Tag: Trump Treasury Department

Treasury plans to borrow $3 trillion from April through June as enormous coronavirus costs pile up

Washington Post logoLow interest rates make the borrowing cheaper, but the new debt shows how much new spending outpaces falling revenue

The Treasury Department plans to borrow $2.99 trillion from April through June to cover the federal government’s massive response to the coronavirus pandemic, issuing a tremendous level of debt to try to limit the economic impact on U.S. businesses and workers.

Last year, Treasury borrowed $1.28 trillion over 12 months. Its plan to borrow $3 trillion would be done over just three months.

“This is just a recurring experience, which is you look at the numbers, and they’re bigger than you ever imagined could be possible,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “And then you look at the size of the problem and you think that’s perfectly justified.” Continue reading.

Confusion reigns as IRS starts issuing coronavirus payments

The Hill logoThe rollout of coronavirus relief payments has been clouded by confusion for the millions of Americans struggling to understand why they haven’t received their money.

The IRS last week sent out more than 80 million payments to people via direct deposit. But tens of millions more are still waiting for their funds, and they have questions.

Tax policy experts said it’s understandable for those people to be upset. Continue reading.

Shake Shack Will Return Its Entire $10 Million U.S. Government Loan

Shake Shack Inc. will return a $10 million loan from the U.S. government amid criticism that the publicly traded burger chain and other larger companies gobbled up the emergency funding while smaller businesses were frozen out.

More than a dozen publicly traded companies with revenue topping $100 million received funds before the program ran out of money, according to a Bloomberg review of regulatory filings. Lawmakers in Congress are said to be near an agreement to top up the loan program, while also providing new funds for hospitals and coronavirus testing.

“Shake Shack was fortunate last Friday to be able to access the additional capital we needed to ensure our long-term stability through an equity transaction in the public markets,” Chief Executive Officer Randy Garutti and founder Danny Meyer said in a joint statement. The company said last week it sold $150 million of equity and filed Monday to offer as much as $136 million more to underwriters. Continue reading.

Glitches prevent $1,200 stimulus checks from reaching millions of Americans

Washington Post logoSeveral million people who filed their taxes via H&R Block, TurboTax and other popular services were unable to get their payments. Some parents reported they didn’t get the $500 promised for their dependent children.

Many Americans woke up Wednesday expecting to find a payment of $1,200 or more from the U.S. government in their bank account, but instead they realized nothing had arrived yet — or the wrong amount was deposited. Parents of young children complained they did not receive the promised $500 check for their dependent children.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has instructed the Internal Revenue Service to get payments out as fast as possible to help offset the pain of losing jobs and shutting down businesses, but numerous glitches — affecting filers who used tax preparers, parents of dependent children and people with 2019 tax returns still to be processed — are delaying payments and causing confusion.

Several million people who filed their taxes via H&R Block, TurboTax and other services were unable to get their payments because the IRS did not have their direct deposit information on file, according to the Treasury, companies and experts. Continue reading.

Small-business program intended for quick grants is running weeks behind

Washington Post logoApplicants are supposed to receive emergency cash within three days. Many have been waiting weeks

An emergency loan program intended to get money swiftly into the hands of small businesses has all but collapsed under an unprecedented crush of applications and a shortage of funds, overwhelming agency officials and prompting urgent calls for action on Capitol Hill.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or EIDL, a long-standing program run by the Small Business Administration (SBA), is separate from the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses that is the subject of a political fight on Capitol Hill.

The federal government normally doles out EIDL loans to small businesses hurt by tornadoes and wildfires. On March 12, the SBA expanded the program to help entrepreneurs hurt by the coronavirus, offering low-interest loans of up to $2 million. Continue reading.

IG finds Treasury handled House request for Trump tax returns properly

The Hill logoThe Treasury Department’s inspector general office found that the department “properly” processed House Democrats’ request for President Trump‘s tax returns when it refused to turn over the documents to the Ways and Means Committee.

In a memo, the IG also said it found Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s supervision of the process to be consistent with its rules.

The memo said it found Treasury’s receipt, processing and responses to the request and subpoenas from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) “to be consistent with Treasury’s general process for handling Congressional correspondence.” Continue reading.

Treasury’s Mnuchin seeks additional $250 billion to replenish small-business coronavirus program

Washington Post logoDevelopment comes amid surging demand for loans under rescue bill

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday asked congressional leaders to swiftly commit an additional $250 billion to replenish the new $349 billion small-business coronavirus program that is being overwhelmed by surging demand.

President Trump said banks have processed $70 billion in taxpayer-backed loans for 250,000 small businesses since Friday, as companies seek emergency help to deal with the enormous business disruption caused by the pandemic.

He did not say, though, how many of those loans have been approved or how many firms have received any of the money. And his data suggests the program has reached a small fraction of U.S. companies: There are 30 million small businesses in the United States that employ 60 million people. Continue reading.

Confusion surrounds launch of $349B in small-business loans

The Hill logoBanks and industry groups say a new rescue lending program for small businesses is off to a rocky start and may fall far short of what firms need to stay afloat during the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration (SBA) on Friday rolled out applications for small businesses to receive forgivable loans for payroll and other basic expenses amid the economic toll of the coronavirus.

But banks, credit unions and other lenders say the $349 billion program lacks clear guidelines to handle a looming wave of loan applications that could overwhelm the system while leaving some firms in the lurch. Continue reading.

Thousands flood banks as federal small-business loan program has a chaotic first day

Washington Post logoFinal regulations for the $349 billion SBA program weren’t released until just hours before the program began, and many of the nation’s biggest lenders weren’t ready

The launch of a $349 billion loan program that is key to the government’s hopes of helping the nation’s small businesses survive the economic downturn got off to a rocky start Friday as the big banks in charge of doling out the money said they weren’t prepared or were limiting applicants to their closest customers.

Wells Fargo, Citigroup and PNC said they were still reviewing the program’s rules, which were released by the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration just hours before the program’s launch. JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, didn’t begin accepting applications until 1 p.m., after initially saying it wouldn’t be ready at all Friday.

Bank of America was one of the few big banks that began taking applications Friday morning, earning the praise of President Trump. “Great job being done by @BankofAmerica and many community banks throughout the country. Small businesses appreciate your work!,” Trump said on Twitter. Continue reading.

Mnuchin defends Treasury tax law implementation

Mnuchin defended his department’s regulations carrying out the 2017 tax code overhaul that added more than $100 billion in corporate tax benefits

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin found himself parrying allegations that his department’s regulations carrying out the 2017 tax code overhaul added more than $100 billion in corporate tax benefits Wednesday at his first Capitol Hill appearance defending President Donald Trump’s new budget request.

Mnuchin also took fire from Senate Finance Committee Democrats who said he favored a Republican request for documents related to Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter — a central figure in the impeachment drama that wrapped up last week — while “stonewalling” their demands for Trump’s tax returns.

Trump’s “agenda is working,” Mnuchin told panel members at the outset of the hearing on Trump’s $4.8 trillion fiscal 2021 budget request. Continue reading.