Beacon Hill to extend tax relief to some PPP recipients

Did your business receive a PPP loan in FY2020? You need to know this: as of this writing, lawmakers on Beacon Hill are expected to pass a bill which will extend tax relief to include Massachusetts businesses who received loan forgiveness for Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Bill H.89, or “An Act financing a program for improvements to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and providing relief to employers and workers in the Commonwealth,” was passed unanimously by the Massachusetts House on Thursday, March 10 in an effort to raise up both employers and workers in the state as business begins to return to normal.

Also expected to be included in the House Aid bill is a freeze on unemployment tax rates and waived penalties for 2020 unemployment benefits tax payments. According to WBUR, without action, the average per-employee cost employers would have to pay would jump “nearly 60 percent,” due to a high of 17.7% unemployment in the state last June.

Obviously, the next step many businesses in the state are taking is to request an extension on their tax deadline, which the state is already expecting.