Changes To Employee Retention Credit

Many businesses and organizations have faced unprecedented hardships and challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, social distance, health and security measures and lockdowns have caused many employers to face reduced revenue, increased expenses and disruptions in their operations.

Employee Retention Credit is a refundable income tax credit available to eligible employers that helps them retain their employees while providing health benefits.

The ERC first became law in 2020 with the CARES Act. It was then extended and modified in subsequent legislations in 2021 and 2023. This article will provide an overview of the ERC and its workings, as well as how to apply for it in different time periods.

For a brief reading of what the Employee Retention Credit or ERC is, take a look at this video from the YouTube channel “ERC Specialists”. You can also continue below to read an in-depth explanation of ERC.

What is the Employee Retention Credit? Changes To Employee Retention Credit

Employee Retention Credit is a tax credit that can be refunded to businesses and tax-exempt organizations who had employees affected by COVID-19. The ERC was established by the CARES Act of 2020 and extended and modified in subsequent legislations in 2021 and in 2023. The ERC aims to encourage employers to keep their workers on the payroll and provide them with health benefits during the crisis.

Main Features & Benefits

Credit is a fixed percentage of qualifying wages and health care costs paid by employers to employees.
The percentage and limit will vary depending on when the credit is claimed. In 2020, the 50% percentage and $5,000 limit per employee is applicable for the entire calendar year. For 2021, the percentage is 70%, and the limit is $7,000 per employee per quarter. In 2023, 70% of the employees will be eligible for the first two quarterly limits and 40% in the final two. The limit for each employee is $10,000. Changes To Employee Retention Credit
The credit is fully refundable, meaning that if the amount of the credit exceeds the employer’s payroll tax liability, the excess will be paid to the employer as a refund.
The credit can be claimed by employers who experienced a significant decline in gross receipts or a full or partial suspension of operations due to a qualifying government order related to COVID-19. In addition, employers who qualify as recovery-startup businesses for 2023 can also claim the credits.
Credits may be obtained by filing a revised employment tax form (Form 941X) or reducing employment deposit amounts in anticipation. Employers can also request an advance payment of the credit by filing Form 7200.

> > Click Here to Find Out if You are Eligible for ERC < <

Eligibility Criteria

In order to qualify for Employee Recruitment Credit (ERC), a company must meet the following criteria:

The employer’s business or organization was fully or partially suspended by a government order due to COVID-19 during a calendar quarter in 2020 or 2021
The employer’s gross revenues for a quarterly calendar period in 2020, 2021 or both were less that 50% (for the 2020 quarter) or 80% (2021 quarter) of its gross revenue for the same year-ago quarter.

There is also a special rule that applies to recovery startups, which are businesses that started operations after February 15th 2020 with gross receipts no higher than $1,000,000 on average. These businesses can be eligible for ERC regardless of their revenue decline or suspension.

Business Suspension

A government order will either fully or partially suspend an organization or business if:

The order limits travel, commerce or group meetings as a result of COVID-19
The order has a direct impact on the operations of an organization or business
The order will apply to any calendar month in 2020 or even 2021

These are some examples:

Stay-athome orders restrict non-essential enterprises from operating
Certain businesses are subject to curfews which limit their hours of operation
Limits to the number of clients or customers that a company can serve
Travel bans and restrictions that restrict the ability for a company to transport services or goods

Employers must take into account the following to determine whether a business has been suspended in full or in part by an order of government:

The nature and extent of the order, and its impact on the operation of your business
The length, frequency, and timing of the order in relation to the quarters of the year.
The order’s impact on revenues and expenses

Revenue Decline

It is considered a significant decrease in gross revenue if a business has:

The gross receipts of any calendar quarter in 2020 are less than half the gross receipts of the same quarter in 2019.
The gross receipts of any quarter in calendar 2021 were below 80% of the gross receipts in the same quarter for 2019.

