Peo Employee Retention Credit

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges and hardships for many businesses and organizations around the world. 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.

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

The ERC was first enacted by the CARES Act in 2020 and was later extended and modified by subsequent legislation in 2021 and 2023. This article will explain the ERC, how it functions, and how you can 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? Peo Employee Retention Credit

Employee Retention Credit (ERC), a refundable tax credits, is available for tax-exempt businesses or organizations with employees that were affected in any way by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The ERC has been created by the CARES Act for 2020. It was further extended and modified with subsequent legislation in 2021, 2023. The ERC was created to encourage employers in crisis to keep workers on their payrolls and provide them health insurance.

Main Features & Benefits

Credits are equal in percentage to the wages and insurance costs that employees who qualify for them have paid, but there is a maximum per employee.
The percentage and the maximum credit vary depending on how long the credit can be claimed. For 2020, the percent is 50%, and the limit is $5,000 for each employee per year. For 2021, the percentage is 70%, and the limit is $7,000 per employee per quarter. In 2023, 70% of the employees will be eligible for the first two quarterly limits and 40% in the final two. The limit for each employee is $10,000. Peo Employee Retention Credit
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 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. The credit can be claimed by employers who have been classified as recovery startups only until 2023.
Credits are available by submitting an amended employment return (Form 951) or by reducing deposits for employment taxes in anticipation. Employers may also request an advanced payment of the credit using Form 7200.

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

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify as an employer for the Employee retention Credit (ERC), you must meet at least one of the two criteria below:

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 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.

A special rule is in place for businesses that have started operating after February 15, 2020, and whose average gross receipts per year are no more than one million dollars. 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
The order applies to any calendar quarter in 2020 or 2021

These are some examples:

Orders to stay at home that prevent non-essential companies from operating
Curfews are restrictions on the hours that certain businesses can operate
Limits on the capacity of a business that limit how many customers or clients it can serve
Travel bans and restrictions that restrict the ability for a company to transport services or goods

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

The scope and nature of the order as well as how it impacts the business.
The length, frequency, and timing of the order in relation to the quarters of the year.
The impact of an order on revenue and expenses

Revenue Decline

A business or organization is considered to have experienced a significant decline in gross receipts if:

The gross receipts for any calendar quarter in 2020 were less than 50% of its gross receipts for the same 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 & Services
Interest, dividends rents royalties and annuities
Gifts, donations, and contributions Peo Employee Retention Credit
Membership dues
Gross profit from business or trade

To compare gross receipts between different quarters of the year, employers must use:

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 of revenue that they reported on their federal income tax return in 2019

Recovery Startup Business

The recovery startup business is one that:

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

If a business is in recovery, it can still qualify for ERC even if the business has been suspended or its revenue has declined. Recovery Startup Businesses are still subject to some restrictions and special rules.

The maximum amount of credit per quarter is $50,000
The credit will only be available to employees who have paid wages in the third quarter and fourth of 2021
The credit is subject to an overall cap of $250 million for all recovery startup businesses

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

Credit Amounts Calculation

For different lengths of time, different types of employers and different amounts of ERC, the ERC has different rules. The ERC’s main influences are:

How much the employer’s business was affected by the pandemic, either by having to close or reduce operations due to government orders or by having a big drop in income compared to 2019
The number of employees that the employer has in 2019 or 2020/2021 and whether or not they worked during the pandemic
How much each employee received from their employer and how they were covered by health insurance in the pandemic

In order to receive the ERC from the IRS, the employer will need to complete some forms. The form must show the amount the employer paid for their employees’ health insurance, and how they qualified 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 no longer be available. It started in March 2020 and 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. Peo 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 credit amount depends on the period for which you claim it. The following table summarizes and compares the ERC’s main features for each period:

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

Number of Employees

The number of eligible employees will affect the calculation and definition of health insurance and qualified wages. The size of an employer depends on its number of FTEs and the time period. The following table summarizes rules and thresholds to determine employer 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, Health Insurance Costs

Qualified Wages are wages that eligible employees receive during periods of suspension or decline in revenue. Qualified wages include tips, commissions, bonuses, severance pay, sick leave pay, family leave pay, and other forms of compensation. Qualified wage also includes the cost of health insurance for eligible employees. This may include premiums, deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance.

