The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a refundable tax credit providing robust tax benefits that was first put in place as a temporary coronavirus relief provision to assist businesses in keeping employees on payroll. Since then, the ERC has been expanded significantly. As a result, Congress (with the ERC) has provided billions of dollars in tax relief for businesses that kept employees on payroll during the Pandemic.

You say “yes” and we do the rest. We have an army of lawyers and accountants who specialize in this area. We collect a few documents from you, we have a “discovery call” to learn more about your situation. We do everything from there. Working with us significantly increases your chances of being approved, maximizing your credit, and making sure you conform to the rigorous and confusing process.

Great question. The answer is nothing if we’re not successful. We collect a few documents and have a brief discovery call to learn more about your situation. That’s all that it cost you. From there, there is no fee unless we get money for you.

The short answer is it’s not in your best interest to do so.
If you had to draw up a tax provision that makes the IRS lie awake at night, it would be a refundable tax credit involving real dollars. The number of businesses that believe that they can just create their own simple form, check a few boxes, and the IRS will whistle a happy tune is astonishing. While the ERC is certainly a taxpayer-friendly relief provision, the IRS is not just giving dollars away. To avoid heartaches and headaches down the road, businesses need to have counsel to properly and fully document how the business qualifies for the ERC. Our firm’s experience significantly increases your chances of not missing this terrific tax incentive. Also, we ensure and commit to crossing all “t’s” and dotting all “i’s” to make sure the IRS is in a happy place.

We have seen as high as $33K per employee and an average of $16K per employee.

1. I can’t claim ERC if I’ve already claimed PPP (or gotten my PPP loans forgiven)

Now you can claim both! Congress, in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021, removed the limitation on only claiming one or the other.  PPP will only account for 2.5 times your monthly payroll expenses and is meant to be spread out over 6 months. This leaves plenty of uncovered wage expenses for claiming ERC.

2. My business did not have a drop in gross receipts of 50% or more

The CAA has changed the qualifications so that a reduction of 20% now qualifies. BUT remember there is also another way to qualify for the ERC – if your business has been subject to a partial or full suspension due to a government order – see the next point

3. My business was not shut down during the pandemic

Even a partial suspension order by the government (federal, state or local) of your business could potentially qualify. For instance, a partial shutdown, a disruption in your business, inability to access equipment, having limited capacity, shutdowns of your supply chain or vendors, reduction in services offered, reduction of hours to accommodate sanitation, shut down of some locations and not others, and shutdowns of some members of a business are all scenarios that still potentially qualify for the ERC. The key considerations are – due to the government ordered partial (or full) suspension is/was your business not able to continue its activities in a comparable manner, and did that result in a more than nominal impact on business operations. Remember, the partial or full suspension is an alternative way to qualify for the ERC — separate from the reduction in gross receipts test.

4. My company was deemed an essential business, so I do not qualify because of business suspension

Even if your business is deemed essential, an impact or change in your business may still qualify you. For example, even if you were open but your vendors were closed down or you can’t go to a client’s job site, you may still qualify. Or alternatively, if part of your business was considered non-essential and was impacted by a government-ordered suspension – you may also qualify. The scenarios discussed above in Mistake 3 could apply here as well.

5. My company has grown during quarantine, this isn’t something I should take

Great news! If your company has grown during quarantine, but experienced a full or partial suspension, there are expenses that may qualify.

6. Sales have rebounded for us in Q1 of 2021, I can’t qualify for this credit

With the introduction of the CAA, you have the option to look at one quarter prior to determine qualification. This means we can determine eligibility based on lost revenue in 2020. Also, if you were subject to a full or partial suspension, you may qualify regardless.

7. My company has grown to over 500 employees, so we are not eligible for the ERC

The employee count restriction is based on full time equivalent (FTE) employees, which is a more involved calculation than just counting everyone in the office. We helped a business with 640 employees and the FTE calculation put them at under 500. Furthermore, if you paid any employees to NOT work, or to work less than the hours for which they were paid, then the employee count restriction would not apply for those employees.

8. I’m a charity and the ERC is only for businesses

The ERC also may provide significant benefit to charities – churches, nonprofit hospitals, museums, etc. Charities can be particularly good candidates for the ERC.