The CARES Act & Optometry: A Replay of my Facebook Live Q&A Session

<p>Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! Today’s show is a unique one in many ways, starting out with a longer-than-normal introduction. This episode is actually a replay of the 75 minute Q&A session I did with the ODs on Finance Facebook group on all things related to the CARES Act and how it impacts optometrists.</p> <p>It’s important to understand that, at the time of the live Q&A session, both the IRS and Small Business Administration (SBA) had not yet released additional guidance on aspects of the CARES Act. By far the most popular topic in this discussion was on the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. Quite literally later that afternoon, the Treasury Department <a href= "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP%20Borrower%20Information%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3a2PqvvbJUq-p0N6xnMUd9bwRTvjy2XrY689c9YdvFmtM_ixuZ-5kGG_w"> came out with guidance</a> and interpretation of CARES and then the SBA <a href= "https://content.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/PPP--IFRN%20FINAL.pdf"> released more additional, in-depth guidance</a> two days later. Because (a) this was the most popular subject and (b) there are certain items of the PPP that have been clarified, I wanted to address those up front here in the introduction.</p> <p>Here are the main points that have changed with regards to PPP:</p> <ol> <li>The amount of payroll includes wages, state and local taxes, costs paid to maintain group health insurance including premiums, and retirement plan contributions including profit sharing contributions if those contributions have already been made for 2019. The amount for payroll does NOT include federal taxes paid by employee and all employment taxes paid by employer and employee (SS and Medicare).</li> <li>When determining the amount of your loan (based on your average monthly payroll over the previous year), do NOT include independent contractors that you issued 1099 payments. ODs that worked in your practice as 1099 independent contractors will be eligible to apply for their own PPP, so do no