Form 943 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.

To help employers keep their employees, and to provide them with health insurance during these difficult times, the U.S. federal government has created the Employee Retention credit (ERC), an refundable tax credits that can offset some of payroll costs for employers who qualify.

The ERC has been in place since 2020 when the CARES Act was passed. Later, in 2021 and again in 2023, it was modified and extended by new legislation. This article will explain what the ERC is, how it works, and how to claim it for different time periods and eligibility criteria.

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? Form 943 Employee Retention Credit

Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC), is a refundable tax credit for organizations and businesses with employees who have been 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 was created to encourage employers in crisis to keep workers on their payrolls and provide them health insurance.

Main Features & Benefits

The credit is a percentage of wages and health insurance premiums paid by eligible employees. There are limits per employee, per quarter.
The percentage and limit will vary depending on when the credit is claimed. For 2020 the percentage is set at 50%, while the maximum per employee is set at $5,000. For 2021, there is a 70% percentage and a limit of $7,000 per employee per quarter. For 2023, the percentage is 70% for the first two quarters and 40% for the last two quarters, and the limit is $10,000 per employee per quarter. Form 943 Employee Retention Credit
The credit is fully refundable. If the amount of credit exceeds an employer’s liability for payroll tax, the excess will then be paid back to the employer.
The credit is available to employers who suffered a significant reduction in gross revenues or a partial or full suspension of operations because of an eligible government order relating COVID-19. Alternatively, for 2023 only, employers who are considered recovery startup businesses can also claim the credit.
Credits may be obtained by filing a revised employment tax form (Form 941X) or reducing employment deposit amounts in anticipation. Employers can request an advance payment by submitting Form 7200.

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Criteria for Eligibility

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

A government order has suspended or halted the business or organization of an employer due to COVID-19 in a calendar year 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 qualify for the ERC regardless of business suspension or revenue decline.

Business Suspension

A business or organization is considered fully or partially suspended by a government order if:

The order restricts commerce, travel or group meetings because of COVID-19
The order has an impact on the business or organization
Order applies to any calendar year in 2020 or 21

Here are some examples of government orders that can result in a business being suspended:

Stay-athome orders restrict non-essential enterprises from operating
Certain businesses have curfews that limit their hours of operations
Limits in capacity that restrict the number or clients that a business can serve
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:

The order’s nature, scope, and impact on the business
The order’s duration, frequency, and alignment with the calendar quarters
The impact of an order on revenue and expenses

Revenue Decline

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

The gross receipts in any calendar quarter of 2020 will be less than 50% the gross receipts in the same quarter of 2019.
The gross revenue for any quarter of 2021 was less than 80% that for the same period in 2019.

Gross receipts can be defined as all the money received by an organization or business from any source during their annual accounting period, without deductions. Gross receipts consist of:

Sales of goods & services
Rents, dividends, and annuities are examples of income streams that include interest, dividends.
Contributions are gifts, donations and grants Form 943 Employee Retention Credit
Membership dues
Gross profit from business or trade

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

After February 15, 2020, you can start any business or trade.
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

A recovery startup business can qualify for the ERC regardless of whether it meets the criteria of business suspension or revenue decline. Recovery Startup Businesses are still subject to some restrictions and special rules.

The maximum credit amount per quarter is $50,000
The credit can only be used for wages paid between the third and the fourth quarters of 2020
All recovery startup businesses are subject to an aggregate cap of $250,000,000.

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Credit Amount and Calculation

ERCs have different rules and amounts depending on the length of time and type of employer. The ERC is affected primarily by:

How much business income dropped compared to 2019.
How many employees the employer had in 2019 or 2020/2021, and whether they worked or not during the pandemic
The amount of money paid by the employer to each employee as well as their health insurance during pandemic

The employer has to fill out some forms and send them to the IRS to claim the 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 review the forms and pay the money back 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 will not be available indefinitely. It began in March 2019 and will finish in September 2020. The employer must claim ERC before the expiration date or when it becomes unavailable. Employers must also use the money well and not waste it. Form 943 Employee Retention Credit

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

Time Period

The ERC was introduced, amended, and terminated by different laws in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Credit amounts vary depending on when they are claimed. The following table summarizes the key features and differences of the ERC for each time 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 and type of employees can affect the definition and calculation for qualified wages and health care costs. According to the time frame and number of full-time equivalents (FTEs), an employer can be classified as a small employer or large employer. The table below summarizes the rules and thresholds for determining employer size in 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 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 wage also includes the cost of health insurance for eligible employees. This may include premiums, deductibles, co-pays, or 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. The following table summarizes the rules and examples for different scenarios: Form 943 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

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Claim and Report Credit

To claim the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), an employer must file a federal employment tax return (Form 941) or an adjusted employment tax return (Form 941-X) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The employer will need to declare the qualified wages paid and the health insurance expenses paid for eligible employees. They must also report the credit claimed.

