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If you are a small to medium-sized business owner wanting to learn more about the potential financial benefits of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), you have come to the right place.
Innovation Refunds’ has helped over 11,000 businesses claim the ERC. If eligible, here’s how your organization can apply for the ERC with help from the professionals at IR.
The ERC, requirements, and hurdles
What is the ERC?
The ERC — also called the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) — was designed to help small and medium-sized businesses that experienced financial strain due to COVID-19 with important payroll tax refunds.
Tens of thousand of businesses may qualify for the ERC. But, the number of applicants is far below that projection. Countless qualified small and medium-sized businesses and charities are potentially missing out on taking advantage of the $4.6 trillion in CARES Act federal funding.
However, due to several legislative changes around the ERC and its requirements, it’s important to review the Employee Retention Credit eligibility before you apply.
What are the requirements?
Employee Retention Credit eligibility requires the following criteria from 2019 and 2020:
2020 Criteria
● You had a maximum of 100 employees on your payroll in 2019.
● You kept employees on your payroll.
● Your business suffered during the pandemic:
● Your business was forced to shut down or partially suspend operations due to a government order for any quarter of 2020, e.g.,., change or cancel meetings or travel plans or faced supply chain issues due to COVID-19.
OR
● Your revenue decreased by 50% or more for any 2020 quarter when compared to the same quarter of 2019.
2021 Criteria
● You had between 5 and 500 employees on your payroll in 2019.
● You kept employees on your payroll.
● Your business suffered during the pandemic:
● Your business was forced to shut down or partially suspend operations due to a government order for any quarter of 2020, i.e., change or cancel meetings or travel plans or faced supply chain issues due to COVID-19.
OR
● Your revenue decreased by 20% or more for any 2021 quarter when compared to the same quarter of 2019.
Some business owners are aware of only the reduction in revenue criterion; it is worth emphasizing here that businesses can qualify if they were shut down or experienced partially suspended operations.
What are the hurdles?
One of the main hurdles is the wait time for the IRS to approve the refund. While wait times vary, you can speak with IRS agent by calling 800-829-1040.
These delays are likely due to:
- The IRS changed its procedures to enforce COVID-19 safety, such as remote workers.
- The influx of refund requests.
- A lack of IRS employees to process requests at a normal pace.
- Forms 941-X are paper-filed which added additional processing delays.
However, the IRS has begun to address these issues by hiring more employees. If you’re working with Innovation Refunds to file your organization’s ERC refund, we’ll work with you every step of the way and answer any questions or concerns you may have.
Reasons to work with an ERC company
While you can opt for gathering the required documents and submitting your ERC application yourself, it can be a daunting task due to the numerous rules and regulations.
Letting a professional step in and help file your amended payroll returns not only provides the peace of mind of getting it right the first time, but their network of tax professionals will assist your business in receiving the refund that your business is eligible for. How you will benefit from working with an ERC company:
- Knowledgeable about the evolving legislation and regulations around the ERC.
- Familiar with the original and amended documents required and the procedures to be followed.
- Qualified and driven to take action to help your company.
Benefits of working with Innovation Refunds
At Innovation Refunds, our network of independent tax attorneys and professionals walk you through the filing process and assists eligible business in receiving ERC refunds.
Our independent professionals handle a lot of the process of preparing documents so an eligible company’s refund can be approved the first time around by the IRS. Our team reviews all submitted documents and submits them on behalf of our clients.
If eligible, you’ll get step-by-step communication from us while your assigned refund specialist is reviewing your documents. When ready, an independent CPA or tax attorney will prepare the amended payroll documents to help avoid mistakes that could cost your business part (or even all) of the ERC tax refund. If you have any questions or concerns, Innovation Refunds will be there ready to help in any way we can.
What our clients are saying about IR
But don’t just take it from us! Here’s what our clients are saying about working with IR:
“I was blown away by the speed and professionalism that everyone at this company performed. I was unsure if I wanted to use Innovation Refunds, but having taken the step to go with them I am very glad. This is a company that knows what they are doing and will go to bat for you. Today my partner and myself are overjoyed with the success and speed that we got our tax refund. I give them 5 plus stars.” — Robert Davis
“I can't even begin to express how happy we are with Innovation Refunds. [They] helped us step by step through the process, which is so incredibly complicated we would have never been able to do it ourselves. The entire process was quick and painless, and our refund arrived much more quickly than expected. Innovation Refunds definitely underpromised and overdelivered. I highly recommend using them for your ERC refund!” — Beth Berger
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