Employee Retention Tax Credit: What is it?
If you’re a business owner that is still recovering from COVID-19 related financial crisis, PPP Loans aren’t your only solution.
The IRS approved the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) with the CARES Act. This means the IRS may give you money even if you got the PPP, PPP2, Restaurant Revitalization Fund, or Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. If you had employees there is a good chance you qualify.
If you’re eligible, you could have a very large check waiting for you from the government. But of course you have to go through the process to claim it (which is what we’re here for).
Much like the PPP Loans, you don’t want to wait because this money will run out. So let’s give you the rundown on what you need to know about the ERTC so you can claim your tax credit before time is up.
What Is The Employee Retention Tax Credit?
The Employee Retention Tax Credit is the government’s way of saying “Sorry for Covid. We’re here to help.” No seriously, it really is.
This is IRS’s way of giving money back to business owners that made it through one of the worst small business crisis ever. And you might be surprised to learn what qualifies your business to receive these refund checks.
Am I Eligible for the Tax Credit?
There’s a high likelihood you are!
Specific eligibility requirements for the ERTC are of course a bit complex. Even most CPAs don’t understand this stuff, which is why we specialize in it. Also note that small & large businesses are treated differently under the program. But here’s the simple answer to this question:
There are a few key qualifiers.
- You have employees on payroll (W-2 employees).
- You experienced a sales decrease in 2020 or 2021
- You had to change the way you do business, limit capacity, shut down as a result of government Covid regulations.
- Your suppliers were unable to deliver critical supplies to you because they were shut down.
- You started a business in 2020.
Now you don’t need to have all of these. In fact, other than having employees, you only need to have one of these things to qualify.
If your business was partially or completely shut down during COVID-19, there’s a very good chance you qualify for this tax credit.
This credit is in place to help you support your staff.
You also qualify if you run a “recovery startup”, or a business that was launched after Feb 15, 2020 and made less than $1 million in a calendar year.
If any of this is true for your business, schedule a call with our team immediately. We can discuss the nuance of your eligibility in more detail, simplify the complexity for you, and figure out how much you’re eligible to receive.
We’ll review your situation with you.If we think you qualify and we both agree, we’ll walk through our exact process to help you get the refund. If we both decide to work together you don’t have to pay anything up front and everything we do comes with a 100% lifetime audit support guarantee. This means you have nothing to lose by scheduling a call with us to see if we can help you secure your tax credit.
How Much Employee Retention Tax Credit Can I Receive?
This answer depends on the number of qualified employees you have and when you retained them. But here’s a bit about how it’s set up:
If you’ve retained employees in the years 2020 and/or 2021, you might get money from the IRS for this credit.
Your company can get up to $5,000 per employee you retained from March 13th to December 31st, 2020
You’ll receive more per employee retained January 1st 2021 until June 30th 2021.
And there is a third set of rules for employees retained from July 1 to Dec31, 2021.
Warning: there is information out there saying you must have been fully shut down by the government or been forced to make significant modifications to get this credit. This information is false. According to IRS.gov, there are many factors to take into consideration. Even if all of your operations were allowed to continue you can still be eligible for credit.
We recommend contacting specialists to see about your tax credit eligibility in detail. We’d hate for you to miss out on tens of thousands of dollars due to an assumption that you don’t qualify. If you’re an employer who was affected by COVID-19, you likely do qualify. The question is, “for how much?” Which we can help you figure out.
Can I Claim My ERTC Myself?
Much like doing taxes without a CPA, applying for this credit without a CPA that specializes in this specific credit could hurt your chances to receive the most money back. Or worse, make an error that puts you at risk for an audit.
This is a new type of credit. Even most CPAs don’t understand the complex loopholes & jargon yet to be able to secure you the most money.
We DO specialize in the ERTC. Our sole focus is helping businesses small and large recover from the financial impact of COVID-19 and get relief. We know this program inside and out. And we’ve filed for millions of dollars of tax credits for our clients.
Many CPAs have even started to refer their clients to us for this credit, because they recognize the rules are complex it’s important to have an expert that understands all the nuances when it come to correctly calculating and filing for these credits.
Our clients have received millions of dollars in tax credits from the IRS simply by letting us take care of it for them. Our largest clients are receiving hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in credits. Even our smaller clients are on average receiving about 100,000 in tax refunds. We can almost guarantee they would be receiving much less, or worse, nothing at all, without this level of specialized support.
How Much Does It Cost to Get Help With My ERTC?
You only make an investment once we’re 100% certain you qualify for this credit. And then, it’s only a small percentage of your refund amount.
Some of our restaurant clients say it’s like leaving a tip.
And your investment comes with a lifetime guarantee. No one in professional services that we know of provides a lifetime guarantee but we do because we think it’s the right thing to do.
Don’t just take our word for it:
With that being said, why would you want to do it yourself?
Recap of the Employee Retention Tax Credit
The Employee Retention Tax Credit is the IRS’s way of helping employers receive relief from COVID-19.
- If you have full-time employees, and COVID-19 made a financial impact on your business in 2020 and/or 2021, you’re likely eligible. It’s important that you reach out immediately to claim your credit.
- We do not recommend that you try to claim it on your own. We also don’t recommend you use a CPA that doesn’t specialize in the ERTC. This is due to the complex nature of eligibility and qualifications. Use a specialist.
- Our team specializes in helping employers secure this relief. This means we can secure you more than someone who doesn’t specialize in this type of relief or tax credit.
- We only charge a small percentage of your return, which means your ROI on working with us is guaranteed.
On the call, we’ll discuss your eligibility and see if it makes sense for you to move forward with us. If we both agree it makes sense to move forward we’ll outline the exact steps we need to take to maximize your return. And if it doesn’t make sense for both of us that’s OK too. Not every business is a good fit for a variety of reasons and if that’s the case, we’ll point you in the best direction possible. Fair enough?