Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

COVID-19, the pandemic that has swept across the globe in recent years, has brought unprecedented challenges and hardships to businesses and organisations around. Due to lockdowns and social distancing as well as health and safety measures, many employers have seen their revenues and expenses drop, while operations are disrupted.

To help employers retain their employees and provide them with health benefits during this difficult time, the U.S. government has introduced the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), a refundable tax credit that can offset some of the payroll costs for eligible employers.

The ERC is a program that was introduced by the CARES Act of 2020. Subsequent legislation was passed in 2021 and in 2023 to extend and modify it. 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? Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

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 created by the CARES Act in 2020 and was extended and modified by subsequent legislation in 2021 and 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 and Benefits

Credit is a fixed percentage of qualifying wages and health care costs paid by employers to employees.
The percentage and the maximum credit vary depending on how long the credit can be 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. For 2023, the percentage will be 70% for the two first quarters and 40% for the two last quarters. The limit per employee per quarter is $10,000. Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply
The credit is fully refundable, which means that if it exceeds the employer’s payroll tax liability the excess amount will be returned to the employer.
Employers can claim this credit if they experienced a significant decrease in gross receipts due to an order from the government relating to COVID-19. The credit can be claimed by employers who have been classified as recovery startups only until 2023.
Credits may be obtained by filing a revised employment tax form (Form 941X) or reducing employment deposit amounts in anticipation. Employers may also request an advanced payment of the credit using Form 7200.

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Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for Employee Retention credit (ERC), employers must meet either of two main criteria.

The employer’s company or organization has been suspended, either fully or partly, by an order of the government due to COVID-19 at a particular calendar quarter in 2020/2021
The gross receipts of the employer for a calendar-quarter in 2020 or 2020 were less than 50 percent (for 2020), or 80 percent (for 2021), of their gross receipts during the same calendar quarter in 2019.

The recovery startup rule also applies to businesses that began operating after February 14, 2020 and had average annual gross receipts not exceeding $1 million. These businesses can qualify for the ERC regardless of business suspension or revenue decline.

Business Suspension

A government order may suspend a business, or even partially suspend it.

The order limits travel, commerce or group meetings as a result of COVID-19
The order impacts the operations of a business or organization
This order is applicable to any calendar quarter of 2020 or 2021

Some examples of orders from the government that could cause a business to be suspended are:

Stay-at-home orders prohibiting the operation of non-essential businesses
Curfews that limit the hours of operation for certain businesses
Capacity limitations that reduce the amount of customers or clientele that a firm can service
Travel restrictions or bans that impact the ability of an organization to transport goods and services

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:

How the nature and scope and the order affect the operation of the business
The length, frequency, and timing of the order in relation to the quarters of the year.
The magnitude and impact of the order upon the revenue and expenses of a business

Revenue Decline

A significant decline in gross revenues is experienced by a business or organization if:

The gross receipts from any quarter in 2020 is less than 50% its gross receipts from the same calendar 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 can include:

Sales of goods and services
Rents, dividends, and annuities are examples of income streams that include interest, dividends.
Contributions are gifts, donations and grants Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply
Dues and fees for membership
Gross income from trades or businesses

To calculate and compare gross revenue for different quarters using the following:

The same method of account (cash, accrual or accrual) was used in filing the federal income tax return.
It will use the same calendar year quarters for 2019/2021 as it did to file its federal Employment Tax Returns (Form 941).
The same sources reported on your federal income tax form for 2019

Recovery Startup Business

A startup that is in recovery can be defined as

Start any new business or occupation after February 15, 2019,
The average annual gross receipts for the three tax years ending in the year preceding the quarter for which credit is calculated cannot exceed $1 million

Even if it does not meet the criteria for revenue decline or suspension of business, a recovery startup can still qualify. However, there are some limitations and special rules that apply to recovery startup businesses, such as:

Maximum credit per quarter: $50,000
The credit is only applicable to wages paid for the third and fourth quarters of 2021
The credit is subject to an overall cap of $250 million for all recovery startup businesses

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Credit Amounts Calculation

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

How much an employer’s company was affected by the pandemic.
The number of employees that the employer has in 2019 or 2020/2021 and whether or not they worked during the pandemic
How much the employer paid to each employee and their health insurance during the pandemic

To claim the ERC, the employer must fill out and submit a form to the IRS. The employer must provide proof of how much they paid their employees for health insurance as well as the ERC. The IRS will check the forms and give the money to the employer. The employer can then use the money for paying their employees, their health insurance and/or to receive refunds or credits on their payroll tax.

The ERC is not available forever. It started in March 2020 and will end in September 2022. The employer is required to claim ERCs before they expire, or are no longer available. Employers must also use the money well and not waste it. Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

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

Time Period

In 2020, 2021, & 2022, different laws were passed to introduce, amend, and terminate the ERC. The credit amount depends on the period for which you claim it. The table below summarises key features and differences for the ERC in each time frame:

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 and type of employees can affect the definition and calculation for qualified wages and health care costs. The size of an employer depends on its number of FTEs and the time period. This table summarizes thresholds and rules to determine the size of an employer for each 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 and Health Insurance Costs

Qualified wages are wages paid to eligible employees during a period of business suspension or revenue decline. Qualified wages can include severance payment, bonuses, severance tips, sick pay, family pay and other forms compensation. Qualified salaries also include the costs of providing health coverage to eligible workers, including premiums, copays, deductibles, and coinsurance.

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. Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

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

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Claim and Report Credit

For an employer to claim the Employee retention credit (ERC), they must submit a federal employment return (Form 951) or a revised employment tax report (Form 941X) to the Internal Revenue Service. The employer is required to report the qualified wages, health insurance costs and credit claimed by each quarter.

