What is the Employee Retention Credit?
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) allows business owners to claim a percentage of wages paid to eligible employees during the COVID-19 pandemic as a refundable tax credit. The purpose of this credit is to compensate businesses who faced challenges during the coronavirus pandemic but chose to keep their employees on payroll. This is NOT a grant or a loan, and it’s NOT a government handout. This is a tax credit.
Bryson Law Firm, L.L.C. can help you evaluate whether you are eligible for the Employee Retention Credit and help you submit your claims. There are many national companies advertising with claims that they can help business owners obtain these credits, but it’s important that you hire someone you can count on to be there in the event the IRS decides to audit or question your claims.
Remember, we are tax attorneys. Determining your eligibility and preparing and submitting your claims is a complex process that involves a lot of legalities – this is a legal issue – so get legal help.
How Much is the Employee Retention Credit?
In 2020, qualified wages of up to $10,000 for the year paid to each employee can be counted to determine the amount of the 50% credit, making the maximum credit $5,000 per employee per year in 2020. In 2021, 70% of qualified wages paid to employees in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarter of 2021 – up to $10,000 per employee per quarter – can be claimed, making the maximum credit $7,000 per employee per quarter in 2021.
This means that if you are an eligible employer, you can claim up to $26,000 per employee for the Employee Retention Credit.
Our ERC Team can give advisory services to help you determine how much in ERC credits you qualify for.
How to Qualify
To qualify, you must have operated a trade or business during the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced either a reduction in revenue or a suspension of operations due to government orders. The eligibility requirements are complex, but we’ll make it easy. Once you onboard Bryson Law Firm, L.L.C. to assist you in your ERC efforts, we’ll send over a very user-friendly questionnaire to collect all the information we need to determine what you are eligible for.
How to Request
To request your Employee Retention Credit, your IRS Form 941 payroll tax returns will need to be amended. Our ERC Team can help with that!
What Else Should Business Owners Know About ERC?
There is a special credit for “Recovery Startup Businesses” – businesses that began operating after February 15, 2020, with less than $1,000,000 in annual gross receipts.
You aren’t excluded from claiming the credit just because you got a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.
Do ERC the RIGHT Way
These out-of-state marketing companies can lead a business owner down the wrong path. We’ve seen countless business owners tricked into filing for these claims without confirming they are eligible for employee retention, and the national companies have no skin in the game – they take their percentage of the credit and run. Bryson Law Firm, L.L.C. isn’t like that. We are local – your neighbors – and we’re here for you, start to finish.
Your Next Steps
If you are a business owner who retained employees during the pandemic, we can help you see what your business qualifies for within the Employee Retention Credit. We’ll schedule you with a free, initial consultation to see what we can do for you. Contact our office today or fill out the form below to get started!