Gross receipts refer to the total of all money received or accrued during a company’s annual accounting period. Gross receipts include:

Sales of goods & services
Rents, dividends, and annuities are examples of income streams that include interest, dividends.
Contributions, gifts, grants, and donations Changes To Employee Retention Credit
Membership fees and dues
Gross profits from trades and businesses

Employers must use the following formulas to calculate gross receipts and compare them between quarters.

The same method of accounting (cash or accrual) that it used to file its federal income tax return for 2019
For 2019 and 2020/2021, the same quarters of the calendar year that were used for filing federal employment tax returns on Form 941.
The same sources of revenue that they reported on their federal income tax return in 2019

Recovery Startup Business

Recovery startup businesses are those that:

Began carrying on any trade or business after February 15, 2020,
Have average annual gross income of no more than $1 million over the three-year period ending the tax year before the calendar quarter in which the credit is determined

If a business is in recovery, it can still qualify for ERC even if the business has been suspended or its revenue has declined. There are certain limitations and rules that apply to recovery startups businesses.

The maximum credit per quarter will be $50,000
The credit is only available for wages paid in the third and fourth quarters of 2021
The credit has a cap of 250 million dollars for all startup businesses that are eligible.

> > Click Here to Find Out if You are Eligible for ERC < <

Credit Amount Calculation

There are different ERC rules and amounts for different employers and periods of time. The ERC is primarily affected by:

How much business income dropped compared to 2019.
What number of employees did the employer have in 2019 and 2020/2021?
What the employer paid each employee for their health insurance and during the pandemic

Employers must complete and send IRS forms to claim ERC. The forms have to show how much the employer paid to their employees and their health insurance and why they qualify for the ERC. The IRS will then check the forms before giving the money to employers. The employer may use the money in order to pay their employees’ health insurance premiums, or get refunds for their payroll tax.

ERCs are not available forever. The ERC will expire in September 2022. The employer must claim the ERC prior to its expiration or becoming unavailable. Employers must also use the money well and not waste it. Changes To Employee Retention Credit

Below you will find detailed information on ERC, including the amount of credit and the calculation.

Time Period

The ERC has been introduced, modified, and terminated in different laws between 2020 and 2021. The credit amount depends on the period for which you claim it. The following table summarizes and compares the ERC’s main features for each period:

Time Period	Law	Eligible Employers	Credit Rate	Qualified Wages
2020	CARES Act	Employers with business suspension or revenue decline of more than 50%	50% of qualified wages up to $10,000 per employee per year	Wages paid from March 13 to December 31, 2020
Q1-Q3 2021	CAA and ARPA	Employers with business suspension or revenue decline of more than 20%	70% of qualified wages up to $10,000 per employee per quarter	Wages paid from January 1 to September 30, 2021
Q3-Q4 2021 (Recovery Startup Business)	ARPA	Recovery startup businesses with average annual gross receipts of no more than $1 million,	70% of qualified wages up to $10,000 per employee per quarter (subject to a $50,000 cap per quarter),	Wages paid from July 1 to December 31, 2021,
Q4 2021 – Q3 2022 (Severely Financially Distressed Employer)	ARPA and IIJA	Employers with a revenue decline of more than 90%	70% of qualified wages up to $10,000 per employee per quarter	Wages paid from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022

Number of Employees

The number affects the calculation of qualified wages for employees and their health insurance costs. Employers are classified as small or large employers based on their number of full-time workers (FTEs), and the period in which they were employed. The following table summarizes the thresholds and rules for determining the employer size for each time period:

