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The CARES Act provides a special distribution option for specific individuals. This coronavirus-related distribution is exempt from the prohibition on premature distributions (i.e., prior to age 59 ½ or termination of employment), and thus is exempt from the 10 percent excise tax on such distributions. The distribution is limited to $100,000 from the plans of the sponsoring employer and any member of its controlled group. This coronavirus-related distribution is available to IRAs and plans described in Internal Revenue Code (Code) sections 401(a), 401(k), 403(a), 403(b), and 457(b).

The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) creates an SBA loan program focused on supporting funding of payroll and other operating costs for small businesses – referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program.  These loans may be forgiven if certain criteria are satisfied.   The CARES Act authorizes the SBA to extend lending authority under the program to any financial institution that has the ability to “process, close, disburse and service loans”, meaning that even non-SBA lenders will have the opportunity to originate these loans for their customers.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) allocates $100 billion in emergency funding to healthcare providers for treating patients infected with COVID-19 and mitigating financial losses stemming from the pandemic. The legislation sets few parameters for how the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to distribute the funds, but it does stipulate that the money can be used for medical supplies and equipment, such masks and other protective gear, as well as construction, to help deal with an expected patient surge. Additional funds are allocated to address shortages of critical medical supplies and drugs, as well as to expand payments to hospitals and telehealth efforts.

The CARES Act, now passed by the House and Senate and expected to be signed by the President changes the unemployment system and created a pandemic unemployment assistance program. For weeks of unemployment, partial unemployment, orinability to work caused by COVID-19 between January 27 and December 31 the act provides covered individuals with unemployment benefit assistance when they are not entitled to any other unemployment compensation or waiting period credit. This includes self-employed and other workers, such as independent contractors, who have not previously been included in the unemployment system. The weekly benefit amount is generally the amount determined under state law plus an additional $600 for up to 39 weeks (which is notably longer than the typical 26 weeks in most states).

In an effort to provide support to the nation's ailing economy during the COVID-19 outbreak, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act, among other things, amends the Small Business Act (SBA) for the period from February 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020, also referred to as the "covered period," to expand the SBA loan program, making $349 billion in funds available to businesses and nonprofit organizations that would not otherwise qualify to cover expenses that would otherwise not be permitted.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. These provisions will apply from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Employers are required to post the FFCRA Poster to provide notice to all employees.

Supply chains across the globe are being disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as manufacturers of “non-essential” goods curtail or completely suspend production based on worker shortages or government orders. The impacts of those realities will be felt for months or years to come by downstream businesses who assumed a certain supply of goods or raw materials when accepting orders from their customers. Given the lead times associated with manufacturing products, supply chains will not be refilled overnight. That means that many sellers may not have sufficient supplies to fill all customer orders in the short term or once the pandemic abates and consumer demand returns.  In those situations, sellers will need to carefully consider their legal obligations before picking and choosing among their customers in a limited supply context.