Form 941

Form 941 allows employers to declare their quarterly federal taxes, including income taxes, Medicare and Social Security tax. Form 941 allows the employer also to claim ERCs in current or future quarters. The employer can use Form 941 to:

Reduce the amount of taxes that the employer has to deposit with the IRS by the amount of the ERC
If the ERC is greater than the tax that the employer must deposit, you can request an advance payment. Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply
Carry forward any excess credit to subsequent quarters

To ensure the correct completion of Form 941, and to avoid common errors:

Use the latest Form 941, which reflects all the updates and changes made to the ERC by new laws.
Follow the instructions and worksheets provided by the IRS for calculating and reporting the ERC
Use Line 1c to report on the health insurance and wages that eligible employees have received.
Use Line 13d to declare the credit amount claimed for each quarter
Line 13f should be used to report any advance payments made by the IRS.
Use Line 24 if you require an advance credit payment.
Report any credit balance that may be carried forward into the next quarter using Line 25
Sign and date Form 941, and include any supporting documents and schedules.

The following are some resources and tips for filling in Form 941.

Use online services or electronic filing to submit Form 941 more quickly and securely
Visit the IRS website to get the latest updates, FAQs, and guidance regarding Form 941 and ERC.
If you need clarification or assistance, contact the IRS or an accountant.

Form 941-X

Forms 941-X are used to rectify errors or make adjustments to Forms 941 previously submitted. The employer can also claim the ERC retroactively by using Form 941X. Employers can use Form 941/X for Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

Claim a credit or refund for the taxes you overpaid by claiming ERC
Report any additional wages or health insurance costs that are paid to employees who are eligible but not reported on Form 951.
Correct any errors or omissions you find on Form 941, which may affect your credit claim.

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

Use the latest form 941X that reflects changes to laws that are applicable to the ERC.
Follow the IRS instructions and worksheets for calculating the ERC and reporting it.
Use Part 2 of Form 941 to indicate which lines are being amended or corrected.
Use Part 3 to explain why Form 941 is being corrected or adjusted
Use Line 24 to report any additional qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees
Line 25 should be used to declare any additional amount claimed as a credit each quarter
Use Line 26 for any refunds or credits due to ERC claims.
Sign and date Form 941-X and attach any supporting documents or schedules

Tips and resources on how to complete Form 941 X include:

Fill out a separate form 941-X per quarter being corrected or recalculated Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply
File Form 941-X as soon as possible after discovering an error or making an 0adjustment on Form 941
Check the IRS website for updates, FAQs, and guidance on Form 941-X and the ERC
For clarifications or help, you can contact the IRS.

Deadline and Statute of Limitations

The last day to file Form 941 usually falls on the last month after the end of each quarterly period. For Q1 2021 (January-March), the Form 941 must be filed by April 30th, 2021. Nevertheless, if the employer deposited all taxes due in a given quarter on time, they may file Form 941 before the 10th day. After the end quarter. For example, Q1 2020 (January to March) requires that Form 941 be returned by May 10, 2021. Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

The deadline for submitting Form 941X is usually three years following the original date of Form 941 or two after the date on which the tax was paid. For Q1 2020, (January-March), the Form 941 must be filed by April 30th 2020. If an employer files Form 941 by April 30, 2020 and pays the tax on April 30 2020, then the deadline to file Form 941-X will be April 30, 2023. If an employers filed Forms 941 and paid taxes on June 15, 2019, the deadline is June 15, 2022.

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Conclusion

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a valuable tax benefit that can help employers who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic keep their employees on the payroll and reduce the impact of the pandemic on their businesses or organizations.

The ERC is a refundable tax credit that varies depending on the time period, the number of employees, and the amount of qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees. You can claim the ERC by submitting Form 941 to the IRS. This form will ask you for the number of employees, the amount paid in qualified wages and insurance costs each quarter, and how much credit is being claimed.

You should not miss the opportunity to benefit from this tax incentive if you are an eligible employer. The ERC is not available forever and has a deadline and a statute of limitations for claiming it. It is important to file your forms quickly and correctly. This article provides tips and resources that will help you avoid common errors. If needed, you can also reach out to the IRS or a professional tax advisor for clarification or help.

The ERC is a great tool for both your business and employees. It will help you to keep your employees, maintain a healthy cash flow, as well as recover from pandemic. This article is intended to help you better understand the ERC, and how it can be claimed. Thanks for reading and please stay safe.

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Employee Retention Credit 2023 How To Apply

What is ERC?

Employee Retention Credit – This tax credit is available to employers for keeping their employees employed during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The CARES Act created the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 in March 2021. Later, the CAA (Consolidated Appropriations Act), in December 2020, was amended and expanded by ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act of 2021), in March 2021.

Does everyone qualify for the ERC program?

ERC eligibility is not universal. Employers who retained their employees and paid them wages between March 13, 2020, and December 31, 2021, are eligible.

The criteria for eligibility is also listed above. For the highlights, please see:

The business or organization was suspended (fully or partially) by government order due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
You are a new business in recovery that has started operating after February 15th, 2020. Your average annual gross sales is no more than $1,000,000.

What is the ERC worth?

The amount of ERC that a company will receive depends on a number of factors.

One of the factors is the length of time the company has been in business, the number and type of employees it has, the amount that qualifies as wages, or the health insurance premiums paid to employees who are eligible. You can read the article above for a more detailed explanation of how ERC is calculated.

How to claim your ERC?

To receive the ERC, employers must file with the IRS a Form 941-X (revised employment tax returns) or a Federal Employment Tax Reform.

Employers are required to report each quarter the total amount claimed as a credit and the wages and insurance premiums paid by eligible employees.

When is the deadline to submit the ERC form?

The deadlines for filing ERC forms for Forms 941 and form 941 X 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 be as late as two years after you paid the tax, but the later date is the preferred date.