# Do your other businesses count as affiliates for an SBA loan?

**Short answer:** Only in set ownership cases. SBA looks at ownership over 50% and, for some owners, 20% or more in the same 3-digit NAICS subsector. A company you personally own in a different subsector is not an affiliate on ownership grounds (13 CFR § 121.301(f)).

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Last checked: 2026-11-08

It depends on who owns what and whether the businesses share a 3-digit NAICS subsector. 13 CFR § 121.301(f) lists the cases, and SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. A, Ch. 1, Para. D.4 repeats them.

## The ownership tests

Two businesses are affiliated when:

- The applicant owns more than 50% of the other business.
- A business owns more than 50% of the applicant. If that owner also owns more than 50% of another business in the applicant's subsector, all three are affiliated.
- You own more than 50% of the applicant and more than 50% of another business in the same subsector.
- No one owns more than 50% of the applicant, and a 20%-or-more owner is a business in the same subsector.
- No one owns more than 50%, and a 20%-or-more owner also owns more than 50% of another business in the same subsector.

## What this means

If you own all of a restaurant (NAICS 722) and all of a roofing company (NAICS 238), those two are not affiliated by ownership. Two restaurants you own would be.

## Control is no longer the test

SBA's 2023 final rule (88 FR 21074) removed affirmative and negative control as a basis for affiliation. Stock options and convertible securities are treated as already exercised (§ 121.301(f)(2)).

## Sources

- [13 CFR § 121.301(f)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-13/section-121.301)
- [SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. A, Ch. 1, Para. D.4 (about pp. 15-17)](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2026-10/SOP%2050%2010%208.1%20Technical%20Policy%20Updates%20effective%20%2010.1.2026.docx)