What is the Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant program? The Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant program will award $420 million to small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is intended to support businesses who are hardest hit by the pandemic and are key to Wisconsin making a strong recovery. The program is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) in collaboration with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and is funded with money received from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act.

How much are the grant awards? Grants amounts are expected to be $5,000 per eligible applicant.

Who is eligible? An individual or entity who operates a business may apply if all the following criteria are met:

• The business started operating on or before December 31, 2020, is still operating in 2021, and suffered an economic loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. An economic loss may be from lost revenue or increased expenses as a result of the pandemic.
• The individual or entity filed its 2019 federal and Wisconsin income or franchise tax return (see exception in Question 18).
• The business has more than $10,000 and less than $7 million in annual revenues (gross receipts less returns and allowances) shown on their federal tax return, specifically:
  • Line 1c of 2019 Form 1065
  • Line 1c of 2019 Form 1120
  • Line 1c of 2019 Form 1120-S
  • Line 3 of 2019 Schedule C (Form 1040 or 1040-SR)
• At least 75% of the business’s value of real and tangible personal property owned or rented and used by the business is located in Wisconsin. For this criterion, real and tangible personal property owned by the business is valued at its original cost, and real and tangible personal property rented by the business is valued at an amount equal to the annual rental paid by the business, less any annual rental received by the business from sub-rentals, multiplied by 8.
• At least 75% of the amount of the business’s labor costs are incurred by individuals performing services for the business in Wisconsin. For this criterion, labor costs for performing services in Wisconsin include amounts paid to individuals and reported on Forms W-2 or 1099, amounts paid to a professional employer organization or a professional employer group, and the net profit reported by sole proprietors on Schedule C of their federal individual income tax return.
• The individual or entity must not be on one of the following lists:
  • Wisconsin Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry
  • Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Debarred Contractors List
  • Wisconsin Department of Administration Ineligible Vendors Directory
• The business must not be a governmental unit or primarily engaged in any of the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes beginning with:
  • 111XXX – Crop Production
  • 112XXX – Animal Production or Aquaculture
  • 5311XX – Lessors of Real Estate
  • 813XXX – Nonprofit Organizations

When and how can I apply? Apply online at: https://tap.revenue.wi.gov/WITomorrowGrant/.

The application opens at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, May 24 and closes at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, June 7.

For more information, visit https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/TaxPro/2021/WisconsinTomorrowSmallBusinessRecoveryGrant.aspx#2