Coronavirus Economic Development Credit and Incentive Agreements

With the financial disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic sure to proceed via the top of 2020, now’s the time to contemplate the impression of the virus on year-end reporting obligations, notably those who relate to current financial growth credit score and incentive agreements. Most credit score and incentive agreements comprise firm obligations for employment ranges, taxable income, and/or capital funding that will have been impacted by quite a lot of pandemic-related components together with: keep at dwelling orders, restricted re-opening restrictions, decreased demand, and provide chain disruptions. Earlier than your organization finds itself dealing with potential noncompliance, take into account the under questions.

Does your Firm have credit score and incentives agreements for state and native discretionary tax credit, grants, forgivable loans, abatements, or different awards?

These agreements usually have reporting and compliance deadlines that are managed on the native degree. With restricted operations, work-from-home, and telecommuting, these answerable for amassing and reporting the required info could also be engaged by increased precedence assignments to make sure the security of staff and clients.

Can your Firm meet the established obligations?

Full and partial shutdowns, reductions in power, decreased product demand, provide chain challenges, and logistic workarounds have elevated the difficulties in forecasting employment ranges and capex expenditures. If your organization is getting ready workforce and income forecasts to be used in different areas of the corporate’s operations, these forecasts must be in contrast towards future obligations underneath current credit score and incentive agreements.

Does the settlement have a power majeure, market circumstances, recession, or termination provision?

Such provisions can present alternatives to renegotiate obligations to the satisfaction of each events with out public publicity or the specter of litigation.

Have you ever communicated a constant message to all of the stakeholders, together with the governmental entity?

Particularly with bigger awards, governmental entities routinely overview firm media releases, analyst reporting, and different publicly out there details about firms. If there are issues, have they been the topic of a media launch, analyst name, or different public launch? If that’s the case, have they been successfully communicated to the governmental entity?

Would your organization profit from renegotiating or terminating the settlement?

Coupled with the uncertainly that can proceed into 2021, alternatives might exist to acquire advantages that can prolong past 2020. Because the financial impression of the pandemic drags on, governmental entities will seemingly be approached by an increasing number of firms looking for to revise or terminate financial growth credit score and incentive agreements. Thus, early engagement with a governmental entity would possibly end in a extra receptive viewers and a doubtlessly higher consequence.

In abstract, it is crucial for recipients of financial growth credit score and incentive awards to overview their present obligations underneath such agreements and take into account the choices which might be out there to proactively handle, and mitigate the chance related to, noncompliance and potential defaults.