The U.S. Small Business Administration and the Department of the Treasury have introduced a revised, “borrower-friendly” Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application implementing the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020.

In addition to revising the full forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application that applies to borrowers who are self-employed and have no employees; did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25 percent and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees or experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19 but did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25 percent.

“The EZ application should be more user-friendly as it requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers,” said SBA Utah District Director Marla Trollan. 

Details regarding the applicability of these provisions are available in the instructions to the new EZ application form.

Both applications give borrowers the option of using the original eight-week covered period (if their loan was made before June 5) or an extended 24-week covered period. These changes will result in a more efficient process and make it easier for businesses to realize full forgiveness of their PPP loan, SBA said.