Detroit Regional Chamber > U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg: Businesses Shouldn’t Be Taxed on PPP

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg: Businesses Shouldn’t Be Taxed on PPP

May 15, 2020

While businesses have voiced concerns about the federal government taxing Payment Protection Plan (PPP) loans, U.S. Rep. Walberg said he doesn’t want this to happen.

In today’s Tele-Town Hall, Walberg spoke with Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO Sandy K. Baruah on the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and reopening businesses.

“At the very least you have to understand the intent of Congress was not to take this PPP, give it to businesses and then tax them on it as income,” said Walberg. “That was never our intention and we believe you have the ability to at the very least wave that tax policy, but if not, that’s something we ought to be working on right now to clarify.”

Walberg voiced his disagreement with Gov. Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders. Instead, he explained, Michigan could have shut down for a month and had a firm reopen date so that businesses would be prepared. Right now, that reopen date for businesses is unclear, with some industries restarting before others like manufacturing and construction.

While Walberg doesn’t think Michigan’s supreme court will overturn the stay-at-home order like what happened in Wisconsin recently, he said he thinks many Michigan residents and especially small businesses have not given their consent.

“We have our responsibilities, but we gained our authority only from the consent of the governed, and right now we’re seeing across the spectrum of people, not simply Republicans or Democrats or conservatives or liberals,” said Walberg. “We’re seeing citizens [that] are saying, ‘governor, give us hope,’ and these are coming from very common sense people.”