Jwc Employee Retention Credit

COVID-19, the pandemic that has swept across the globe in recent years, has brought unprecedented challenges and hardships to businesses and organisations around. Many employers have experienced reduced revenues, higher expenses, and disruptions to their operations because of lockdowns, distancing from social media, and health-and-safety measures.

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 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 describe what the ERC does, how it operates, and explain how to claim it.

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 Employee Retention Credit? Jwc Employee Retention Credit

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a refundable tax credit for businesses and tax-exempt organizations that had employees and were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ERC, created in 2020 by the CARES Act, was then extended and modified through subsequent legislation in both 2021-2023. The ERC aims to encourage employers to keep their workers on the payroll and provide them with health benefits during the crisis.

The Main Features and Benefits

The credit is equal to a percentage of qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees, up to a certain limit per employee per quarter.
The percentage and the limit vary depending on the time period for which 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. For 2023, there is a 70% percentage for the first 2 quarters followed by 40% for the second two quarters. There is a $10,000 limit per employee. Jwc Employee Retention Credit
The credit amount is fully refundable, meaning if the credit exceeds your employer’s tax liability on payroll, you will receive the excess as a reimbursement.
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.
The credit can be claimed by filing an amended employment tax return (Form 941-X) or by reducing employment tax deposits in anticipation of the credit. Employers can request an advance payment by submitting Form 7200.

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Eligibility Criteria

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

The employer’s business or organisation was suspended in whole or in part by a government decree due to the COVID-19, during a quarter calendar of 2020 or 21
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 are eligible for the ERC, regardless of whether their business has been suspended or if revenue has declined.

Business Suspension

A government order can either suspend or fully suspend a company or organization if the following conditions are met:

The order prohibits travel, group meetings, and commerce due to COVID-19
The order will affect the operation of the business or the 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:

Orders to stay at home that prevent non-essential companies from operating
Curfews that limit the hours of operation for certain businesses
Capacity limits that reduce the number of customers or clients that can be served by a business
Travel bans or restrictions that affect the ability of a business to transport goods or services

To determine if the business was partially or fully suspended by an official order, employers must consider:

The order’s nature, scope, and impact on the business
The duration and frequency of the order and how it coincides with the calendar quarters
The extent and severity of the impact of the order on the revenues and expenses of the business

Revenue Decline

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

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 for any calendar quarter in 2021 were less than 80% of its gross receipts for the same quarter in 2019

Gross receipts are the total amount that a business or organization has received or accrued from all sources, during its annual accounting period. Gross receipts include:

Sales of goods and services
Dividends (rents), royalties and interest
Contributions, gifts and grants Jwc Employee Retention Credit
Dues and fees for membership
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.
The same quarters in the calendar year as those used for the federal employment tax returns (Form 941) filed by 2019 and 2020/2021
It is the same income sources that were reported on the federal income tax returns 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,
If you have average annual gross revenues of less than $1 million in any three tax-year period that ends with the tax-year preceding the calendar quarter for credit determination.

A recovery startup business can qualify for the ERC regardless of whether it meets the criteria of business suspension or revenue decline. However, there are some limitations and special rules that apply to recovery startup businesses, such as:

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

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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 primarily affected by:

How much of the employer’s income was affected in 2019 by the pandemic.
Employer’s number of employees in 2019 or 2021, and whether the employee worked or not.
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 forms must include the total amount paid by the employer to employees, their health insurance coverage and the reasons why they are eligible 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. The ERC began in March 2020, and it will end in September 2022. The employer must claim the ERC prior to its expiration or becoming unavailable. The employer has to spend the money efficiently and not waste. Jwc Employee Retention Credit

Here is more information about the ERC and its calculation.

Time Period

Different laws introduced, amended and terminated the ERC in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The amount of the credit varies according to the time period that it is applied for. The table below summarizes key differences and features of the ERCs 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

The Number of Employees

The number of employees affects the definition and calculation of qualified wages and health insurance costs for eligible employees. The size of an employer depends on its number of FTEs and the time period. 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 and Health Insurance Costs

Qualified wages refer to wages paid during a period when the business is suspended or revenues are declining. Qualified wages include tips, commissions, bonuses, severance pay, sick leave pay, family leave pay, and other forms of compensation. Qualified wages include health insurance costs for eligible employees such as co-pays and deductibles.

