Eligible payroll costs include the following, if paid or incurred during the covered period:
- Gross salary, gross wages, gross tips, gross commissions, paid leave (vacation, family, medical or sick leave, not including leave covered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act), and allowances for dismissal or separation;
- Payments for employer contributions for employee health insurance, including employer contributions to a self-insured, employer-sponsored group health plan, but excluding any pre-tax or after-tax contributions by employees;
- Payments for employer contributions to employee retirement plans, excluding any pre-tax or after-tax contributions by employees;
- Payments for employer state and local taxes assessed on employee compensation (such as state unemployment insurance tax), excluding any taxes withheld from employee earnings;
- Payroll costs may include bonus and hazard pay, and may include salaries paid to furloughed employees.
Limitations for individual employees
The total amount of cash compensation eligible for forgiveness may not exceed a pro-rated annual salary of $100,000. This means the maximum you can claim for cash compensation is $46,154 for any individual employee during a 24-week covered period - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks.
Eligible payroll costs are limited to employees whose principal place of residence is the United States. Payments to independent contractors are not eligible.
These caps relate to maximums that you can claim for cash compensation. In addition, borrowers may claim non-cash compensation for employer contributions for employee health insurance; employer contributions to employee retirement plans; and state and local taxes assessed on employee compensation, as explained in these FAQs.
Limitations for owner-employees, self-employed, and general partners
Compensation for owner-employees, self-employed individuals and general partners are also eligible for loan forgiveness based on certain PPP compensation formulas, and based on their business type.
For PPP, an owner-employee is defined as an owner who is also an employee (including where the owner is the only employee). Owner-employees with a less than 5% ownership stake in a C-corps or S-corps are not subject to the owner-employee compensation limitation.
Owner compensation falls under “Payroll costs”, and for a 24-week covered period it is capped at the lesser of 2.5 months of $100,000 annualized ($20,833) or 2.5 months of compensation, in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020) across all businesses in which they have an ownership stake - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks. The PPP compensation formulas varies based on business type, as explained:
For self-employed individuals
If filing IRS 1040 Schedule C (or Schedule F), forgiveness is capped at 2.5 times the monthly net profit/loss in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020), as shown on Schedule C, line 31 (or Schedule F, line 34). Note that if your net profit in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020) was a net loss, the forgiveness amount will be zero.
For general partners
Forgiveness is capped at 2.5 months x the monthly self-employment earnings in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020) and as shown on IRS 1065 Schedule K-1 line 14a (reduced by Sec. 179 deduction, unreimbursed partnership expenses, and depletion from oil and gas properties) and multiplied by 0.9235, subject to a maximum of $20,833 per owner for a 24-week covered period - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks. Only compensation paid during the covered period is eligible for loan forgiveness. Documentation of such payments do not need to be provided to the lender.
No additional forgiveness is available for retirement or health insurance contributions for self-employed individuals or general partners.
If you are in a general partnership and did not submit 2019 IRS Form 1065 K-1s when you initially applied for the PPP loan, you will need to include it with your forgiveness application.
For owner-employees of S-corps
The employee cash compensation of an S-corp owner-employee, defined as an owner who is also an employee, is also eligible for loan forgiveness up to a maximum of 2.5 months x their monthly employee cash compensation in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020). As explained previously, for a 24-week covered period the maximum forgiveness is $20,833 per owner - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks.
You can also claim forgiveness for payments for employer state and local taxes paid by the borrower and assessed on the owner-employee’s compensation, and for employer retirement contributions to owner-employee retirement plan capped at the amount of 2.5x their monthly employer retirement contribution in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020).
These eligible non-cash compensation payments should be included on lines 7 and 8 of PPP Schedule A, Form 3508 or line 1 of Form 3508EZ, and do not count toward the $20,833 cap per individual owner. If you use Form 3508S, you will enter all eligible payroll and nonpayroll costs on a single line.
Employer contributions for health insurance are not eligible for additional forgiveness for S-corp employees having at least a 2% stake in the business.
To claim forgiveness, you must submit payroll documents detailing cash compensation paid to owner-employee(s) during the covered period selected, up to the eligible amount stated previously. Payments other than for cash compensation should be included on lines 6 through 8 of PPP Schedule A of the loan forgiveness application and do not count toward the $20,833 cap per individual.
For owner-employees of C-corps
The employee cash compensation of a C-corp owner-employee, defined as an owner who is also an employee, is eligible for loan forgiveness up a maximum of 2.5 x their monthly employee cash compensation in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020). For a 24-week covered period the maximum forgiveness is $20,833 per owner - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks.
You can also claim forgiveness for payments for employer state and local taxes paid by the borrower and assessed on owner-employee compensation, for the amount paid by the borrower for employer contributions for owner-employee health insurance, and for employer retirement contributions to owner-employee retirement plan capped at the amount of 2.5x their monthly employer retirement contribution in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020).
To claim forgiveness, you must submit payroll documents detailing cash compensation paid to owner-employee(s) during the covered period selected, up to the eligible amount stated previously. Payments other than for cash compensation should be included on lines 6 through 8 of PPP Schedule A, of Form 3508 or line 1 of Form 3508EZ, and do not count toward the $20,833 cap per individual. If you use Form 3508S, you will enter all eligible payroll and nonpayroll costs on a single line.
In all cases
Owner compensation for a 24-week covered period is capped $20,833 (not to exceed 2.5 months of compensation in the year that was used to calculate the loan amount (2019 or 2020) across all businesses in which they have an ownership stake - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks. Note that owner-employees with less than 5% ownership stake in C-or S-corps are not subject to these caps, but are still subject to the general employee limitation of $46,154 per employee during a 24-week covered period - the maximums are lower for periods of less than 24 weeks.
These caps relate to maximums that you can claim for cash compensation. In addition, borrowers may claim non-cash compensation for employer contributions for employee health insurance; employer contributions to employee retirement plans; and state and local taxes assessed on employee compensation, as explained in these FAQs.