Time Period	Small Employer Threshold	Large Employer Threshold
2020	Less than or equal to 100 FTEs in 2019	More than 100 FTEs in 2019
Q1-Q2 2021	Less than or equal to 500 FTEs in 2019	More than 500 FTEs in 2019
Q3-Q4 2021	Less than or equal to 500 FTEs in any calendar quarter in either calendar year beginning after December 31, 2019, and ending before July 1, 2021. If an employer did not have in either calendar year beginning after December 31, 2019, and ending before July 1, 2021, the employer is treated as a small eligible employer if it had less than or equal to 500 FTEs in any calendar quarter beginning after June 30, 2021. For recovery startup businesses, the employer size is irrelevant. For severely financially distressed employers, the employer size is irrelevant if the employer had a revenue decline of more than 90%. Otherwise, the same rules as Q1-Q2 2021 apply.	More than 500 FTEs in any calendar quarter in either calendar year beginning after December 31, 2019, and ending before July 1, 2021. If an employer did not exist in either calendar year beginning after December 31, 2019, and ending before July 1, 2021, the employer is treated as a large eligible employer if it had more than 500 FTEs in any calendar quarter beginning after June 30, 2021.

To count FTEs for a given year or quarter, an employer must use the following steps:

Count the number of employees who worked at least 30 hours per week (or at least 130 hours per month) for each month in the year or quarter
Add up the total hours worked by all other employees (who are not counted as FTEs) for each month in the year or quarter
Divide the total hours by120and round down to the nearest whole number
Add the number of FTEs from Step One and Step Three for each month in the year or quarter
Calculate the average number of FTEs by adding up the monthly totals and dividing by 12 (for a year) or 3 (for a quarter)

Qualified Wages, Health Insurance Costs

Qualified wage is the number of wages that are paid to employees who qualify during a time when a business has been suspended or revenue has decreased. Qualified wages include tips, commissions, bonuses, severance pay, sick leave pay, family leave pay, and other forms of compensation. Qualified wages also include the cost of providing health insurance to eligible employees, such as premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance.

The size of an employer’s business and the period in which they operate will determine the definition and calculation for qualified wages and health care costs. Table 1 summarizes and gives examples of rules in various scenarios. Changes To Employee Retention Credit

Employer Size	Time Period	Qualified Wages and Health Insurance Costs	Example
Small	2020	All wages and health insurance costs paid to any employee, regardless of whether the employee worked or not	An employer with 80 FTEs in 2019 paid $8,000 in wages and $2,000 in health insurance costs to an employee in 2020. The employer had a revenue decline of more than 50% in Q2 2020. The qualified wages and health insurance costs for Q2 2020 are $10,000.
Small	Q1-Q3 2021	All wages and health insurance costs paid to any employee, regardless of whether the employee worked or not	An employer with 400 FTEs in 2019 paid $12,000 in wages and $3,000 in health insurance costs to an employee in Q1 2021. The employer had a revenue decline of more than 20% in Q1 2021. The qualified wages and health insurance costs for Q1 2021 are $15,000.
Small	Q3-Q4 2021 (Recovery Startup Business)	All wages and health insurance costs paid to any employee, regardless of whether the employee worked or not (subject to a $50,000 cap per quarter)	A recovery startup business that began operations in March 2020 paid $9,000 in wages and $1,000 in health insurance costs to an employee in Q3 2021. The business had average annual gross receipts of $800,000. The qualified wages and health insurance costs for Q3 2021 are $10,000.
Small	Q4 2021 – Q3 2022 (Severely Financially Distressed Employer)	All wages and health insurance costs paid to any employee, regardless of whether the employee worked or not	An employer with 600 FTEs in Q2 2019 paid $11,000 in wages and $4,000 in health insurance costs to an employee in Q4 2021. The employer had a revenue decline of more than 90% in Q4 2021. The qualified wages and health insurance costs for Q4 2021 are $15,000.
Large	2020	Wages and health insurance costs paid to an employee for the time that the employee did not work (up to the amount that the employee would have been paid for working an equivalent duration during the 30 days immediately preceding the period of economic hardship)	An employer with 120 FTEs in 2019 paid $10,000 in wages and $2,000 in health insurance costs to an employee who worked full-time (40 hours per week) in 2020. The employer had a business suspension due to a government order in April 2020. The employee did not work for two weeks in April 2020. The qualified wages and health insurance costs for April 2020 are $2,308 ($10,000 x2/52+$2,000 x2/52).
Large	Q1-Q3 2021	Wages and health insurance costs paid to an employee for the time that the employee did not work (up to the amount that the employee would have been paid for working an equivalent duration during the 90 days immediately preceding the period of economic hardship)	An employer with 550 FTEs in 2019 paid $15,000 in wages and $5,000 in health insurance costs to an employee who worked full-time (40 hours per week) in Q1 2021. The employer had a revenue decline of more than 20% in Q1 2021. The employee did not work for three weeks in Q1 2021. The qualified wages and health insurance costs for Q1 2021 are $5,769 ($15,000 x3/13+$5,000 x3/13).
Large	Q3-Q4 2021 (Severely Financially Distressed Employer)	All wages and health insurance costs paid to any employee, regardless of whether the employee worked or not (only if the employer had a revenue decline of more than 90%. Otherwise, the same rules as Q1-Q32021 apply.)	An employer with 700 FTEs in Q4 2019 paid $12,000 in wages and $6,000 in health insurance costs to an employee who worked full-time (40 hours per week) in Q4 2021. The employer had a revenue decline of more than 90% in Q4 2021. The qualified wages and health insurance costs

