Food Stamps And Meal Programs During The Covid
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be easier for you and your family to get food stamps and take part in meal programs. Contact your state’s social services agency to see if you’re eligible.
During the pandemic:
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Food stamp recipients may receive additional funding. More people may be eligible to receive SNAP during the pandemic than normally.
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Parents whose kids’ schools are closed can pick up school meals for their kids to eat at home.
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People can enroll in food programs remotely rather than in person. This applies to programs for pregnant women, families, seniors, and people with disabilities.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The stimulus increases funding for food stamps or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $33 million and also makes it easier for children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities who already receive SNAP to get their food and other related benefits.
Whats Missing: Small And Independent Restaurateurs Left Out
Small business owners, many of whom are independent restaurateurs, are criticizing the stimulus package as offering too many loopholes for franchise operations and other large businesses that will cut into the total amount of funding relief available to them. Theyve organized a social media campaign aimed at grabbing the attention of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and other House representatives using the hashtag #sizematters.
Whats next? The bill heads to the U.S. House of Representatives next, where it will likely be voted on this Friday. House Majority leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, has said the timing will allow House Democrats enough time to review the language of the bill. However, Speaker Pelosi has also said the stimulus is likely to pass in the House with strong bipartisan support.
How To Get An Ebt Card Reader
In addition to registering with the FNS and obtaining a SNAP permit, youll need to acquire and set up the appropriate processing hardware. While most popular terminals are compatible with EBT payments, you need to be aware of several specific requirements. First of all, your terminal needs to be able to accept PIN debit transactions. That means youll need a dedicated PIN pad for your customers to input their PINs. Your PIN pad can be either a separate, stand-alone unit or integrated directly into your terminal.
Once youve obtained a suitable terminal and PIN pad, it must be programmed with your merchant account providers encryption keys. If you purchase your equipment directly from your merchant account provider, this should already have been done, and your terminal should work right out of the box. However, if youre switching providers or adding EBT capability to pre-existing equipment, youll need to have your terminal re-programmed before you can start accepting payments. Depending on your provider, re-programming usually requires a one-week turnaround time. Note that your merchant account provider will need your seven-digit FNS Account Number to set up your merchant account for EBT payment acceptance. EBT cards issued by the FNS are currently magstripe-only, so you wont need an EMV-compatible terminal. The FNS announced in 2014 that it intended to introduce EBT cards with EMV chips however, as of this writing, such cards do not appear to be available.
Read Also: Oregon Food Stamp Income Chart
Corporate Small Business Grants
Government grants for small businesses are great, but the requirements are often hyper-specific, or the funding amounts arent that large. Big corporations, on the other hand, will often provide small business grants to contest winners. For you, its money to grow your business. For them, itâs a PR win, netting loyal corporate customers and a lot of goodwill.
The difference here is that many corporate-sponsored small business grants involve pitch competitions or something similar. Not all do, of course, but youâll want to be aware that applying to a corporate grant might involve more work. With that, though, comes the potential for publicityâand for runner-up prizes if you dont win first prize.
Learn About The Types Of Food You Can Buy With Snap Benefits
If youre eligible, you can purchase food using benefits that are issued to you monthly. You can use your SNAP benefits to buy a variety of foods for your household, including:
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Fruits and vegetables
See the United States Department of Agriculture’s list of foods and products you can buy using SNAP benefits.
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Search For Financial Assistance From The Government
Benefits.gov is a free website that can help you determine which types of government assistance you might qualify for. You can also find out how and where to apply.
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Using the Benefit Finder, answer questions about yourself and your needs. Afterwards, you can find out if youre eligible for programs to help you pay for:
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Food
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Housing
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Utilities, and other necessities
Check back with Benefits.gov in the future to see if youre eligible for additional benefits. You can report major life events or see if new benefit programs have become available.
State Government Grants For Small Business
State-level small business grants are generally geared toward that particular stateâs social or economic concerns. Theyâre meant to work in tandem with federal or other state grants, so youâll usually get less funding. That said, theyâre much more accessible due to lower competition. Also, many are matching grants: Instead of just providing the funds for you to use for a certain purpose, some will require that you match the money they give as well.
You can search for business grants in your own state and industry by looking at your states department of commerce website or grants portal. Below, we list some popular state grant programs and resources.
Also, an important note: While weâre listing state-specific government grants for small businesses, many of these run across multiple states, so donât give up if the grant looks right but your states donât match.
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Insurance Expenses For Fishers
Enter the premiums you paid to insure your fishing boat and equipment.
In most cases, you cannot deduct the amounts you paid to insure personal property such as your home or car. However, if you used the property for personal use and for your fishing business, you can deduct the business part of these costs. For more information, go to Motor vehicle expenses and Business-use-of-home expenses.
About The Ebt For Business Application Process
The Retailer SNAP Application is submitted through an online system. Each EBT Application requires a certain amount of information regarding the applicants personal history. FNS will also ask about the history of your business , and how the business is generally managed. Sometimes the USDA will require a store to supplement its EBT business application. The USDA often asks the store produce information and documents to demonstrate that the applicant is the actual owner, or will be running the store. Other documents the Department may require include: your personal tax returns, your business licenses, your lottery and liquor licenses, your bank records and a personal affidavit.
More recently, the USDA has been concerned with eliminating carry-out stores, small stores without sufficient inventory, and store owners with any criminal background. We have successfully won EBT business licenses for our clients in each of those circumstances by providing detailed and thorough explanations to the Department. We have fought a number of application denial appeals as well, and won licenses for our clients stores. Our team can help to make sure that the Department receives the information it requests, while making certain that you avoid costly mistakes that could result in a denial of your EBT application.
