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Nearly 18 months into the pandemic, the IRS continues to issue guidance on the employee retention credit, a credit that was adopted in March 2020 and has been addressed in a number of articles on the Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog, most recently on August 3, 2021.

The latest guidance takes the form of Notice 2021-49 and Revenue Procedure 2021-33, which together address a range of topics, including how employers should treat cash tips for purposes of determining the amount of qualified wages, whether the credit may be claimed with respect to the same wages for which the employer receives the Code Section 45B credit, how the related individual rules work for determining qualified wages, and whether employers are required to file amended tax returns if they claim the employee retention credit retroactively.  The Service has also outlined a safe harbor that employers may apply to exclude from gross receipts the amount of the forgiveness of any PPP loans or the amount of shuttered venue operator grants or restaurant revitalization grants.
Continue Reading IRS Issues Additional Guidance on Employee Retention Credit

Recently released IRS Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”) provides guidance on the interaction between the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and the employee retention credit.  Unfortunately, the Notice may limit the ability of many PPP borrowers to claim an employee retention credit that employers may have believed they would be entitled to claim.
Continue Reading Notice 2021-20 Limits Employee Retention Credit For Many PPP Borrowers

In Announcement 2021-2, released on February 1, the IRS instructed lenders not to report loan relief payments made by the Small Business Administration under Section 1112(c) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act.  The Announcement reflects a provision in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”), excluding such payments from gross income for purposes of U.S. federal income tax.  The Announcement also instructs lenders who have already furnished and/or filed Forms 1099-MISC reporting the relief payments to issue corrected Forms 1099-MISC. Given that February 1, 2020, was the deadline for furnishing Forms 1099-MISC to payees, many lenders may have to issue corrected returns.
Continue Reading IRS Requires Lenders to Correct Forms 1099-MISC Reporting SBA Payments on Certain Loans

As described in our previous post, on December 21, 2020, another round of COVID relief legislation was passed, providing an enhanced employee retention credit (“ERC”) with various new features and greater benefit amounts.  The legislation was subsequently enacted when President Trump signed the law on December 27.  On January 26, the IRS issued a news release, containing some informal guidance on how it will operationalize this enhanced program. …
Continue Reading IRS Issues Guidance on Implementation of Expanded Employee Retention Credit

On November 16, the IRS added two new FAQs to its website that address an issue that has been concerning employers since the CARES Act was adopted.  For purposes of the employee retention credit (“ERC”), Section 2301(d) of the CARES Act includes an aggregation rule that treats all employers required to be aggregated under section 52 of the Code or certain provisions of section 414 of the Code to be treated as a single employer.  (See earlier coverage of the aggregation rule.)  Because the CARES Act also prohibits any employer who receives a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan (regardless of whether the loan is forgiven) from claiming the ERC.

Based on the statutory language, practitioners have been concerned that if an employer acquires another employer that previously received a PPP loan, the acquirer’s entire aggregated group may no longer be eligible to claim the ERC.  More troubling, Section 2301(l)(3) of the CARES Act instructs the Treasury to promulgate regulations for the recapture of the ERC claimed by an employer that subsequently obtains a PPP loan.  This caused concerned that the acquirer could not only lose the ability to claim the ERC prospectively after the acquisition, but could be required to repay any amount or ERC previously claimed.  Although the new FAQs are not binding on the IRS, they prove welcome news.
Continue Reading IRS FAQs Provide Welcome Guidance on Employee Retention Credit and PPP Loans in M&A Transactions

On September 22, 2020, the IRS issued IRS Announcement 2020-12 to inform lenders that they should not file Forms 1099-C with the IRS or furnish copies of the Forms 1099-C to borrowers with respect to the  forgiveness of covered loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).
Continue Reading IRS Tells Lenders not to File Forms 1099-C for Forgiven PPP Loans

Earlier today, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act (“PPFA”), making certain changes to the Paycheck Protection Program enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act in March.  Section 4 of the PPFA amends Section 2302(a) of the CARES Act to delete section 2302(a)(3).  Accordingly, employers who obtain forgiveness of a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan may now defer all employer social security tax deposits that would otherwise be required to be deposited before January 1, 2020. …
Continue Reading Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act Becomes Law; Extends Employer Social Security Tax Deferral for PPP Loan Recipients

On May 4, the IRS revised its newly released frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) to clarify the interaction of the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) with the employee retention credit.  FAQ 79 now indicates that an employer that repays its PPP loan by May 7, 2020, in accordance with rules issued by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”),…