The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) was spawned to help businesses that continued paying employees even when operations were closed due to a COVID-19 government shut down, or despite experiencing a significant loss in revenue during that period. Since the ERTC creation, bad actors have been falsely making claims mispresenting who can qualify for the credit. For a fee, these aggressive marketers will submit a claim on behalf of an organization that later may find itself having to repay the credit due to ineligibility. As of July 31, 2023, the IRS has initiated 252 investigations involving $2.8 billion of potentially fraudulent ERTC claims. Currently, there is a moratorium on processing any new claims through at least the end of 2023. To help employers determine their eligibility for the credit, the IRS has released an ERTC eligibility checklist. Employers are advised to be cautious to avoid being misled by false claims.
