The first program created by the Trump administration to provide small businesses with loans was the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP loan). This was designed to help the small businesses stay open during the economic downturn. The PPP loan is available to companies with fewer than 500 employees.
It provides loans to cover 75% of payroll expenses. There are two types of PPP loan: PPP Small Business (SBA) and PPP Federal Government. These loans are offered by SBA and Treasury Department’s small business loan program respectively. The original plan was to have the PPP loan expire after three months.
However, on November 23, 2017, Congress passed and apply for ERC President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, which added additional restrictions to this loan program. It limits the loan amount to 80% of the borrower’s prior annual average payroll and extends the repayment period of the loan to up to six months.
The government is only required to pay for 80% of the company’s total payroll up to $10 million. Beyond this threshold, the business must demonstrate that they paid 90% of their employees’ salaries during the five-month period preceding their application for the loan.
There is a limit on the number of eligible employees in the business. It is capped at 400. This restriction is not applicable to the SBA program.