The PPP Flexibility Act (signed into law on June 5th) provides borrowers with additional opportunities to qualify for loan forgiveness. Below is an overview of the changes made to the program:

• Lengthening the covered period from 8 to 24 weeks so borrowers have more time to use their PPP funds for qualified expenses. Existing PPP borrowers can still elect an 8-week covered period.
• Extending the loan term to 5 years for all new loans (June 5 or later). Existing PPP loans keep their 2-year term unless Country Bank and the borrower mutually agree to change the term to 5 years.
• Revising the 75/25 payroll/nonpayroll costs requirement to a 60/40 threshold.
• Deferring loan payments For borrowers who don’t apply for forgiveness, loan payments are deferred until 10 months after their covered period ends.
• Expanding the safe harbor related to reduction of employees.

If you obtained your PPP Loan with Country Bank are ready to submit your forgiveness application and supporting documentation, please utilize the Secure Loan Documentation Portal to upload all of your information. A few things to note on this portal:

• This is the same portal that borrowers used to upload their original application documentation in order to obtain a PPP loan with Country Bank.
• Borrowers can upload all forgiveness documentation to the Application folder in the Portal.
• We will receive an automatic notification when you upload anything to the Portal, so there is no need to contact us separately unless you would like to discuss the process further.
• If you have any trouble logging back into your Portal account or uploading your application and supporting documentation, please reach out to us at SBATeam1@countrybank.com.

Per the SBA guidelines:

• The Bank will have up to 60 days to review and process your complete forgiveness application packet.
• Once the Bank submits its recommendation for forgiveness (in full or in part) to the SBA, they will have up to 90 days to review the information, ask for clarification/more details, and make their own decision.
• Even if your loan is not forgiven in full, you will not be required to make any payments on your PPP loan until after this 90 day period has passed.

We will continue to be in touch with you along the way in order to keep you informed of the process.

Borrowers who received a PPP loan of $150,000 or less are eligible to apply for forgiveness using the simplified Form 3508S which is included below.

Download Form 3508S (Updated 1/19/21)

The “EZ” Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness application is also available and requires less documentation and fewer calculations than the full 3508 form.

Form 3508EZ applies to borrowers who meet any one of the below criteria:

• Did not reduce salary or wages for any employee by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number of hours of their employees (except laid-off employees who refused an offer to return).
• Did not reduce salary or wages for any employee by more than 25% during the covered period and experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19.

Download Form 3508EZ (Updated 1/19/21)

The full 3508 loan forgiveness form is for borrowers with employees who made over $100,000 within a calendar year. It is also for borrowers who reduced salary and wages by more than 25% during the covered period. The majority of PPP borrowers will not need to use this full form and will be able to use one of the simplified application forms instead. We recommend you ask your lender or accountant prior to completing the full 3508 application form to see if you are eligible to use the 3508EZ or the 3508S.

Download Form 3508 (Updated 1/19/21)

Form 3508D (use of this form is rare):

• PURPOSE OF THIS FORM & DEFINITIONS: The Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Pub. L. 116-260) requires borrowers that received First Draw PPP Loans before December 27, 2020 to disclose whether a Covered Individual directly or indirectly held a Controlling Interest in the Borrower at the time the Borrower’s loan application was submitted to the PPP lender.  A Covered Individual means (a) any one of the following Government Officials: the President, the Vice President, the head of an Executive department as defined in 5 U.S.C. § 101, or a member of Congress,1 and (b) the Spouse, as determined under applicable common law, of a Government Official described in clause (a), determined as of the time the Borrower’s loan application was submitted to the PPP lender.