An eligible employer claiming a refundable credit for any quarter in 2020 must file its 941x forms by April 15, 2024. An eligible employer claiming a refundable credit for any quarter in 2021 must file its 941x forms by April 15, 2025.

There are two ways to qualify: EITHER a change in your operations OR a revenue decline. You do not need a revenue decline to qualify, in fact many businesses had a revenue increase and still qualified.

ERC is a stimulus program designed to help those businesses that were able to retain their employees during the Covid-19 pandemic. Established by the CARES Act, it is a refundable tax credit – a grant, not a loan – that you can claim for your business. The ERC is available to both small and mid-sized businesses. It is based on qualified wages and healthcare paid to employees. 

Here are some impacts to consider that qualify your business for the Employee Retention Credit:
Change in business hours
Partial or full suspension of your operations
Shutdowns of your supply chain or vendors
Reduction in services offered
Reduction in workforce or employee workloads
A disruption in your business (division or department closures)
Inability to visit a client’s job site
Suppliers were unable to make deliveries of critical goods or materials
Additional spacing requirements for employees and customers due to social distancing
Change in job roles/functions
Tasks or work that couldn’t be done from home or while transitioning to remote work conditions
Lack of Travel
Lack of Group Meetings

There are two ways to qualify:
FULL OR PARTIAL SUSPENSION OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS A government authority required partial or full shutdown of your business during 2020 or 2021. This includes your operations being limited by commerce, inability to travel, or restrictions of group meetings.

GROSS RECEIPTS REDUCTION Gross receipt reduction criteria are different for 2020 and 2021 but are measured against the current quarter as compared to 2019 pre-COVID amounts.

There are two ways to qualify:
FULL OR PARTIAL SUSPENSION OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS A government authority required partial or full shutdown of your business during 2020 or 2021. This includes your operations being limited by commerce, inability to travel, or restrictions of group meetings.

GROSS RECEIPTS REDUCTION Gross receipt reduction criteria are different for 2020 and 2021 but are measured against the current quarter as compared to 2019 pre-COVID amounts.

Yes. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, businesses can now qualify for the ERC even if they already received a PPP loan. Note, though, that the ERC will only apply to wages not used for the PPP.

We can’t use wages covered by PPP loans and apply them to ERC. There is a “no double-dipping” rule governing the interplay of an employer’s forgiven PPP loan and its eligibility for ERC.

Yes, for example, if a company’s ERC refund was $100 and BLC commission was $30 then the company would lose taxable expense deductions for the net $70 and the net effect would be an increase to its taxable income. 

Yes, for example, if a company’s ERC refund was $100 and BLC commission was $30 then the company would lose taxable expense deductions for the net $70 and the net effect would be an increase to its taxable income. 

The refund is a deduction in the payroll expense for the period that the credit is for. The interest that the IRS pays on the credit is considered taxable income in the period that the payment is received.

As with any fillings that are done with the IRS there is always a chance that you can get audited, however, with the volume that the IRS is processing and their short staff levels it is highly unlikely, the audit rate for employment-related tax returns for the last year that the data was available for was under 3 per 10,000 returns. In the unlikely event that you do get audited, while we can’t represent you we will assist by providing all of the supporting documentation to back up the work that we did.

If you have a contact for Bottom Line to bring in as a Referral Partner please fill out Schedule B so we can ensure they are listed as your referral in our system.

If you have a referral you would like to introduce to Bottom Line, prior to making the introduction, please fill out this Schedule A.

The program began on March 13th, 2020 and ends on September 30, 2021, for eligible employers.

An eligible employer claiming a refundable credit for any quarter in 2020 must file its 941x forms by April 15, 2024.

An eligible employer claiming a refundable credit for any quarter in 2021 must files its 941x forms by April 15, 2025.

We have clients who received refunds only, and others that, in addition to refunds, also qualified to continue receiving ERC in every payroll they process through December 31, 2021, at about 30% of their payroll cost.

We have clients who have received refunds from $100,000 to $6 million.

Your business qualifies for the ERC, if it falls under one of the following:
A government authority required partial or full shutdown of your business during 2020 or 2021. This includes your operations being limited by commerce, inability to travel or restrictions of group meetings.
Gross receipt reduction criteria is different for 2020 and 2021, but is measured against the current quarter as compared to 2019 pre-COVID amounts.

Yes. To qualify, your business must meet either one of the following criteria:

Experienced a decline in gross receipts by 20%, or
Had to change business operations due to government orders
Many items are considered as changes in business operations, including shifts in job roles and the purchase of extra protective equipment. The ERC, in this case, also applies only for Q3 and Q4 of 2021. Businesses can qualify, regardless of the number of full-time employees.