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CEBA – Canada Emergency Business Account. Posted on Oct 20, 2020

How much is the assistance?

$40K interest free loan, $10K forgivable if repaid by Dec 31, 2022.

Eligibility requirements for the CEBA – two streams:

  • The Borrower is a Canadian operating business (corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership – as long as have CRA business number) in operation as of March 1, 2020
  • The Borrower’s total employment income paid in the 2019 calendar year was between Cdn.$20,000 and Cdn.$1,500,000 OR The Borrower has eligible non-deferrable expenses between Cdn.$40,000 and Cdn.$1,500,000. Eligible non-deferrable expenses could include costs such as rent, property taxes, utilities, and insurance. 
  • The Borrower has an active business chequing/operating account with the Lender, which is its primary financial institution. This account was opened on or prior to March 1, 2020

 

What are the Eligible non deferrable expense categories?

 

  • Wages and other employment expenses to independent parties. Wages to owners don’t qualify. Dividends payouts don’t qualify.
  • Rent or lease payments for real estate
  • Rent or lease payments for capital equipment
  • Insurance
  • Property tax
  • Utility bills
  • Payments on regularly scheduled debt – principal and interest. Lending agreement must be dated prior to March 1 and not end prior to Jan 1, 2020.
  • Payments to independent contractors, licenses, permissions – obligation need to exist on March 1. Obligation wouldn’t stop if business closed for the pandemic.
  • Payments for materials consumed to produce a product that the company sells – agreement to pay for materials must be dated prior to March 1, 2020.

 

What document types are considered invalid as proof of 2020 eligible non deferrable expenses?
 

  • Financial statements
  • Invoices due prior to January 1, 2020
  • Invoices for independent contractors dated after March 1, 2020
  • Handwritten documents (e.g. handwritten invoices, rent receipts)
  • Cheque images
  • Bank transactions or account statements
  • Quotations or proposals
  • Credit card statements or receipts
  • T4 summary from years prior to 2019
  • T5018 summary document
  • CRA payment notices
  • GST/HST payment notices
     

Contractual obligation should have existed as of March 1. Hence recurring expenses for the entire 2020 qualify if they are unavoidable if business stopped operations and there was a binding contract for their payout as of March 1, 2020.

What is the deadline to apply?

Dec 31st, 2020. Apply through a financial institution.

Official link: https://ceba-cuec.ca/

  • Oct 9- press release - An expanded Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), for business who continue to be seriously impacted by the pandemic—to access an interest-free loan of up to $20,000, in addition to the original CEBA loan of $40,000. $10,000 of the additional $20,000 financing would be forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022. Further details, including the launch date and application process will be announced in the coming days. An attestation of the impact of COVID-19 on the business will be required to access the additional financing.