What Is the Employee Retention Credit (ERC)?
It is a government tax credit available to employers who experienced financial hardship due to COVID-19. The ERC is a refundable tax credit equal to 50% of the qualified wages paid by an eligible employer. To be eligible, an employer must have experienced a decrease in revenue or disruption in business due to COVID 19 (which almost every experienced). The credit is available for wages paid from March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020. For the 2021 program, the credit is increased to 70%, and the limit is $10,000 per quarter. This means the annual maximum for an employee is $26,000.
Who Is Eligible for Employee Retention Credit?
The ERC is available to any employer—including non-profits, regardless of size—that has experienced either a full or partial shutdown of operations due to a governmental order related to COVID-19, or has experienced a decline in gross receipts.
Can I Still Apply for ERC in 2022?
How Is ERC Different From PPP?
The Paycheck Prevention Program was a forgivable loan from the government that you had to apply for and were granted based on your credit history and borrower status. The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) returns the payroll taxes that you have already paid and thus it is yours to claim, regardless of your borrower or credit worthiness. Once you receive the funds you do not have to pay them back or take any more action.
Why Is This The First Time I'm Hearing About The ERC?
Why Can't My CPA/Bookkeeper Do This For Me?
In our experience less than 5% of CPAs/Bookkeepers even know that this credit exists and those that do most likely are using outdated information (for example previously you could not get this credit if you got PPP, but that changed recently and many CPAs/Bookkeepers aren't claiming it for their clients).
There are over 70,000 pages of tax code which means it would be impossible to be an expert on all of it. We're specialists in this field and us and our partners have gotten back almost $3B for small businesses around the United States. Your CPA/Bookkeeper is more of a generalist and will likely just fill out the form without thinking much of it potentially leaving you with hundreds of thousands of dollars you could have gotten back if you did it the right way.
We have a full team of specialists who can work with your CPA/Bookkeeper to get the necessary information required and make it as smooth a process as possible for you.
How to You Qualify for ERC in 2022?
Is the ERC Credit Taxable?
The answer is no, but it does impact your income tax return. The benefits of receiving the credit far outweigh its effect on your taxes.
How Much Does It Cost?
How Will I "Use" a Tax Credit?
This program is not an “income tax credit” and not related to your annual business tax returns or your profit/loss from the business. Although it is called a tax credit, it is most frequently received as a cash payment (typically in the form of a check) from the IRS. You may also use it to offset future payroll tax payments.
What If I Own Multiple Businesses?
How Long Will It Take To Get My Refund?
Is ERC and ERTC the Same Thing?
Yes, ERC stands for ‘Employee Retention Credit’, also known as the ERTC ‘Employee Retention Tax Credit.’ This program was created by the Coronavirus Aid and Relief Act in 2020 to help businesses keep employees on their payroll. Both Employee Retention Tax Credits (ERTC) and Employee Retention Credits are refundable tax credits.