With the increase of the Corona Virus pandemic, financial struggles have multiplied as well. For a person with a small start-up requiring loans, things are looking very bleak. Most states offer a benefits support program for 26 weeks which is quite sufficient for a startup to get things started. But to further raise panic last week both the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and the Paycheck Protection (PPP) Loan program ran out of money. Even though this may seem like the worst of the worst situation for a person who is self-employed there is still some hope left.
CARES Act
There are options available to be explored for independent workers. Under the Corona Virus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act there are three different expansions available which can be explored for self-employed people looking for loans.
Pandemic Unemployed Assistance (PUA):
This provides all the benefits of unemployment for all those people who are self-employed, freelancers, and other self-contractors.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC):
People eligible for this are provided compensations until the end of July. Through this, people receive unemployment benefits along with the extra cash of $600 on a weekly basis. Moreover, all the State decided benefits for a person are also included in this.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC):
People become eligible for PEUC, once they have exhausted their state and federal benefits and have been unemployed for weeks in from the month of March 2020 to December 2020. The PEUC benefit amount received will be the same as Unemployment Compensation (UC) Amount.
Controlled by States
Even though these expansions have been implemented by the Federal Government but they will be further administered by the State governments respectively. The States will implement all the policies of these expansions as per their own Unemployment Insurance Program. If a person wishes to acquire any kind of loans, they must consult immediately with the State and apply accordingly.
Eligibility Criteria
It is important to remember that the eligibility criteria for receiving the benefit amount solely depend upon the person’s annual income in the year of 2019. Moreover, you must also provide assurance to the State that you are available to work and have the numbers of hours set to complete your business work. A person must provide the State with means for self employment which fall within the meaning of State law.
*Note: The meaning within the State Law is different in every state and must be looked up and managed accordingly.
Exceptions and Relaxations for Loans
There can be some exceptions and relaxations are also provided for those who have been directly impacted by COVID-19. If the applying person or any of their family members for whom they are serving as a caretaker, suffers from COVID-19, then as per the states rules and regulations relaxations will be provided.
Conclusion
The first thing that any individual who is looking for a loan for self-employment or freelancing must do is go on Google and do a thorough research on Unemployment Assistance Program and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act of the State they reside in. Through proper research and calculations, an individual can easily get the loans required in order to further finance the business.
