A.G. Gancarski
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds says he favors a provision in the House tax package that would allow audits of companies that benefited from Employee Retention Credits and federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.
The program, launched with the goal of stabilizing small businesses during the pandemic, saw many loans forgiven.
“There was a lot of issues with some of the federal programs around PPP and the other programs that were existing during the COVID era that we are going to have to try to find a way to work our way through,” Donalds said on Fox Business.
He doubled down on those comments, saying Congress “cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that, yes, some of those programs were abused during the COVID era.”
The House tax package proposes audits going back nine years for companies that claimed these credits during COVID.
There is no shortage of reported fraud with the Employee Retention Credits (ERC) and the more widely publicized Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
For example, the largest ERC fraud case uncovered by the IRS thus far involves a scheme to defraud the federal government of $600 million in funds. The alleged malefactors also filed PPP claims.
Meanwhile, the PPP program’s issues are well documented and have even filtered down into politics in Florida.
Former state Rep. Joe Harding, who was once a conservative darling, was sentenced to four months in federal prison for wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in connection with COVID relief fraud.