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 provides a summary of the rules for different scenarios. Jwc 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 the Credit

For the Internal Revenue Service to grant the Employee Retention credit (ERC), employers must file either a federal tax return for employment (Form 941), or an amended tax return for employment (Form941-X). 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 a quarterly tax return that the employer must file to show his federal tax liabilities. This includes income taxes, Medicare tax and Social Security taxes. Form 941 also allows the employer to claim the ERC for current or future quarters. The employer can use Form 941 to:

ERC reduces taxes that employers have to deposit at the IRS.
If the ERC is greater than the tax that the employer must deposit, you can request an advance payment. Jwc Employee Retention Credit
Carry forward any excess credits to future quarters

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

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 11c to report qualified wages paid and health insurance premiums paid to eligible employees
Use Line 13d when reporting the credit for each quarter.
Line 13f is used to report any advance payment of credit received by the IRS
If you need to receive an advance payment, use Line 24.
Report any credit balance that may be carried forward into the next quarter using Line 25
Sign the form 941, and attach any supporting documents.

Some tips and resources for filling out Form 941 are:

Form 941 can be submitted faster and more securely by using electronic filing (efile) or online services
Visit the IRS website to get the latest updates, FAQs, and guidance regarding Form 941 and ERC.
Need clarification? Contact an IRS agent or tax professional.

Form 941-X

The Form 941 X is used for corrections and adjustments to a Form 941. The employer can also claim the ERC retroactively by using Form 941X. Form 941-X can be used by the employer to: Jwc Employee Retention Credit

Claim refunds or credits for taxes overpaid due to the 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.

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

Use the latest version of Form 941-X that reflects the changes and updates made by the laws that affect the ERC
For calculating and reporting your ERC, follow the IRS’s instructions and worksheets.
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 report any additional amount of credit claimed for each quarter
Use Line 26 when reporting any refund or credit that you have requested as a result of claiming your ERC
Sign and date the Form 941 X and add any supporting documents or schedules.

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

For each quarter to be adjusted or corrected, you must submit a different Form 941X. Jwc 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
You can also contact a tax expert or the IRS for clarification or additional assistance.

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 example for Q1 (2021) (January – March), Form 941 should be submitted by April 30, 2019. Nevertheless, if the employer deposited all taxes due in a given quarter on time, they may file Form 941 before the 10th day. Following the end of the quarter. For example, the Q1 of 2021 is January-March. The Form 941 should be received by May 10th, 2021. Jwc 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 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 employee filed Form 941 April 30, 2020 and paid tax June 15, 2020 the deadline for submitting Form 941 X is June 15, 222.

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Conclusion

Employee Retention credit (ERC), a valuable benefit under tax law, can help employers who have been affected by COVID-19 keep their staff on payroll and minimize the impact of pandemic.

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. The ERC may be claimed through IRS Forms 941 and 941X, which require the employer to report the qualified wages paid and the health insurance expenses incurred by each employee.

Don’t miss this chance to get a tax break if your employer meets the ERC criteria. 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. You can also contact the IRS or a tax professional for assistance or clarification if needed.

The ERC is a great tool for both your business and employees. It can help your business or organization retain workers, maintain cash flow and recover from a pandemic. We hope this article has helped you understand more about the ERC and how to claim it. Thank you for reading, and stay safe.

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Jwc Employee Retention Credit

What is ERC?

Employee Retention Credit: This is a credit that employers can claim if they retained employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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?

Not everyone is eligible for the ERC. 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.

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

A government order imposed a suspension (full or partial) on the business or organization due to COVID-19.
The gross receipts they had for a calendar-quarter in 2020, 2021 or both were less than 10% of their gross receipts during the same quarter last year.
They are a recovery startup business that began operations after February 15, 2020, and has average annual gross receipts of no more than $1 million.

What is the ERC rate?

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. For a detailed explanation of ERC, you can read the article mentioned above.

How to claim ERC?

To claim the ERC an employer must submit a federal employment reform (Form 941)-X or a revised employment tax return to 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.

What is the deadline for submitting the ERC forms?

The deadline for filing the ERC forms is different for Form 941 and Form 941-X.

The deadline for Form 941 is usually the last day in the month after the end of every quarter. The deadline for Forms 941-X, however, is usually three years after the date the original Form was completed. It can be as late as two years after you paid the tax, but the later date is the preferred date.