COVID-19 resources in early April

There are a number of COVID-19 resources that we do not need to reinvent here, but most of our clients are in Texas, so we will place updates for businesses with operations in Texas here.

COVID-19 Summary

There are so many items, here is a summary of detailed information later in this post:

• Sign up for Texas Small Business updates on COVID-19.
• TWC quarterly tax reports & payments due on or before May 15, 2020 for Q1.
• DO NOT submit TWC quarterly tax reports & payment prior to April 15, 2020 for Q1.
• Not all institutions who work with SBA loans can nor will provide PPP loans.

Texas Workforce Commission

This e-mail from the TWC on April 4, 2020, with further FAQ at this webpage:

In response to the recent impacts of COVID-19, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) will be extending the due date for the First Quarter 2020 report filing and tax payment until May 15th, 2020. This extension applies to ALL employers in accordance with the emergency declaration made by Governor Greg Abbott relating to the pandemic.

In an effort to assist with the unprecedented amount of internet traffic that both our claimant and employer systems are experiencing, we ask that all employers PLEASE DO NOT START FILING your 1ST Quarter 2020 TAX REPORT UNTIL after APRIL 15, 2020.  Reminder: The First Quarter 2020 Report and payment deadlines have been extended to May 15th, 2020.

This will allow uninterrupted internet access for individuals filing for unemployment and help ensure employers have access to their online accounts.

If after May 1, 2020 you feel that you will be unable to file by the extended deadline of May 15, 2020 please email tax@twc.state.tx.us with your proposed filing date and COVID-19 justification.

You may also follow along and check for updates at https://twc.texas.gov/news/covid-19-resources-employers. This is a reminder that your 1st Quarter 2020 Employer’s Quarterly Report must be filed on or before May 15, 2020. This is the only notice that you will receive.

To suspend your account: email tax@twc.state.tx.us with your account number, business name, your name, business title, date of final wages paid in Texas,  and  name of new owner if the business was sold.

If you need to update your information or be removed from an account please visit http://www.twc.state.tx.us/accessing-unemployment-tax-account-frequently-asked-questions for more information.

The Office of the Commissioner Representing Employers offers online resources, including the book Especially for Texas Employers (http://www.twc.state.tx.us/news/efte/especially-for-texas-employers.html)  with detailed articles on state and federal employment laws and the quarterly newsletter Texas Business Today (http://www.twc.state.tx.us/news/tbt/texas-business-today.html) which contains employment updates for employers.

If you have any questions, e-mail us at tax@twc.state.tx.us or contact a TWC representative at an office nearest you. A list of those offices, can be found on the TWC Web site at http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/tax/unemployment-tax-contacts.html. Thank you for using TWC Internet applications.

Finding a bank for your SBA loan…

There are three programs available in Texas that merit your attention as business owners:

• Texas Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) Program,
• SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and
• SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Emergency Advance.

Each one of these is gone over elsewhere, but we have found a couple of important things:

• The PPP can be used for anything, but in order to have it forgiven in the future, you will have to use 75% of the loan for payroll and up to 25% for rent.
• The PPP calculation is 2.5 times whatever your monthly payroll for your business is; it is not clear whether you can ask for more than that 2.5 times or not.
• The advance is for $10,000 and will not need to be repaid – basically fill it out TODAY!
• The DUA is for self-employed individuals and provide up to $1,600 per week now (normally it can provide up to $591 per week).

