The Small Business Administration released a three-page "EZ" Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness application requiring less documentation and fewer calculations than previously required. The form applies to borrowers who meet any one of these three criteria:

• Applied for the PPP loan as self-employed, an independent contractor or a sole proprietor with no employees.
• Did not reduce salary or wages for any employee by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees (excepting 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. 

Both applications give borrowers the option of using the original 8-week covered period (if their loan was made before June 5, 2020) or an extended 24-week covered period. These changes will result in a more efficient process and make it easier for businesses to realize full forgiveness of their PPP loan.

The streamlined forgiveness form is expected to smooth the forgiveness application process for a substantial portion of PPP borrowers. SBA also updated the regular forgiveness form to reflect recent changes made by Congress in the PPP Flexibility Act and issued a new interim final rule that implements changes made by the PPPFA.

Download the PPP Loan Forgiveness EZ Application instructions here.