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Distance Learning And Telemedicine Grant
The Department of Agriculture offers this grant program for small businesses and agricultural producers that are modernizing education and health in rural communities. Specifically, these business grants are an option if your company provides education or health services through telecommunications. Awards range from $50,000 to $1,000,000.
Federal Business Grants For Small Business
Although there are plenty of federal business grants for small businesses, they are primarily open to companies in the science, technology, or health fields. If your business is involved in research and development or in scientific initiativesâincluding environmental and climate initiativesâthen federal grant programs might be able to cover some of your expenses and help with your small business funding.
Here are the top federal business grants for small business:
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The Snap Program Is Important
The USDA SNAP program is greatly beneficial for American citizens. It keeps food on the table and often helps prevent starvation. As a hard-working self-employed person who pays taxes, if you qualify, you should definitely use them.
If you find out you do not qualify for food stamps, find a food bank in your area for another chance to get food at no cost to you.
What Business Owners Need To Know About Accepting Ebt Cards
CEO, National Retail Solutions . NRS POS, NRS PAY, NRS FUNDING & NRS PETRO: Helping independent retailers organize, compete and thrive.
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The Biden administration recently announced an increase, as of October 1, in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, the former U.S. Food Stamp Program. SNAP benefits will increase , from pre-pandemic average monthly amounts of $121, raised to $157. For the 42 million Americans who receive SNAP benefits, that means an extra $36 per person per month and more money to spend at small to midsized grocery and convenience stores.
Previously, government benefits were dispensed as Food Stamps. In the early 2000s, food stamps were replaced as technology advanced the program to Electronic Benefits Transfer cards. Each month the EBT account gets electronically reloaded with a qualified cash value for eligible recipients to be able to purchase essential staples such as produce, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, bread, cereals, snacks, drinks and even seeds and plants for growing household food. In order to qualify for EBT, a household must have a certain net income, with assets below certain limits. Factors taken into consideration include whether a household has an elderly or disabled family member.
With the increased funding and potential for a greater pool, independent business owners may want to consider accepting EBT cards if they dont already.
Are you considering accepting EBT?
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Jack Daniels Pitch Distilled
Jack Daniels hosts an annual pitch competition with the goal of inspiring entrepreneurs to surface the next big idea. Small business startups can apply and if accepted, theyll pitch their ideas at the Pitch Distilled event to a group of business owners. The winner of this pitch contest will win a $5,000 prize, plus advice and guidance from the panel of judges to help make their idea a reality.
Penalties For Snap Fraud
Business owners can face serious penalties if they commit food stamp fraud. For example, SNAP violations can result in:
- disqualification from participating in the program
- civil monetary penalties, and
- criminal charges and prosecution.
The Louisiana store owner mentioned above was sentenced to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay over $1.2 million in restitution to the USDA. A Ohio convenience store owner was sentenced to almost three years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $2.8 million in restitution for food stamp fraud. This owner was caught paying cash for food stamps and accepting them for prohibited items, including alcohol and tobacco.
Recommended Reading: Washington State Food Stamps Income Guidelines
Meals And Entertainment Expenses For Fishers
Claim the total amount you paid for food you stocked on your boat to feed your crew when you fished offshore.
Often, inshore fishers do not stock food. Instead, they bring meals from home for their crew because the trips are short . You can deduct the cost of these meals as long as the meals were a taxable benefit to your crew.
In some cases, you can deduct the cost of meals even though they were not taxable benefits. You can do this if your boat was at sea for 36 hours or more and the meals you provided for your crew were not taxable benefits. Also, if you gave meals to your sharespeople, generally the meals you provided for them are not taxable benefits because we do not consider sharespeople to be employees. The 50% rule applies to all self-employed sharespeople. However, they may be limited by the restriction noted above.
For more information about taxable benefits, see the T4130, Employers’ Guide Taxable Benefits and Allowances.
What The $2 Trillion Stimulus Package Means For The Food System
Urban farmer Eric Tomassini harvests lettuce at Avenue 33 Farm, a backyard urban farm in Los Angeles … on March 25, 2020. – Tomassini and his partner Ali Greer, who sell their produce to restaurant chefs and to direct to consumers via community-supported agriculture , say that despite demand from chefs dropping off due to restaurant closures due to the coronavirus , demand for their produce and flowers is higher than ever as consumers look for a steady source of fresh food and flowers.
The Senate unanimously passed a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package early Wednesday morning to provide emergency funding relief for the economic fallout of the current pandemic. A number of stimulus provisions are aimed at helping producers and workers throughout the food supply chain, from agricultural producers to restaurant workers, but small and independent restaurant owners say theyve been left out of the stimulus package altogether.
Heres how restaurants, food workers and food producers fared in the Senate stimulus package:
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Business Grants Vs Business Loans
Small business grants have one major advantage over business loans: You dont have to pay back a grant. A loan, on the other hand, has to be paid back with interest, which can be tough on new businesses and businesses with cash flow struggles. However, qualifying for a small business grant is also tough, so you may need to explore more traditional small business financing options that can work for you.
Two business loan options to consider if you cant qualify for a grant funding for your small business are microloans and SBA loans.
Microloans are loans under $50,000, and usually have low eligibility requirements and reasonable interest rates. Many of the same organizations that provide grants, such as nonprofits and government organizations, also provide microloans. So, if you dont qualify for a small business grant, we suggest asking the organization if they provide loans.
SBA loans are another alternative if youre unable to qualify for a grant. The federal government guarantees SBA loans and works with banks to get these loans in the hands of small business owners. Because of this, SBA loans have low interest rates, long repayment terms, and larger capital amounts. You can approach your local bank and see if they provide SBA loans, or you can apply for an SBA loan through Fundera.
See Your Business Loan Options