> > Click Here to Find Out if You are Eligible for ERC < <

Claim and Report Credit

To claim the Employees Retention Credit, an employer must file with the Internal Revenue Service a federal Employment Tax Return (Form941) or a adjusted Employment Tax return (Form941X). The employer must report the qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees and the amount of credit claimed for each quarter.

Form 941

Form 941 is used to report the employer’s quarterly federal tax liability, including income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax. Form 941 allows employers to claim ERCs for current or future quarterly periods. The employer can use the Form 941 for:

ERC reduces taxes that employers have to deposit at the IRS.
You can ask for advance payment if your ERC exceeds the amount of taxes you have to pay. Changes To Employee Retention Credit
Carry over any excess credit into the following quarter

Employers should avoid these common mistakes when filling out Form 941 and ensure that they are filled out correctly.

Use the latest Form 941, which reflects all the updates and changes made to the ERC by new laws.
For calculating and reporting your ERC, follow the IRS’s instructions and worksheets.
Use Line 1c to report on the health insurance and wages that eligible employees have received.
Use Line 13d when reporting the credit for each quarter.
Use Line 13f for any advance payment received from IRS.
Use Line 24 to request a credit advance if necessary
Report any credit balance that may be carried forward into the next quarter using Line 25
Sign Form 941, date it and attach any documents or schedules that you wish to include.

You can find some helpful tips on how to fill out Form 941 here:

Use electronic filing services (efile) and online services to submit the Form 941 faster, more securely
Check the IRS website for updates, FAQs, and guidance on Form 941 and the ERC
If you need clarification or assistance, contact the IRS or an accountant.

Form 941-X

Form 941-X allows you to correct mistakes or make adjustments in Form 941 that has already been filed. The Form 941X allows the employer retroactively to claim ERC for previous quarters. The employer can use the Form 941 X to: Changes To Employee Retention Credit

Claim a refund or credit for overpaid taxes due to claiming the ERC
Report additional qualified wage and health insurance expenses paid to eligible employees which were not reported in Form 941
Correct any errors or omissions you find on Form 941, which may affect your credit claim.

To avoid making common errors and fill out the Form 941-X correctly, employers should:

Use the latest Form 941-X which reflects all the updates and changes made to the ERC by new laws.
Use the IRS worksheets and instructions to calculate and report the ERC
Use Part 2 of Form 941 to indicate which lines are being amended or corrected.
Use Part 3 for explaining why form 941 has been corrected or adjusted
Line 24 should be used to record any additional health insurance and wages paid to employees who qualify.
Line 25 is the place to enter any additional credit claims for each quarter.
Use Line 26 to report any refund or credit requested due to claiming the ERC
Sign the form 941-X, date it and include any documents or schedules that you wish to attach.

