In order to reach racial and gender equity and assist businesses in low and moderate-income, rural, urban and other underserved areas, the SBA has established a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees. The exclusive period ends at 5:00 pm EST on March 9, and the PPP program is slated to close on March 31, 2021.
The new rules:
• Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants
• Eliminate an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non-financial fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal
• Eliminate PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have struggled to make federal student loan payments by eliminating federal student loan debt delinquency and default as disqualifiers to participating in the PPP; and
• Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawfully residing in the U.S. by clarifying that they may use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.