Owner 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.

The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) is a refundable credit that employers can use to offset payroll costs.

The ERC, which was originally enacted in 2020 by the CARES Act, was extended and modified later by subsequent legislation in both 2021 & 2023.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 the Employee Retention Credit? Owner 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, 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

Credits are equal to a percent of the qualified wages and costs for health insurance paid to eligible employees up to a limit per employee each quarter.
The percentage and the limit vary depending on the time period for which 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. 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. Owner 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.
Employers may claim the credit if their gross receipts have declined significantly or they have had to suspend operations in whole or part due to a COVID-19-related government order. 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 may also request an advanced payment of the credit using Form 7200.

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Eligibility Criteria

Employers who wish to qualify for Employee Retention Credit (ERC) must meet 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 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.

In addition, there is a special rule for recovery startup businesses that began operations after February 15, 2020 and have average annual gross receipts of no more than $1 million. These businesses can be eligible for ERC regardless of their revenue decline or suspension.

Business Suspension

An order of the government can suspend a business or an organization in full or part if it:

The order limits commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19
The order has an impact on the business or organization
The order applies to any calendar quarter in 2020 or 2021

Examples of government orders which can lead to a suspension of business include:

Orders to stay at home that prevent non-essential companies from operating
Certain businesses are subject to curfews which limit their hours of operation
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 a business was fully or partially suspended by a government order, an employer must consider:

The nature and scope of the order and how it affects the operations of the business
The duration, frequency of the orders and their alignment with the four quarters calendar.
The extent and severity of the impact of the order on the revenues and expenses of the business

Revenue Decline

It is considered that a business or organization has experienced a significant drop in gross receipts when:

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

Gross receipts are defined as the total amount received or accrued by a business or organization from all sources during its annual accounting period without any deductions. Gross receipts can include:

Sales of Goods and Services
Dividends, rents, and royalties, as well as interest, are all examples of annuities.
Contributions, gifts, grants, and donations Owner Employee Retention Credit
Membership fees and dues
Gross revenue from businesses or trades

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

Use the same method (cash or accrual accounting) as it used when filing its federal income taxes for 2019
The same calendar year quarters that it used to file its federal employment tax returns (Form 941) for 2019 and 2020/2021
The same sources of income that it reported on its federal income tax return for 2019

Recovery Startup Business

A recovery startup is a business:

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

Even if it does not meet the criteria for revenue decline or suspension of business, a recovery startup can still qualify. Recovery startup businesses are subject to certain restrictions and special rules.

The maximum credit available 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 has a cap of 250 million dollars for all startup businesses that are eligible.

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Credit Amounts and Calculation

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

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
What the employer paid each employee for their health insurance and 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 examine the forms to determine if the employer is eligible and then pay him the money. The money can be used by the employer to pay for health insurance, to pay employees, or refunds on payroll taxes.

ERCs are not available forever. The ERC started in March 2020 and ends in September 2022. The employer must claim the ERC prior to its expiration or becoming unavailable. The employer must also spend the money properly and not waste any of it. Owner Employee Retention Credit

Below is more detailed information on the credit amount and calculation of ERC.

Time Period

The ERC was implemented, amended, or terminated by various laws in 2020. The amount of the credit varies according to the time period that it is applied for. 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 employed affects how wages are calculated and defined, as well as the health insurance premiums for eligible employees. An employer is considered a small or large employer depending on the time period and the number of full-time employees (FTEs) it had in 2019. The table below summarizes all the rules and thresholds that determine an employer’s size.

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 wage includes tips and bonuses, as well as severance, pays, sick leave payments, family leave payments and other types 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. Owner 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 the Credit and Report It

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 declare the wages and health insurance premiums paid to eligible employees, as well as the credit amount claimed 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 allows employers to claim ERCs for current or future quarterly periods. Form 941 can be used by the employer to:

ERC – Reduce the amount the employer is required to pay in taxes.
Employers can request a payment in advance if their ERC is higher than the taxes they are required to pay. Owner Employee Retention Credit
Carry forward any excess credit to subsequent quarters

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

Use the latest version of Form 941 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 Line 11c to report the qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees
Report the amount of credit claimed each quarter using Line 13d.
Line 13f is used to report any advance payment of credit received by the IRS
Line 24 is the place to ask for an advance payment if you need it.
You can report excess credit on Line 25 for the following quarters.
Sign Form 941, date it and attach any documents or schedules that you wish to include.

Tips and resources on how to complete Form 941 include:

Use electronic filing services (efile) and online services to submit the Form 941 faster, more securely
Visit the IRS website to get the latest updates, FAQs, and guidance regarding Form 941 and ERC.
Contact the IRS or a tax professional for assistance or clarification if needed

Form 941-X

Form 941-X is used to correct errors or make adjustments on a previously filed Form 941. Form 941 X also allows for the employer to claim ERC retroactively. Form 941-X can be used by the employer to: Owner 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 mistakes or omissions made on Form 941 that affect the amount of credit claimed

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 to indicate the lines on Form 941 that are being corrected or adapted.
Use Part 3 to explain your corrections or adjustments on Form 941.
Line 24 should be used to record any additional health insurance and wages paid to employees who qualify.
Use Line 25 for any additional credit claimed 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.

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

Filter a separate Form 941/X for every quarter that needs to be corrected or adjusted Owner Employee Retention Credit
File Form 941-X as soon as possible after discovering an error or making an 0adjustment on Form 941
Visit the IRS website to get the latest updates, FAQs, and guidance regarding Form 941-X, the ERC, and other forms.
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 example, Q1 2020 (January-March) Form 941 will be due on April 30, 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 of the quarterly period. For example, the Q1 of 2021 is January-March. The Form 941 should be received by May 10th, 2021. Owner 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 example, Q1 2019 (January to March), Form 941 had to be submitted by April 30, 2019. 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 files Form 941 in April 2020 and pays the tax on June 15 2020, they have until June 15 2022 to file Form 941.

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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 (Eligible Employees Credit) is a tax credit that can vary depending on the time frame, the number and type of employees employed, and the amount paid in wages and insurance to employees eligible for the credit. 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.

This tax benefit is available to employers who meet the ERC’s eligibility criteria. 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. If needed, you can also reach out to the IRS or a professional tax advisor for clarification or help.

The ERC can make a big difference for your business or organization and your employees. It can help your business or organization retain workers, maintain cash flow and recover from a pandemic. This article should have helped you learn more about ERCs and how to apply for them. Stay safe and thank you for reading.

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Owner 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.

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).

Does everyone qualify for the ERC program?

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.

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

A government order imposed a suspension (full or partial) on the business or organization due to COVID-19.
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.
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 of ERC an organization or business receives depends on several factors.

Among these factors are the time period, employee count, amount of qualifying wages and health insurance cost paid to eligible workers. To learn more about how ERCs are calculated, please read the article.

How to claim 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 must declare the wages and costs of health insurance paid to employees who qualify and the credit claimed each quarter.

When is the deadline to file the ERC Forms

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

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.