Legislative Update- April 12, 2021
Taxing My PPP Grant????
Friday, April 9, 2021
by: Matt Musgrave

Section: Legislative Update




The legislative week was dominated by discussions surround the $1+ billion Vermont will received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). H.315 an act related to COVID-19 relief which appropriates money in the form of grants, loans or financing to multiple areas of the state. Part of the bill includes what is known as "link up" language which tied Vermonts taxation to Federal taxation of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) grants for the year of 2020. This means that 2020 PPP forgiven loans will not be taxed. Noticeably missing is link up language for 2021 PPP forgiven loans which means they would be subject to Vermont taxation. AGC/VT and a coalition of business groups is pushing to make the 2021 PPP's non-taxable. A letter has been drafted and will be sent to the chairs of the finance committees. More efforts will follow.

On Tuesday, Governor Phil Scott presented his plan to spend the money which is quite different than the legislatures plan. There has not been much review of the proposal yet, but financial committees will be taking it up quickly.

Below is a list of his budget requests for the ARPA funds: