Other major changes outlined Monday will require revisions to regulations and the borrower application. The SBA is targeting the first week of March to have all of those completed to incorporate the following changes:

• Schedule C filers can use gross income - Revising the formula for calculating the maximum loan amount for borrowers filing IRS Form 1040 Schedule C so that they can calculate their PPP loan amount using the gross income listed on line 7 of the Schedule C rather than the net income on line 31. That should allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support. It will also provide these borrowers with the same benefits that farmers and ranchers filing on Schedule F are allowed currently. The Biden Administration and the SBA also announced that $1 billion of PPP funding would be set aside for Schedule C applicants that don’t have employees and that are located in low- to moderate-income Census tracts.
• Owners with prior non-fraud felonies can apply - Eliminating a restriction that excludes PPP access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions. Currently, a business is ineligible for PPP if it is at least 20 percent owned by an individual who has either: (1) an arrest or conviction for a felony related to financial assistance fraud within the previous five years; or (2) any other felony within the previous year. Noting it is consistent with a bipartisan Congressional proposal, the SBA said the first restriction related to fraud will remain, but the SBA will begin allowing applications from people with non-fraud felony convictions  unless the applicant or owner is incarcerated at the time of the application.
• Owners with delinquent student debt can apply - Eliminating delinquent student debt as a disqualifier to PPP loans for small businesses. The SBA has been running checks of the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay list for business owners with student loan debt delinquency and has been placing hold codes/compliance error codes on any owners flagged for delinquency. SBA officials said they will remove the remove the codes for student loan debt going forward.
• ITINs will be acceptable for lawful non-citizen applicants - Issuing guidance to clarify that lawful non-U.S. citizens that are business owners who otherwise meet PPP requirements are already eligible for PPP loans. Earlier in this round of funding, the SBA was not accepting applications from non-citizens using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to apply for the PPP, but the SBA will begin accepting them once they issue the appropriate changes to the guidance.