If you haven’t explored the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) yet, you may be missing out on up to $33,000* in payroll tax relief per employee—even if you had a PPP loan!
*UPDATE: You may now be able to claim even more payroll tax relief per employee thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP), which extends ERC through December 31, 2021.
ERC is a payroll tax credit available to employers that experienced a significant loss of revenue or had to reduce/suspend operations due to government COVID-19 orders. If you skipped ERC in favor of a seemingly-less-complicated PPP loan in 2020, or have not used any federal COVID-19 relief programs, you may be leaving “free” money on the table! The continuation and expansion of the ERC in 2021 warrants serious consideration. With some review and planning, you may be able to claim hundreds of thousands or more in payroll support for your organization. (For example, if you have 10 employees and are eligible for the maximum credit on ERC-qualified wages paid in 2020 and the first half of 2021, you may be able to claim $190,000 in payroll tax relief!)