Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

COVID-19 has caused hardships and unprecedented challenges for businesses and organizations all over the world. Lockdowns, social distance, health and security measures and lockdowns have caused many employers to face reduced revenue, increased expenses and disruptions in their operations.

Employee Retention Credit is a refundable income tax credit available to eligible employers that helps them retain their employees while providing health benefits.

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 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? Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a refundable credit available to tax-exempt and for-profit organizations and businesses that have employees who were affected by COVID-19. The ERC was created by the CARES Act in 2020 and was extended and modified by subsequent legislation in 2021 and 2023. The ERC encourages employers to maintain their workers and to provide health benefits to them during the crisis.

Main Features & Benefits

Credit is a fixed percentage of qualifying wages and health care costs paid by employers to employees.
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, there will be a 70 percent percentage for the initial two quarters of the year and a 40 percent percentage for the last two. There will also be a limit of $10,000 per employee each quarter. Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported
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 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 can be claimed either by amending your employment tax return (Form 941)-X or by reducing your employment tax deposit in anticipation of receiving the credit. The credit can be requested in advance by employers using Form 7200.

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Eligibility Criteria

Employers who wish to qualify for Employee Retention Credit (ERC) must meet two main 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 receipts for a calendar quarter in 2020 or 2021 were less than 50% (for 2020) or 80% (for 2021) of its gross receipts for the same quarter in 2019

Additionally, there is an additional rule that only applies to startups who began operating on or after February 15, 2021, and have gross receipts totaling no more than $1.0 million. These businesses may qualify for ERC regardless of revenue or business suspension.

Business Suspension

A government order will either fully or partially suspend an organization or business if:

The order limits commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19
The order affects the operations of the business or organization
The order applies to any calendar quarter in 2020 or 2021

Some examples of government orders that can cause a business suspension are:

Stay-at-home orders that restrict non-essential businesses from operating
Certain businesses are subject to curfews which limit their hours of operation
Limits in capacity that restrict the number or clients that a business can serve
Travel bans and restrictions that restrict the ability for a company to transport services or goods

To determine if a business was fully or partially suspended by a government order, an employer must consider:

The nature and extent of the order, and its impact on the operation of your business
The length, frequency, and timing of the order in relation to the quarters of the year.
The order’s impact on revenues and expenses

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 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 include:

Sales of Goods and Services
Interest, dividends rents royalties and annuities
Contributions, gifts, grants, and donations Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported
Membership fees and dues
Gross revenue from businesses or trades

To compare gross revenues for different quarters an employer can 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 as reported in the federal tax return for 2019

Recovery Startup Business

A recovery startup business is a business that:

Begun carrying on any business after February 15th, 2020
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.

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 still subject to some restrictions and special rules.

Maximum credit per quarter: $50,000
Only wages paid during the third and fourth quarters in 2021 are eligible for this credit
The credit has a cap of 250 million dollars for all startup businesses that are eligible.

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Credit Amount Calculation

There are different ERC rules and amounts for different employers and periods of time. The ERC’s main influences are:

The employer’s business has been affected by the pandemic. This could be due to the government ordering the closure or reduction of operations or a significant drop in income from 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

Employers must complete and send IRS forms to claim ERC. The employer has to fill out the forms and show how much he paid his employees, as well their health insurance, to qualify for 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.

The ERC is not available forever. The ERC will expire in September 2022. The employer must claim the ERC prior to its expiration or becoming unavailable. The employer should also make sure to not waste the money. Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

You can find more information below on ERC calculation and credit amount.

Time Period

The ERC was introduced, amended, and terminated by different laws in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The credit amount depends on the period for which you claim it. The table below summarises key features and differences for the ERC in each time frame:

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

Number of Employees

The number employed affects how wages are calculated and defined, as well as the health insurance premiums for eligible employees. The size of an employer depends on its number of FTEs and the time period. 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 & Health Insurance Costs

Qualified Wages are wages that eligible employees receive during periods of suspension or decline in revenue. Qualified wage includes tips and bonuses, as well as severance, pays, sick leave payments, family leave payments and other types of compensation. Qualified earnings also include costs associated with providing health insurance coverage to eligible employees. These include premiums as well as deductibles.