You can find some helpful tips on how to fill out the Form 941-X here:

File a separate Form 941-X for each quarter that is being corrected or adjusted Changes To Employee Retention Credit
File Form 941-X as soon as possible after discovering an error or making an 0adjustment on Form 941
The IRS website has updated FAQs on the ERC, Form 941 X, and updates to the IRS website.
Contact the IRS or a tax professional for assistance or clarification if needed

Deadline and Statute of Limitations

The deadline for submitting Form 941 generally falls on the last calendar day of the following month. For Q1 2021 (January-March), the Form 941 must be filed by April 30th, 2021. If an employer has made all the required deposits for the quarter in a timely manner, they can file Forms 941 on the 10th of the second month. After the end of the quarterly period. For example, for Q1 2021 (January-March), Form 941 is due by May 10, 2021, Changes To Employee Retention Credit

The deadline to file Form 941-X generally is three years after the date the original Form 941 is filed, or two years after the date the tax is paid. For Q1 of 2020 (January through March), the deadline for Form 941 to be filed was April 30, 2020. If an employer filed Form 941 on April 30, 2020, and paid the tax on April 30, 2020, the deadline for filing Form 941-X is April 30, 2023. If an employee filed Form 941 April 30, 2020 and paid tax June 15, 2020 the deadline for submitting Form 941 X is June 15, 222.

> > Click Here to Find Out if You are Eligible for ERC < <

Conclusion

Employee Retention (ERC) Credit is an important tax benefit which can help employers that were affected by COVID-19 to retain their employees, and lessen the impact the pandemic had on their organizations or businesses.

The ERC, a refundable credit, varies according to the time period and number of employees as well as the amount of qualified wage and health insurance expenses paid to employees who are eligible. The ERC is claimed by filing IRS Form 941 or 941-X and reporting qualified wages, health insurance costs, and the credit amount claimed for each quarter.

If you are an employer who meets the eligibility criteria for the ERC, you should not miss this opportunity to take advantage of this tax benefit. The ERC is not available forever and has a deadline and a statute of limitations for claiming it. The forms should be filed as soon as you can. You can use the resources and advice provided in this post to avoid common mistakes and fill them out correctly. If you need clarification or assistance, you can contact the IRS.

ERCs can be a huge help to your organization or business and its employees. It can help your business or organization retain workers, maintain cash flow and recover from a pandemic. This article is intended to help you better understand the ERC, and how it can be claimed. Thank you for reading, and stay safe.

> > Click Here to Find Out if You are Eligible for ERC < <

Changes To Employee Retention Credit

What is the ERC?

Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a tax incentive for employers that retained their employees on their payrolls during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The CARES Act was passed in March 2020. It was amended and extended in December 2020 by the CAA Act (Consolidated Appropriations Act) and in March 2021 by the ARPA Act (American Rescue Plan Act of 2021).

Can everyone apply for ERC?

ERC eligibility is not universal. The ERC is only available to employers that have paid wages to employees between March 13, 2020, and December 31, 2021.

There are also criteria for eligibility; more details can be read above, but here are the highlights:

A government order suspended the business (fully or partly) because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Their gross revenues for a quarter calendar in 2020 or in 2021 were lower than a percentage compared to their gross revenues for the same period in 2019.
These businesses are recovery startups that have been in operation since February 15, 2020. They also generate gross revenues of no more than $1 million on average per year.

How much is the ERC?

The amount of ERC a company or organization receives will depend on several factors.

These factors include time, the number of employees and the amount of wages that qualify. They also include health insurance costs for eligible employees. If you want a more detailed explanation, read the above article.

How to claim ERC

To claim the ERC, an employer must file a federal employment tax reform or an adjusted employment tax return (Form 941-X) with the IRS.

The employer must provide a quarterly report detailing the wages, health insurance and other costs that are eligible for credit as well as the amount claimed.

When is ERC’s deadline?

The deadlines of Form 941, Form 941X and ERC 941 are different.

The last day to submit Form 941 for each quarter is the last calendar month. For Form 941X, the deadline is three years following the date on which the original form 941 was filed. It can also be from two years from the date that the tax was paid, with the later date being the more preferred one.