Based on everything we hear, we expect it to take at least 4 weeks for some of the government restrictions and quarantines to calm down.  It’ll get worse before it gets better, but it will get better.  In the meantime, we’re investigating financial resources to help you and your employees through the next few weeks and have come up with the following list.

  • Loans – If you are unable to get a bank loan from your main bank, you might consider the following.
    • Disaster SBA loan up to $2M.  Requires claim of some business loss. Current rate is 3.25%.  This is administered by the government directly so the application process may take 30-45 days.  You can find more information here.
    • Non-Disaster SBA loan up $10M.  Current rates are Prime + 2.75%…so around 6%. This is a 10-year loan. This is backed by government guarantees but administered through private lenders & banks, so the process should be faster.  Waiting on congress to approve a new bill, but the lender I spoke with expects that they will be able to underwrite and fund within 15 days after legislation is passed this week. You can find out more information here.
    • Both SBA loans are based on your annualized operating expenses (payroll, utilities, rent, credit card payments…) and don’t require collateral, and have relaxed underwriting guidelines.  Congress is considering legislation to forgive some of the loan amount (to be determined) if you don’t lay any employees off.  There is no pre-payment penalty for early payment.
  • Sick Pay – As detailed previously, you will be able to use the pay codes as Sick-C19Self and Sick-C19Family to pay employees up 2 weeks for themselves and up to 12 weeks if taking care of home-bound children (2/3rds pay).  These amounts will offset against your payroll tax withholding on your payroll invoice.  This generally only applies if an employee has Coronavirus, is in government mandated isolation (all of California, NY and Dallas at this point…but will likely include most states.), or is watching a home-bound child. 
  • Income tax filing – The IRS and most states are giving additional time to file and pay personal taxes.  While each state has different dates, here’s what the IRS has done so far:
    • Personal filing and tax payment deadline extended from April 15 to July 15. 
    • Estimated personal or corporate income quarterly estimated tax payments that were due on April 15 are now due July 15.
    • C-Corp Filing extended from April 15 to July 15. At the moment we’re unsure about if tax payment deadline is extended if taxes are owed.
    • S-Corp and Partnership were due March 16
    • Normal filing extension rules apply
  • Quarantine exceptions – Many states have exceptions to their quarantine orders for construction and other required industries.  If your state or city does issue a “shelter-in-place” order, check with us to see if your industry is exempted.
  • State Unemployment Insurance – Most states allow for employees to file claims even if they have only reduced hours.  Here are the links for our most common states:

If you have any questions, please email info@tagpay.com.

Jack Biltis, President

The material presented here is educational in nature and is not intended to be, nor should be relied upon, as legal or financial advice. Please consult with an attorney or financial professional for advice.