Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find answers to some frequently asked questions about the (ERC) Employee Retention Credit.

Learn More About The ERC Tax Credit Program

The CARES Act of 2020 initially introduced the ERC credit program, which was further enhanced in the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, effective from December 27, 2020. The amendment extended ERC availability till 2021, amplified the credit available to employers, and relaxed eligibility criteria. An essential provision of the law permits companies to retroactively leverage the 2020 ERC, even if they received PPP.

Learn more about how ERC works.

Prepare the following documents to expedite your ERC application process: Income Statements / Gross Receipts Support* Annual Payroll Detail* PPP Forgiveness Applications, if applicable, Form 941, Business Tax Returns

Learn more by visiting our ERC Document Checklist.

Qualified businesses can obtain a payroll tax refund of up to $26,000 per employee paid qualified wages, with a maximum of $5,000 per employee in 2020 and $21,000 in 2021, out of which $7,000 per employee is applicable for the first three quarters of 2021.

ERC is accessible to both for-profit and nonprofit employers that pay W-2 wages. To be eligible, a company must satisfy either of the following conditions:

  • A partial or complete shutdown by the government (the ERC is only available for wages paid during the shutdown).
  • A decrease in revenue:
    For 2020, a 50% decline in revenue in a quarter compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.
  • For 2021, a 20% decline in revenue in a quarter compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019. Alternatively, in 2021, eligibility can be established based on the previous quarter's 20% decrease in revenue relative to its corresponding quarter in 2019.
  • Recovery Start-up Business: A business that commenced after February 15, 2020, automatically qualifies for Q3 and Q4 of 2021, provided the new business's gross receipts from the new or any other old business do not surpass an average of $1,000,000 over the past three years.
Yes! You may be eligible for ERC even if you received PPP but not for the "payroll costs" funded with a forgiven PPP loan.
There's no upfront fees! Compared to our competitors who typically charge 25%, our fee is substantially lower! Our service fee is calculated based on the percentage of the credit we recuperate. Given our expertise in the program, we usually recover 10-25% more than an unfamiliar party, making our fee very reasonable. Furthermore, CPA audit support is included in our service.
Apart from the owner's compensation, the wages of any relatives on the payroll are also exempt from ERC. This includes but is not limited to parents, siblings, children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and so on.
Based on our experience, we have observed that the IRS usually takes approximately 3-9 months to process the returns.

The Employee Retention Tax Credit Refund is administered by the IRS and operates differently from the SBA's PPP. Unlike the SBA, there is no approval process for ERC. This implies that the IRS relies on businesses in two ways: 1) to self-certify their eligibility for specific quarters, and 2) to compute and claim the correct amount.

When a business submits its 941x to the IRS, the IRS will process it automatically and pay the amount to the business without inquiry. Nonetheless, similar to the PPP, the ERC is open to audits, and there is a possibility that the IRS will investigate a company's ERC. As a result, it is critical to engage a professional such as ERC Refund.

No, the ERC is not a loan, and it is not a forgivable loan similar to the PPP. The ERC is not repayable and does not need to be utilized specifically for payroll, utilities, rent, or mortgage. Since it is a reimbursement of money that a business has already spent, the funds can be utilized in whatever way the business deems appropriate.