Answers to Questions About the Economic Impact Payments

17 April 2020 Covid19 Luray/Page County Shenandoah County Front Royal/Warren County Winchester Frederick County Clarke County News

On a recent episode (4/17/20) of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael spoke with Karen Poff, Senior Extension Agent – Family & Consumer Sciences Management, Housing & Consumer Education with Virginia Cooperative Extension. Karen also manages the Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Education Program.

On the show, Karen offered answers to several questions she’s been receiving about those economic impact payments that will be showing up (or have already) in bank accounts and mailboxes across the country. During the show, Karen mentioned several websites where you can get more information, or even submit your information to potentially speed up the process for receiving your economic impact payment. Those are listed below:

IRS Non-Filers Web Portal: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here
IRS Get My Payment Portal: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Economic Impact Payment Questions and Answers): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/guide-covid-19-economic-stimulus-checks/
Social Security Administration (Benefits and Economic Impact Payment Information): https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/
Virginia Employment Commission (Regular Unemployment and Pandemic Unemployment Insurance): http://www.vec.virginia.gov/covid19
Small Business Administration (Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans): https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp
Lord Fairfax Small Business Development Center: https://lfsbdc.org/
Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Education Program Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/nsvfinancialeducation

Additionally, people whose income is less than $69,000 can file their taxes online for free. The IRS site states, “If your 2019 adjusted gross income was $69,000 or less, you may find one or more Free File Online options for you. Review each company’s offer to make sure you qualify for a free federal return. Some companies offer free state tax returns; others may charge a fee.” Go here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/ to find links to companies that participate.

Karen also spoke briefly about opportunities for event the smallest small business owner like sole proprietors and independent contractors (1099 workers.) Below is the verbiage she mentioned during the show.

Paycheck Protection Program: As of 4/13/2020, the Small Business Administration website states, “The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. The loan will be fully forgiven if the funds are used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll). Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees. Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease. This loan has a maturity of 2 years and an interest rate of 1%.” More information is available through the Small Business Administration: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp. If you think you might want to take advantage of this option, discuss the criteria with your loan officer to be sure that you can meet all of the conditions. You will need to have clear records documenting that the loan proceeds were used for payroll. If you are not able to meet all the criteria and provide the correct documentation for loan forgiveness, your loan will not be forgiven.

Individuals can apply for both PUA and PPP; however, once you receive a PPP loan, you will need to discontinue PUA. This is because with a PPP loan, you are basically hiring yourself back and thus are no longer unemployed. Taking advantage of both of these programs at the same time is not allowed because that would be considered ‘double-dipping.’

To listen to the show, click here: https://theriver953.com/podcast/questions-and-answers-about-economic-impact-payments/