Form 941

Form 941 is used to report the employer’s quarterly federal tax liability, including income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax. The employer can also claim the ERC in Form 941 for future or current quarters. Form 941 is used by employers to:

ERC reduces the amount that employers must deposit with the IRS in order to pay taxes.
You can ask for advance payment if your ERC exceeds the amount of taxes you have to pay. Form 943 Employee Retention Credit
You can carry forward any credit balance to subsequent quarters

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.
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 report the amount of credit claimed for each quarter
Use Line 13f for any advance payment received from IRS.
Use Line 24 to request a credit advance if necessary
Use Line 25 to report any excess credit that can be carried forward to subsequent quarters
Sign the form 941, and attach any supporting documents.

Here are some tips and resources to help you fill out Form 941:

Use online services or electronic filing to submit Form 941 more quickly and securely
Check the IRS website for updates, FAQs, and guidance on Form 941 and the ERC
For clarifications or help, you can contact the IRS.

Form 941-X

Form 941-X allows you to correct mistakes or make adjustments in Form 941 that has already been filed. Form 941 X also allows for the employer to claim ERC retroactively. Form 941-X can be used by the employer to: Form 943 Employee Retention Credit

Claim a credit or refund for the taxes you overpaid by claiming ERC
Report additional qualified wages paid and health insurance premiums paid to eligible workers that have not been reported on Form 941
Correct any errors or omissions you find on Form 941, which may affect your credit claim.

The employer should:

Use the latest form 941X that reflects changes to laws that are applicable to the ERC.
The IRS has provided worksheets to help you calculate the ERC.
Use Part 2 for indicating which lines of the Form 941 need to be corrected or adjusted
Use Part 3 for explaining why form 941 has been corrected or adjusted
Use Line 24 for any additional qualified wage and health insurance expenses paid to eligible workers
Use Line 25 to claim any additional credit for each quarter.
You can use Line 26 to request a refund or credit due to claiming ERC.
Sign and date the Form 941 X and add any supporting documents or schedules.

Some tips and resources for filling out Form 941-X are:

File a separate Form 941-X for each quarter that is being corrected or adjusted Form 943 Employee Retention Credit
Fill out Form 941-X immediately after you find an error in Form 941
Check the IRS website for updates, FAQs, and guidance on Form 941-X and the ERC
Contact the IRS or a tax professional for assistance or clarification if needed

Deadline and Statute of Limitations

The deadline to submit Form 941 is usually the last day in the month following each quarter. 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, the Q1 of 2021 is January-March. The Form 941 should be received by May 10th, 2021. Form 943 Employee Retention Credit

The deadline for submitting Form 941X depends on the time period. It is generally three or two years, depending on the date when the original Form 941 has been filed. For example, for Q1 2020 (January-March), Form 941 was due by April 30, 2020. If the employer has filed Forms 941 and paid tax by April 30th 2020, they have until April 30th 2023 to submit Form 941X. If an employer filed Form 941 on April 30, 2020, and paid the tax on June 15, 2020, the deadline for filing Form 941-X is June 15, 2022.

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Conclusion

Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC), is a valuable financial benefit that helps employers to keep their employees employed and reduces the impact COVID-19 has on their organization or business.

The ERC can be claimed by filing Form 941 or Form 941-X with the IRS and reporting the qualified wages and costs of health insurance paid to eligible workers. The ERC can be claimed by filing Form 941 or Form 941-X with the IRS and reporting the qualified wages and health insurance costs and the amount of credit claimed for each quarter.

You should not miss the opportunity to benefit from this tax incentive if you are an eligible employer. The ERC does not last forever. It has a deadline, and there is a statute of limitations for claiming the ERC. Use the resources and tips provided in this article to ensure that you fill out your forms correctly and avoid common mistakes. For clarifications or help, you can always contact an IRS agent or tax professional.

ERCs are a powerful tool that can help your company or organization, as well as your employees. It can help you retain your workers, maintain your cash flow, and recover from the pandemic. We hope this article has helped you understand more about the ERC and how to claim it. Thanks for reading and please stay safe.

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Form 943 Employee Retention Credit

What is the ERC?

Employee Retention Credit is an employer tax credit available to employers who kept their employees on payroll during COVID-19.

It was created in March of 2020 by the CARES Act and later extended and amended by the CAA Act of December 2020 (Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021).

Who is eligible for the ERC?

The ERC is not available to everyone. Employers only eligible for the ERC are those who have retained and paid wages to their employees between March 14, 2020 and Dec 31, 2021.

You can read more about the criteria here. Here are some highlights.

A government-issued order temporarily or permanently suspended the organization or business due to COVID-19.
The gross receipts of a calendar quarter for 2020 or 2021 were less than a percent of the gross receipts from a similar quarter 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 does the ERC cost?

The amount that an organization or company receives in ERC will depend on many factors.

Among these factors are the time period, employee count, amount of qualifying wages and health insurance cost paid to eligible workers. If you want a more detailed explanation, read the above article.

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.

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?

There are two different deadlines to file the ERC Forms: Form 941 (Form 941-X) and Form 941 (941).

For Form 941 is generally the last day of the month following the end of each quarter. In contrast, the deadline to submit Form 941 X is generally set at three years since the date of the original 941. It can be as late as two years after you paid the tax, but the later date is the preferred date.