FAQs: Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act
by Admin
Posted on 07-11-2022 01:13 PM
After september 30, 2021 and before january 1, 2022 – notice 2021-49 pdf and notice 2021-65 pdf
these faqs do not reflect the changes made by the taxpayer certainty and disaster tax relief act of 2020 (relief act), enacted december 27, 2020, the american rescue plan act of 2021 (arp act), enacted march 11, 2021, or the infrastructure investment and jobs act (infrastructure act), enacted november 15, 2021. The relief act amended and extended the employee retention credit (and the availability of certain advance payments of the tax credits) under section 2301 of the cares act for the first and second calendar quarters of 2021.
Yes. Section 2301(e) of the cares act provides that rules similar to section 280c(a) of the internal revenue code (the "code") shall apply for purposes of applying the employee retention credit. Section 280c(a) of the code generally disallows a deduction for the portion of wages paid equal to the sum of certain credits determined for the taxable year. Accordingly, a similar deduction disallowance would apply under the employee retention credit, such that an employer's aggregate deductions would be reduced by the amount of the credit as result of this disallowance rule.
Special Issues for Employers: Income and Deduction
Employers claiming the employee retention credit are required to reduce their deduction for employee wages by the amount of the credit received. Given that the employee retention credit has evolved and expanded over the past 18 months, many employers are claiming the credit on a form 941-x some period of time after the end of the quarter for which the credit is claimed. This raised questions regarding which year the employer must reduce its wage deduction to reflect the credit: the year for which the credit is claimed or the year in which the credit is claimed/received.
Notice 2021-49 provides that an employer should file an amended federal income tax return for its business for the taxable year in which the qualified wages were paid or incurred (i.
Late wednesday, the irs released extensive new guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (“faqs”) on the irs website addressing various aspects of the employee retention credit. This is the fourth in a series of articles that will address various aspects of the faqs. This article addresses income and deduction issues related to the payment of qualified wages and the employee retention credit. In our first article , we discussed the irs’s interpretation of the aggregation rules under section 2301(d) of the cares act and the determination of employer eligibility based on a full or partial suspension of operations due to a government order.
Where can I get more information?
Now that the 2021 tax filing season is upon us, it is imperative that businesses determine whether they may have erc qualification. If the business qualifies, they can claim the credit as quickly as possible to begin the refund process. While a form 941-x can be filed by a business’ payroll tax provider, it does not necessarily need to be. Some payroll companies are currently taking an extended period of time to draft form 941-x, even if the business has given them detailed information for the amendment. This is unfortunately lost time for a business already subject to irs delays in processing refunds.
Before the end of the fiscal year, a user has already provided or witnessed the earnings that will be used to claim any relevant erc and consequently has enough information to calculate the erc amount with adequate precision throughout the paycheck protection program. A taxpayer may file an updated payroll tax return for the eligible earnings in a subsequent tax year, but the wage expenditure disallowance must be imposed in the year in which the erc claim is filed, not when the payments are received. The person should revise his prior-year income tax return to compensate for the wage deduction refusal in these circumstances.
Irs statements and announcements covid tax tip 2022-170, november 7, 2022 employers should be wary of third parties advising them to claim the employee retention credit when they may not qualify. Some third parties are taking improper positions related to taxpayer eligibility for and computation of the credit. These third parties often charge large upfront fees or a fee that is contingent on the amount of the refund. They may also fail to inform taxpayers that wage deductions claimed on the business' federal income tax return must be reduced by the amount of the credit. If the business filed an income tax return deducting qualified wages before it filed an employment tax return claiming the credit, the business should file an amended income tax return to correct any overstated wage deduction.
The irs has indicated that the erc is not included in gross income for federal income tax purposes. The erc, however, does reduce the expenses that an eligible employer can otherwise deduct on its federal income tax return (i. E. , no deduction may be taken for the portion of wages paid equal to the sum of credits determined for the applicable taxable year).