Shortly after the pandemic began shutting down businesses in early 2020, Congress passed a series of relief measures designed to throw a lifeline to affected businesses. One of these measures, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, provided 30-year, 3.75% interest loans to qualifying small businesses. I won’t go into the particulars of the program, but you can find that information here.

Many dental offices applied for those loans at the same time as the Paycheck Protection Program loans, not knowing if these loan proceeds would need to sustain the business for months or years. As the skies began to brighten at the beginning of 2021, many offices opted to pay back the EIDL when it became apparent that there was no immediate need for the money.

However, I have a few clients that soon regretted paying off the loan and wished they held on to the money. After all, a 30-year/3.75% loan is hard to beat. The good news (which I have recently learned) is that you can apply for a new EIDL loan, even if you paid back a prior EIDL loan. The bad news is that you have to complete your application before December 31, 2021.

On its website, the Small Business Administration indicates that it will be processing applications in 2022 but that it will not accept new applications after December 31, 2021. Before you apply, be aware of the required uses of EIDL funds:

“Working capital to make regular payments for operating expenses, including payroll, rent/mortgage, utilities, and other ordinary business expenses, and to pay business debt incurred at any time (past, present, or future)”

That is a broad array of qualifying expenses, but you will want to make sure that you take appropriate steps to trace the use of those funds to qualifying expenditures in the event that your loan gets audited. (As an aside, I think that loan audits are unlikely, but you need to plan as though they are a certainty.)

You still need to meet the eligibility requirements – in business at the beginning of 2020, less than 500 employees, not engaged in certain business or personal activities, and other criteria. But if you meet those qualifications, you still have a shot at a loan from the SBA if you get your application in before the end of 2021.