COVID-19 U.S Unemployment & Stimulus Resources
Unemployment & Stimulus Resources
Information, ideas, and resources for small businesses and self-employed people receiving unemployment and stimulus benefits.
Originally Published on April 14, 2020. Last updated: April 21, 2020 by Tani Chambers and Raechel Lambert. Learn about Tani and Rae at the bottom of these resources.
Table of Contents
Tl;DR
Helpful articles
BREAKING NEWS
Unemployment for Self - Employed
PPP Loan for SMBs + Self-Employed
IMPACT NYC WEBINAR
Emails from Financial Advisors to their clients
Four15 Advisors | four15advisors.com
Minnie Lau | minnielau.com
ABOUt the authors tani & Rae
TL;DR
Benefits are now extended to small businesses and self-employed individuals who are not usually qualified to file unemployment.
There is also a $10,000 emergency grant cash advance if you go with the EIDL which may not need to be repaid.
Note from Tani: This has been VERY controversial. The SBA updated it to say that you may qualify for up to $10k based on # of employees; $1k for each employee included in your application. Stay tuned for more updates from Tani next week.
Even if your business has not been immediately impacted by COVID-19, chances are your business will feel the aftershocks of a receding economy, and there is never any harm in getting in line just in case you need the help.
Helpful articles
Breaking News
The Senate just passed a $480 billion “interim” stimulus bill to tide over small businesses
This new "interim" bill proposes $320 billion for the PPP loan program and $60 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to assist "small businesses." Unfortunately, the language of the bill does NOT exclude the loopholes that larger corporations to participate. Either way, shoot your shot.
Unemployment for Self - Employed
(*mostly based on NYC)
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
The self-employed are now eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. Self- employed includes freelancers, gig workers, 1099 or independent contractors, consultants, and single-member LLCs not filing as corp with the IRS.
The PUA program runs through December 31st and you can receive retroactive pay from as early as January 27, 2020. Weekly benefit payment amount varies by state and most expire at 26 weeks. NYC’s maxes out at $504 weekly and a minimum of $182.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
Most states offer 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefit payments. Under the PEUC program, beneficiaries will be eligible for an additional 13 weeks; bringing the total to 39 weeks of payments.
Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC)
The federal government is adding an additional $600 per week to your eligible payment from the state for 13 weeks, through July 31st, 2020.
Head to your State’s Department of Labor site and follow the instructions to apply.
CAVEAT: If you receive or qualify for Paid or Sick leave or can WFH then you DO NOT qualify.
NYC: Be prepared to provide recent 1099s or up to 3 years of tax filings (varies by DOL agent). Also, be prepared to wait, deal with website time outs and ever-changing info from old, new and temporary DOL workers. NYC is progressing SLOWLY in this area but everyone is assured to get payments if qualified.
PPP Loan for SMBs + Self-Employed
Applications opened up on April 3rd for SMBs and April 10th for the Self- Employed.
Funds for the PPP Loan program were depleted in record time. Congress is now negotiating an additional $250B expected to available shortly.
In order, to have this loan forgiven 75% of the funds must be spent on payroll and the remaining on items such as rent, mortgage interest, Otherwise, it is a loan at a 1% interest rate that matures in two years. Payments can be deferred for 6 months but accrue interest.
Your 8 weeks start as soon as the loan is disbursed - so consider this when evaluating your payroll and “forgiveness strategy.”
CAVEAT: Have your documentation in order. Required documents vary by lender. Here are a few items to have available:
Self-Employed
1040 Schedule C
Income + Expense Reports (P+L)
Business Certificate/License (if applicable)
Small Businesses
Article of Incorporation (if applicable)
Profit + Loss Statements
Payroll Register
Tax forms 941 + 944
Bank Statements (Last 12 months)
EDIL (Emergency Injury Disaster Loan)
SBA has updated terms for this loan several times.
The ADVANCE (not grant) provides UP TO $10,000 based on the number of employees included in your application. One employee = $1k Two employees = $2k and so on.
The advance is not being provided in 3 days; some are still pending weeks later.
While this program’s funds are separate from the $350B allocated to the PPP loan program, The CARES act provided $30B to this program and is said to be running low.
IMPACT NYC Webinar
Emails from Financial Advisors to their clients
Four15 Advisors | four15advisors.com
Hello All. I hope you're having a nice weekend. For those of you who are homeschooling your children, Spring Break now has a whole new meaning!
This email is an UPDATE due to recent information released from the government and the questions I have received. In this email, I will discuss the EIDL Loan, also known as the disaster loan. The Paycheck Protection Loan ("PPP") will be covered in a separate communication.
I have heard from several of you that I am the only one sending you this critical and CORRECT information. Note that there is a good amount of incorrect information out there. Be careful what you read. Note that additional guidance is released daily, so by the time you read this, the rules might've changed yet again.
