This week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released updated Phase 3 Corona Virus legislation responding to the public health and economic crisis. Mr. Grassley led bipartisan negotiations and crafted the Senate’s tax policy and key health policy responses and provisions extending assistance to the unemployed that are included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Act’s price tag is estimated at $2+ trillion. Each $0.1 trillion equals $100 billion.

Phase 3 includes recovery checks to all Americans with annual income lower than $75,000, strengthened unemployment insurance, and increased funding for public health programs.

Some of the interesting business related provisions included in the Act are:

• Amendments to the Small Business Act (SBA) to create a new business loan program category to eligible businesses to help pay operational costs like payroll, rent, etc. Subject to certain conditions, loans are forgivable under a guarantee program of the Federal Government without any income tax consequences for the business.
• Elimination of the net operating losses (“N.O.L.”) limitation so that businesses and individuals are allowed to benefit from a five-year carryback of N.O.L.'s incurred in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
• Increasing the ceiling on business interest expenses deduction from 30% of the adjusted taxable income to 50%.

The official summary of the unemployment insurance and tax policy can be found here.

The full text of the CARES Act can be found here.