By Jonnie CohenNOTE: As of April 17th all the PPP funds have been exhausted. Follow these directions from the Chamber of Commerce to fight for your portion of the PPP.
NOTE: If you were unable to take advantage of the PPP and have filed for unemployment, please read this article from CNBC on how to ensure you can get access to the unemployment for drivers of Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare services. Filing for unemployment as a gig or self-employed worker? It’s complicated
Step by Step how to apply for the PPP as a rideshare driver
The PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) is part of the large government stimulus bill that was passed last week. The applications are now open to self-employed contractors, as of 4/10/2020. Applying is quite easy if you have all of your materials together, and I’ve created a checklist of things to do to make this as easy as possible.
You must be able to prove economic hardship as part of the loan forgiveness program. If your income has been impacted by COVID-19, which it has – then you will not have to repay the loan!
However, you must be able to prove economic hardship. You must use the funds wisely, i.e. don’t go out and buy a new car or a new computer or something like that unless you really need it.
The process to apply essentially amounts to providing documentation of your monthly income, 1099’s from 2019, and your IRS Form 1040-C (Schedule C). The step by step instructions can be found below. However, you will need to provide your own 1040-C which is contained as part of your 2019 taxes.
If you have not yet filed taxes for 2019, still apply to the loan asap and then set some time aside this weekend and to file your taxes so you have all the documentation in order.
There are 2 sites for filing taxes below. Both are completely legitimate and walk you through the process of filing, e-file for you, and generate PDF documents for your records. You can get the 1040-C for the PPP application. Note that you do not need your whole tax return for the PPP, JUST the 1040-C portion.
Both of these are free e tax filing companies:
https://www.creditkarma.com/tax
Please note: if you have 1099’s from multiple companies, you must add ALL of them up together – this is not just about the income you receive from one company, but from ALL self-employment income. Simply add those numbers to the payroll report I’ve created for you and gather your other 1099’s because you will need all of them eventually.
Please note: you will not be including documentation in the first submission application. However, once your initial loan application is received, the lender will contact you and request all of the documentation outlined in the checklist. Ensure you have all documentation gathered and ready.
In the checklist, it’s recommended to open a new bank account with Ally Bank (this is optional). However, it is extremely important to ensure you can prove economic hardship. Opening another bank account and only using the funds from the PPP for necessities is a very ‘clean’ way to show how you used the funds for necessities. Again, DO NOT go and buy a bunch of stuff you wouldn’t normally buy for the next month or two if you end up getting the loan.
Finally, please note that there is no guarantee you will be approved for the loan. The government is extremely unorganized right now and there are not enough funds for everyone. Applying quickly improves your chances of approval and receiving the money.
Finally, here is a step-by-step walkthrough of how and where to apply. We recommend Kabbage.com. You can use any SBA approved local lender – there’s a link in the checklist for helping you find one.
We did this for our business and it only took about 10 minutes. Good luck! If you have any questions, please let us know.
