Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for Square Food and Beverage Sellers

[Ani_]

Hi Seller Community!

I'm excited to announce the Small Business Administration has developed a partnership with Square to distribute the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) relief to the food and drink industry. The Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) is part of the U.S. Government’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This plan includes a $28.6B fund for awards to eligible food and beverage business owners, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). 

On Thursday, April 29th at 1:30-2:30 PM PST /4:30 PM-5:30 EST, we'll host a Live Q&A with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to answer any of your questions about the application process. Please make sure to ask any questions directly on this thread below. Keep in mind, the SBA will only be addressing questions related to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), not PPP.  

How does the application process work?

We expect to start enabling applications for the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 3rd at 12:00 PM EST. The award application program is owned by the SBA, and they are finalizing the process. We know how important these funds are to you and your business, so we are working as quickly as possible to get the application ready!  

Unlike the PPP program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund are awards and are not loans. They are not serviced as loans, and have no forgiveness component. There are no intermediary banks involved. Awards are determined by and allocated by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and not Square.

If you qualify for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant, you’ll have the option to apply Monday, May 3rd on Square Dashboard or through the SBA’s secure website. To help support applicants throughout the process, the SBA will offer phone and district office support.

• Call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multi-lingual application or program support. 
• SBA District Offices: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

For more information about eligibility or to start your application, please visit the SBA Portal. You can also find more information about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on the Support Center. Let us know if you have any questions for the SBA below!

Note: The SBA has announced that they will officially stop accepting applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

[Ani_]

Hey @Chrishawaii3619! No, a restaurant with multiple locations under the same EIN must apply for all locations in one single application. You will not be able to apply to include multiple locations if not within the same Square account, we recommend you apply through the SBA.

[Botanero]

I'm wondering if an LGBTQ owned business can qualify similarly to minorities as a socially disadvantaged business.

[NmontaSBA]

Thanks for bringing this up, @Botanero.

Socially disadvantaged individuals are those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities. Individuals who are members of the following groups are presumed to be socially disadvantaged: Black Americans; Hispanic Americans; Native Americans (including Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians); Asian Pacific Americans; or Subcontinent Asian Americans.

Small business concerns owned by LGBTQ and/or trans individuals do count as socially disadvantaged, but must also be able to certify to economic disadvantage (below).

Economically disadvantaged individuals are those socially disadvantaged individuals whose ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same business area who are not socially disadvantaged.

[merchantofindy]

If we get these funds do we need to be open or can we used the funds for ongoing expenses and open when it is feasible? Are these funds taxable and if so how?

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @merchantofindy, 

Applicants must not be permanently closed in order to be eligible.

State and local governments may have their own laws regarding taxation at the local level.

The AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021, Section 9673, states that Restaurant Revitalization Funds will not be included in the gross income of the entity that received funding, and no deduction will be denied, no tax attribute will be reduced, and no basis increase will be denied, by reason of the exclusion from gross income. In the case of a partnership or S corporation, except as otherwise provided by the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate), any amount excluded from income by reason of the above will be treated as tax exempt income for purposes of sections 705 and 1366 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall prescribe rules for determining a partner's distributive share of any amount described above for purposes of section 705 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

[merchantofindy]

as a sole proprietor can the funds be used to pay the owner?

[NmontaSBA]

@merchantofindy 

Sellers can refer to sba.gov/restaurants for detailed information on what payroll costs entail. In general, the definition is the same as payroll costs in PPP. An owner draw based on profit is not an eligible use of RRF funds.

However, RRF funds may be used for owner wages such as W-2 income and regular and expected guaranteed payments. Additionally, if the owner has accrued unpaid wages for W-2 income or regular and expected guaranteed payments, RRF funds may be used to bring those unpaid wages current. All forms of owner wages (W-2 income and regular and expected guaranteed payments), in the aggregate, must be less than or equal to $100,000 on a pro-rated annual basis.

[pourhousega]

I am classified as a food and beverage caterer, but am getting  an "ineligible" reply when I check my eligibility status with Square.

I was told by my accountant and by the SBA (who I have been working with on this diligently), that I certainly qualify.

Can you advise please?

[Gigis1]

Hi pourhousega, where are you able to check your eligibility on the Square site?  I can not seem to find that anywhere on my Dashboard to check if I am eligible.  Thanks for what ever help you can give me

[Ani_]

Hi @pourhousega, are you referring to a PPP application? Square hasn't opened applications for the RRF yet (happening Monday). Let us know! 

[ElizZwicker]

In order to be eligible to apply through square - do you have to have the square for restaurants subscription? Or will it be open to any square user processing transactions? (I have the regular no cost square app -- and want to be sure that if I am not eligible through square to apply that I have my ducks in a row to apply through the SBA website..)

Thank you!

[Ani_]

Good question @ElizZwicker- you do not need to have a Square for Restaurants subscription in order to be eligible for this program. If you have been processed with Square in 2019 and 2020, then we will be able to support your application and you will see the module on Dashboard, regardless of which point of sale you are using.

[Yael1]

What do we do about Sales that didn't go through Square?   Or if we started using Square after 2019? How do we align our numbers on the RRF  report to match with our tax return?

[Ani_]

Hi @Yael1 - If you began using Square in 2020 or 2021, then Square will not be able to support your application. If you began using Square before 2020, then Square will both show your sales, and provide space to include additional outside revenue.

[Bsferra]

Does anyone have insight about how to apply for RRF via the Square Dashboard or do you anticipate that to be covered in today's session at 4:30 PM EST?

[Ani_]

Hey @Bsferra, If you are eligible and Square is able to support your application you will be able to view a module on your Square dashboard prompting you to begin your application. More information here. 

[Ash3]

Where is the link I keep hear getting mentioned on dashboard? I saw someone say they checked their eligibility with Square?! Where can I find this? Also will the link only show up on our dashboard of square feels we qualify? What if we had sales for 2019 somewhere other than square for another restaurant? 

[Ani_]

Hey @Ash3! If you have sales for a portion of 2019 and in 2020 with Square, and are an eligible food and beverage business type, then you will be able to apply for an award and will see a module on Dashboard homepage. If you began processing with Square in 2020 or 2021, then we will not be able to support your application and recommend you apply through the SBA.

[Blacktiecaramel]

should we apply through Square or SBA?

[Ani_]

Hey @Blacktiecaramel - It depends! Square is able to support sellers if they have processing in 2019 and 2020, and the application process is expedited.

Square cannot support sellers if they began processing with Square in 2020 or 2021 and they should instead apply through the SBA.

[EmsIceCream]

As stated on the SBA website, a singed 4506-T form will need to be completed when applying for the RRF. Will the IRS Form 4506-T be part of the square RRF application or does that need to be created and uploaded separately?