Foreign Tax and Trade Briefs, Practical Guide to U.S. Transfer Pricing, and Money Laundering, Asset Forfeiture; Recovery, and Compliance (a Global Guide). He is a principal author of the Tax Facts series. He was a Senior Manager, then Associate Director of international tax for Coopers and Lybrand, and practiced in Southern Africa, Western Europe, South East Asia, the Indian sub-continent, and the Caribbean. He has been commissioned by a number of governments on tax policy. Obtained the title of tenured law professor in 2005 at St. Thomas in Miami, and in 2008 the level of Associate Dean at Thomas Jefferson. William Byrnes pioneered online legal education in 1995, thereafter creating the first online LL.M. offered by an ABA accredited law school (International Taxation and Financial Services graduate program).