And the real kicker – even though there are more than 1,800 SBA 7(A) lenders in the U.S., not all of them can nor will provide the PPP. So far since the program was opened on April 3, 2020, these are the only locations that we have found that will work businesses:

1. National Business Capital & Services – normally a factoring and alternative lending source but now is accepting PPP information and applications.
2. First Service Credit Union – great credit union, even does SBA loans, and now does PPP and EIDL (as of 2020-04-09 late in the afternoon).
3. Fountainhead Commercial Capital, a national, non-bank , direct commercial lender, is providing PPP loans, even to non-customers.
4. Chase Bank, but only for current clients of their business banking,
5. Bank of America, but only for current business banking clients,
6. The Lift Fund for both new and current clients, and
7. Pioneer Bank, S.B. – it looks like they will accept new clients as well.
8. Trustmark National bank – no problem even for new customers (question e-mail still outstanding as of 2020-04–07 5:00 PM)

We have confirmed that these institutions do not:

• Wells Fargo – may open up later, but they were inundated and closed their program.
• The Frost National Bank – They “recommend that you contact your current financial institution for assistance“.

Updates

We’ll place updates here as well as in comments:

• [2020-04-07 2:00 PM] We just got off a webinar with The Lift Fund (a link from the homepage for COVID-19 information and products) – they DO NOT participate in the PPP yet, their EIDL loans are as of yet not differentiated from their normal SBA loan, and they have a Disaster Loan (not a SBA product) up to $50,000 with no payments for 4 months.
• [2020-04-07 05:00 PM] Goldman Sachs COVID-19 information page says that the PPP for “sole proprietors and will become available on April 10, 2020 for self-employed individuals and independent contractors“.
• [2020-04-08 02:31 PM] Kabbage is working with a number of PPP lenders to secure PPP SBA loans through one interface.
• [2020-04-08 05:01 PM] Steve Bethke of Everybody’s Phone Company gave us a referral to Fountain Commercial Credit for PPP and EIDL.
• [2020-04-09 10:00 AM] Harris County is introducing a COVID-19 forgivable loan program sometime int he next week. The eligibility looks reasonable, but their documents required look like a commercial bank loan package – too much for these crisis times.
• [2020-04-09 04:15 PM] Looks like First Service Credit Union in a reversal from its previous position, is now offering PPP and EIDL.
• [2020-04-10 12:00 PM] The Harris County loan program announced on the 9th will be administered by the Houston-Galveston Area Local Development Corporation (H-GALDC).

More information on the Advance on the EIDL came in from the SBA this morning:

Dear Applicant,

On March 29, 2020, following the passage of the CARES Act, the SBA provided small business owners and non-profits impacted by COVID-19 with the opportunity to obtain up to a $10,000 Advance on their Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). The Advance is available as part of the full EIDL application and will be transferred into the account you provide shortly after your application is submitted. To ensure that the greatest number of applicants can receive assistance during this challenging time, the amount of your Advance will be determined by the number of your pre-disaster (i.e., as of January 31, 2020) employees. The Advance will provide $1,000 per employee up to a maximum of $10,000.

You may be eligible for another loan program, the Paycheck Protection Program, which is available through participating lenders. Below is a comparison of the two loan programs:

To locate a Paycheck Protection Program Lender, please visit: www.SBA.gov/PaycheckProtection.

Information on available resources may be found at www.sba.gov/coronavirus. For more information on these services, please go to www.sba.gov/local-assistance to locate the email address and phone number for the nearest SBA district office and/or SBA’s resource partners.

Direct e-mail from the SBA received on April 14, 2020

                                 Paycheck Protection Program                  Full EIDL Loan

PURPOSE	Forgivable if used for payroll (minimum of 75% of the funds received) and the remaining for certain operating expenses (amount of any EIDL advance is not forgivable)	To meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could have been met had the disaster not occurred (amount of any EIDL advance is forgiven)
TERMS	Up to $10 million 1% interest rate	Up to $2 million 3.75% for businesses 2.75% for non-profits
FORGIVABLE	YES	NO – EIDL Loan YES – EIDL Advance
MATURITY	2 years	30 years
FIRST PAYMENT DUE	Deferred 6 months	Deferred 1 year

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Further information from DSV Consulting

These COVID-19 resources tie into many of DSV Consulting LLC’s services, including:

• Business development consulting,
• Crowdfunding consulting, and
• Funding consulting.

Future posts includes our corporate citizenship article.

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