The calculation of qualified wages, health insurance costs and employer size depends on the time period. The following table summarizes the rules and examples for different scenarios: Peo 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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Claiming and Reporting 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 has to report each quarter the wages and costs of health insurance paid to employees who are eligible and 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 allows the employer to do:

ERC – Reduce the amount the employer is required to pay in taxes.
If the ERC is greater than the tax that the employer must deposit, you can request an advance payment. Peo Employee Retention Credit
You can carry forward any credit balance to subsequent quarters

The employer should:

Use the latest version 941 which reflects updates and changes in the ERC.
Follow the IRS instructions and worksheets for calculating the ERC and reporting it.
Use Line 11c for the amount of qualified wages and health benefits paid to eligible employees
Use Line 13d when reporting the credit 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.
You can report excess credit on Line 25 for the following quarters.
Sign the form 941, and attach any supporting documents.

Some tips and resources for filling out Form 941 are:

Use online services (e-file or online filing) to submit Form 941, faster and with greater security.
The IRS website has updated FAQs on the ERC and Form 941.
For clarifications or help, you can contact the IRS.

Form 941-X

The Form 941 X is used for corrections and adjustments to a Form 941. The Form 941X allows the employer retroactively to claim ERC for previous quarters. Employers can use Form 941/X for Peo Employee Retention Credit

Claim a credit or refund for the taxes you overpaid by claiming ERC
Report additional qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees that were not reported on Form 941
The amount of credit claimed will be affected by any mistakes or omissions in Form 941.

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 to indicate the lines on Form 941 that are being corrected or adapted.
Use Part 3 of Form 941 to explain why it is being amended or corrected
Use Line 24 for any additional qualified wage and health insurance expenses paid to eligible workers
Use Line 25 for any additional credit claimed each quarter.
Use Line 26 for any refunds or credits due to ERC claims.
Attach any supporting documents and schedules to Form 941-X.

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

Fill out a separate form 941-X per quarter being corrected or recalculated Peo Employee Retention Credit
Fill out Form 941-X immediately after you find an error in Form 941
Updates, FAQs, and guidance about Form 941X and ERC can be found on the IRS website.
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 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. The end of the quarter. For example, Q1 2020 (January to March) requires that Form 941 be returned by May 10, 2021. Peo 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 of 2020 (January through March), the deadline for Form 941 to be filed was April 30, 2020. If an employer filed Form 941 on April 30, 2020, and paid the tax on April 30, 2020, the deadline for filing Form 941-X is April 30, 2023. If an 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 (ERC) Credit is an important tax benefit which can help employers that were affected by COVID-19 to retain their employees, and lessen the impact the pandemic had on their organizations or businesses.

The ERC 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 credit can be claimed with IRS Forms 941 or 941X by reporting to them the qualified health insurance and wages costs as well as the amount claimed each quarter.

Don’t miss this chance to get a tax break if your employer meets the ERC criteria. The ERC has a time limit and deadline for claiming. To avoid making common mistakes, you should fill out the forms correctly using the information and tips in this article. If you need clarification or assistance, you can contact the IRS.

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. This article is intended to help you better understand the ERC, and how it can be claimed. We thank you for reading. Please stay safe.

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Peo Employee Retention Credit

What is an ERC?

The Employee Retention Credit is a tax credit for employers who retained their employees in their payroll 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).

Are all ERC applicants eligible?

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 has suspended the business or organization (wholly or partially) due to COVID-19.
Their gross receipts in a quarter of 2020 or 2021 are less than the percentage of their gross revenue in the same quarter of 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.

How much is ERC?

The amount ERC received by a business or organization will depend upon several factors.

Some of these include the time period and number of employees. Others are the amount paid in qualified wages or health insurance to eligible employees. You can read the article above for a more detailed explanation of how ERC is calculated.

How to claim ERC

To claim ERC benefits, an employer needs to file Form 941X or federal employment tax reform with the IRS.

Employers must submit quarterly reports detailing the amounts of the tax credit, the wages paid and the health insurance premiums that they have claimed to be reimbursed.

When is the Deadline for Filing the ERC Forms?

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

Form 941 deadline is typically the last of the month following each quarter. 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.