A clear picture on prospects for more congressional action related to the coronavirus has not emerged, but partisan tensions appeared to become more inflamed as President Trump stressed the importance of reopening the economy and appointed a business advisory panel on doing so, with more such panels to be named later.

"Our country has to get open and it will get open and it will get open safely and hopefully quickly," the President said April 14 during a task force briefing. After listing many members of the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, President Trump said, "I'm confident that these respected people that I just read from the list will give us some great ideas." He said a political advisory group would be named April 15 — "we're going to have a lot of Senators and we're going to be having a meeting with the governors probably on Thursday" — and a panel of religious leaders will be named on Friday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued a letter to members April 14 critical of President Trump's handling of the crisis, lamenting insufficient testing, and saying "if we are not working from the truth, more lives will be lost, economic hardship and suffering will be extended unnecessarily and our children will not be safe, happy and learning."

On MSNBC April 14, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) noted reports of success with widespread testing in other nations and said, "instead of calling names or deciding who signs the check, the president ought to be rolling up his sleeves and helping solve the problem."

Regarding congressional action, Republican leaders have been committed to a clean interim measure to provide $250 billion more for the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), but Democrats insist on changes to the program, more food assistance money, $100 billion more for health care needs, and $150 billion for state & local governments. The next Senate pro forma session is set for Thursday, April 16, at 3 p.m., and it is unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will ask for unanimous consent to move a clean PPP measure and whether Democrats would object, or if a deal could be reached before then.

Politico reported the Small Business Administration as saying 1.1 million applications have been approved for more than $263 billion. A report in The Hill newspaper April 14 cited aides as speculating a deal could materialize soon after an SBA announcement that the program is running out of money.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page April 15 led with "Small Business Loan Snafus," listing issues with the PPP — including a requirement to spend a portion on payroll that is not clear in the legislation, eligibility of startups, and legal risks for lenders — and saying, "Congress has time to fix all these problems when it appropriates more money, and it should do so rather than defer to Treasury."

The OECD's report to the G20 on economic and fiscal policy was released April 15. A press release cited the report as saying that addressing the tax challenges posed by digitalization of the economy, and ensuring that Multinational Enterprises pay a minimum level of tax, will become more prominent issues after the crisis, and the increased use of digital services and the need to collect more revenues could provide new impetus to efforts to reach agreement internationally.

Implementation issues

Treasury/SBA FAQs on the PPP have been further updated with new questions #26-28.

Treasury has also published an additional updated interim final rule.

The IRS site to track the status of Economic Impact Payments is live.

EY Alerts and other resources are here.

The global EY Tax COVID-19 Response Tracker updated through April 13 — as well as additional trackers on Tax Controversy, Labor and Employment Law, and Immigration Policy — is here.

EY Webcasts this week include, on Friday, April 17 (12:00 p.m. ET.), "Tax in the time of COVID-19." Register.

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