1. The advance you receive can be UP TO $10K.
The formula being used to determine how much is received is unknown. You may not receive the full $10K.
I will refer to the amount of money you will receive as the "advance".
The advance is now expected to be deposited into your account by April 15th or 3 days following your application submission if you apply after April 15th.
2. The advance that you can receive is forgiven and does not need to be paid back.
The amount forgiven does NOT depend on completing additional documents that the SBA will send to you to borrow more money.
You may decide not to borrow any more money and still keep the advance which will be forgiven. Many people and companies will do this.
You will not pay taxes on any forgiven amounts of the EIDL or PPP loans.
3. Any EIDL money you receive should be used for ordinary and necessary business expenses, so it is much more flexible than the PPP loan.
4. You can apply for both the EIDL the PPP loan. If you receive both, the forgiveness amount of the PPP loan will be reduced by any advance that you receive.
The PPP loan is not going smoothly and is taking longer than expected for banks to implement. The EIDL amount will be received much faster and is incredibly easier to apply for. If in doubt, apply for both.
5. If you own more than 1 business, you can apply for each business.
This includes a sole proprietorship reported on Schedule C or rental property reported on Schedule E.
There is a hard credit check associated with the advance so please UNFREEZE your credit reports.
6. If you decide to borrow more than the advance, these are the terms:
Max loan amount: $2 million
Max interest rate: 3.75% for businesses, 2.75% for non-profits
Loan term: Up to 30 years, but determined case-by-case
Loan amount formula: There is no formula for determining how much loan a business will be offered and there is no place on the application to put the loan amount you would like. Wait for a follow-up email from the SBA which will tell you the loan amount available to you and the paperwork required. You are NOT obligated to accept this additional loan amount and your advance will still be forgiven if you do not proceed.
Please feel free to forward to friends, colleagues, and family that might need some assistance during this difficult time. We are here to help with the application process, business consulting and implementation to take most advantage of the government loans to help your business survive and thrive once we're on the other side of this.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR THE EIDL LOAN/GRANT
QUESTIONS? CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE A COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION
Warmest regards,
-Eric Feldman
Minnie Lau | minnielau.com
Dear Client,
I hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during the shelter-in-place.
I wanted to share this with you because even if you are not a business owner, self-employed or a landlord, you may know of someone who is, and in times like this we need all the help we can get. Please feel free to share this information and I hope someone may get some good use out of this.
For those who wear one of these hats and wish to get some help during the COVID-19 pandemic, read on:
There are several programs available that can assist you during this time. The ones which are getting the most press now are:
Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).
There is also a $10,000 emergency grant cash advance if you go with the EIDL which does not need to be repaid.
I recommend all eligible clients apply for these resources as it becomes available beginning tomorrow, April 3, for small businesses and sole proprietors, and April 10 for independent contractors and self-employed individuals. Please reach out to your business banking lender and they should be able to help you. My personal take on this is even if your business has not been immediately impacted by COVID-19, chances are your business will feel the aftershocks of a receding economy, and there is never any harm in getting in line just in case you need the help. If there’s anything I’ve learned from COVID-19, it’s that the only thing constant is change.
You’re going to need to have access to a clean set of books for you to put together a strong and complete application. Your first line of defense should be to reach out to your bookkeeper. If you have specific questions on the application that you want a little guidance, please contact us and we will do our best to provide support for you to fill out this application. IMPORTANT – While we are a resource and we want to help you, we are not going to fill out your application for you. Please understand this is outside of our scope of engagement.
For individual & business clients who are trying to expedite their 2019 tax returns, we understand the urgency and we will try to accommodate as much as we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we try to get through COVID-19 together.
About the authors
Tani Chambers
Tani is an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of SaviMoni - a financial services company that leverages tech + people to help solo entrepreneurs maximize their tax savings and manage their money. Previously, at her namesake consultancy, she leveraged 20+ years of marketing, sales + finance experience to develop revenue-driven strategies for solo entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. She’s a certified financial educator who advocates for economic inclusion for women and people of color. She is a lover of the Caribbean waters (where her family is from), Sci-Fi TV, and all things Brooklyn where she was born and raised.
Raechel Lambert
Rae has B.S in finance with a minor in economics. She started her career working in custodial finance at State Street Bank, transitioned to REITs at AEW, and then joined Sauce Labs, a fast growing tech company, where she managed operating plans and was involved with 3 rounds of funding. After 7 years in finance she transitioned to product marketing and joined Intercom where she took two of their biggest product releases to market from scratch (Articles and Operator). Now she is a co-founder at Olivine, a product marketing agency based in NYC and San Francisco.