The definition and calculation of qualified wages and health insurance costs depend on the employer size and the time period. The following table summarizes the rules and examples for different scenarios: Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

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

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

Reduce the amount of taxes that the employer has to deposit with the IRS by the amount of the ERC
You can ask for advance payment if your ERC exceeds the amount of taxes you have to pay. Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported
Carry forward any excess credits to future quarters

Employers should avoid these common mistakes when filling out Form 941 and ensure that they are filled out correctly.

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 1c to report on the health insurance and wages that eligible employees have received.
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
Use Line 24 if you require an advance credit payment.
You can report excess credit on Line 25 for the following quarters.
Sign and date Form 941 and attach any supporting documents or schedules

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

Use online services (e-file or online filing) to submit Form 941, faster and with greater security.
Visit the IRS website to get the latest updates, FAQs, and guidance regarding Form 941 and ERC.
For clarifications or help, you can contact the IRS.

Form 941-X

Forms 941-X are used to rectify errors or make adjustments to Forms 941 previously submitted. Form 941 X also allows for the employer to claim ERC retroactively. Employers can use Form 941/X for Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

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 mistakes or omissions made on Form 941 that affect the amount of credit claimed

The employer should:

Use the latest Form 941-X which reflects all the updates and changes made to the ERC by new laws.
For calculating and reporting your ERC, follow the IRS’s instructions and worksheets.
Use Part 2 of Form 941 to indicate which lines are being amended or corrected.
Use Part 3 to explain the reason for a correction or adjustment on Form 941
Line 24 should be used to record any additional health insurance and wages paid to employees who qualify.
Line 25 is the place to enter any additional credit claims for each quarter.
Use Line 26 to report any credit or refund due to the ERC claim.
Sign the form 941-X, date it and include any documents or schedules that you wish to attach.

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

File a separate Form 941-X for each quarter that is being corrected or adjusted Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported
If you discover an error on Form 941 or make an adjustment, file Form 941X as soon as you can.
Updates, FAQs, and guidance about Form 941X and ERC can be found on the IRS website.
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, Form 941 for Q1 of 2021 (January to March) is due April 30, 2020. However, if an employer made timely deposits of all taxes due for a quarter, it can file Form 941 by the 10th day of the second month. After the end of the quarterly period. For example, Q1 2020 (January to March) requires that Form 941 be returned by May 10, 2021. Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

Form 941X must be filed within three years of the original filing date or two from the payment date, whichever comes later. For Q1 2020, (January-March), the Form 941 must be filed by April 30th 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 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. The ERC is claimed by filing IRS Form 941 or 941-X and reporting qualified wages, health insurance costs, and the credit amount claimed for each quarter.

This tax benefit is available to employers who meet the ERC’s eligibility 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. 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 will help you to keep your employees, maintain a healthy cash flow, as well as recover from pandemic. We hope this article has helped you understand more about the ERC and how to claim it. We thank you for reading. Please stay safe.

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Where Is The Employee Retention Credit Reported

What is the ERC?

The Employee Retention Credit is a tax credit for employers who retained their employees in their payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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).

Who is eligible for the ERC?

ERC isn’t available to everyone. The ERC is only available to employers that have paid wages to employees between March 13, 2020, and December 31, 2021.

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

A government order suspended the business (fully or partly) because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
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.
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 is ERC?

The amount of ERC a company or organization receives will depend on several factors.

Some of these factors include the time period, the number of employees, the number of qualified wages, and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees. To learn more about how ERCs are calculated, please read the article.

How do I claim my ERC?

To claim the ERC, an employer must file a federal employment tax reform or an adjusted employment tax return (Form 941-X) with the IRS.

The employer must report the qualified wages and health insurance costs paid to eligible employees and the amount of credit claimed for each quarter.

When is the deadline to submit the ERC form?

The deadlines of Form 941, Form 941X and ERC 941 are different.

The last day to submit Form 941 for each quarter is the last calendar month. In contrast, the deadline to submit Form 941 X is generally set at three years since the date of the original 941. It is also possible to choose a date of two years following the date on which the tax was paid.