Earlier today, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act (“PPFA”), making certain changes to the Paycheck Protection Program enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act in March.  Section 4 of the PPFA amends Section 2302(a) of the CARES Act to delete section 2302(a)(3).  Accordingly, employers who obtain forgiveness of a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan may now defer all employer social security tax deposits that would otherwise be required to be deposited before January 1, 2020.

Under Section 2302 of the CARES Act, employers may significantly defer the deposit of the employer share of social security taxes (but not Medicare taxes).  Specifically, all employer social security taxes otherwise required to be deposited between the date of enactment and December 31, 2020, are not required to be deposited on the normal deposit schedule.  Instead, half of such taxes would be required to be deposited by December 31, 2021.  The remaining deferred social security taxes would be required to be deposited by December 31, 2022.  However, Section 2302(a)(3) of the CARES Act precluded an employer who obtains forgiveness of a PPP loan from taking advantage of the employer social security tax deferral.  The IRS issued FAQs that clarified that an employer that obtains a PPP loan may defer the deposit of employer social security tax up until such time as the employer is notified that some or all of the PPP loan will be forgiven.  After enactment of the PPFA, this prohibition will no longer apply and PPP loan recipients will be able to take advantage of the deferral without regard to whether the employer has a PPP loan forgiven.

For more information regarding the changes that the PPFA made to the PPP, visit Inside Government Contracts.