This is an estimate only based on the employee counts entered and does not represent a guarantee of the credit amount you will receive or that you will qualify for the program.
Answer the questions in the qualifying survey
We’ll let you know if you qualify
If you do, upload tax and payroll documentation
Our team will process and file your return
Average number of full-time employees for 2019
This is someone that works 30+ hrs per week
Gross receipts for each quarter of 2019, 2020 & 2021
Total deposits/sales not including PPP funds
Info on how government shutdowns impacted your business
An example would be if your vendors experienced shutdowns and you couldn’t obtain critical goods
Strategic Consulting and Forensics uses your answers to determine which quarters to file on your behalf. Once submitted your responses can not be changed.
The wages of majority owners (over 50%) and their immediate relatives (even if paid W2) do not qualify for the ERC program. Wages for all other W2 employees still qualify.
If you qualify, we will collect the first and last names of all majority owners (over 50%) and their family members contained in the payroll reports at a later step in the process. Please keep in mind that constructive ownership rule applies.
A Company is owned by two brothers and each owns 30%. A non-related third party owns the remaining 40%. Because the brothers are related, the constructive ownership rules apply and they are both considered majority owners as if each brother independently owned control of 60%.
Revenue Reduction
Full or Partial Government Suspension (Direct)
Supply Disruption (Indirect Government Suspension)
Revenue Reduction
Full or Partial Government Suspension (Direct)
Supply Disruption (Indirect Government Suspension)
Part-Time Employees: Part-time employee wages do qualify for the ERC program. This question only requires full-time employee count to determine qualification.
The IRS aggregate rule applies to the ERC credit. If your company has common ownership with other companies, please take into account all associated businesses when calculating this question. To learn more about this rule and if it applies to your business read here: What is an Aggregated Large Employer?
The business owner was the majority owner of ABC Company, which averaged 50 FT employees in 2019. The same business owner was also the majority owner of 123 Company, which averaged 75 FT employees in 2019. According to the aggregate rule and FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS ONE SINGLE QUESTION, the combined companies full time employee count should be entered the same on both company applications. Although both companies can be entered for the program, they would both be classified as having over 100 employees. Both companies will fill out a separate application and will have a separate filing for the ERC credit using their individual separate circumstances to answer all other questions.
Businesses with over 100, but under 500 FT employees in 2019 do not qualify for ERC funds in 2020. Businesses with over 500 FT employees in 2019 do not qualify for the ERC program, except for actual wages paid to employees that did not work due to a government shutdown.
Revenue Reduction
Full or Partial Government Suspension (Direct)
Supply Disruption (Indirect Government Suspension)
Q3 of 2020 had less than 50% of gross receipts as Q3 of 2019.
In any quarter of 2020 did your gross receipts return to 80% of pre-COVID levels?
This MUST to be related to GOVERNMENT ORDERS or limitation (this is not disruptions from vendors or supply chain, that is handled separately). The description MUST note the government mandated shut down time window and how it affected the business.
The full or partial shutdown qualification is based on a "suspension test" to demonstrate that your operations were partially or fully suspended due to a Covid-19 governmental order. Keep in mind, a government restriction may have had a direct impact on your operations even though that shutdown order wasn't given to you directly.
Documentation of the disruption is required by the IRS. Do not answer YES if you cannot substantiate through documentation the disruption to your business.
This qualification only applies during the period of the actual government order. Since there were very few government shutdown orders during 2021, this qualification mainly applies to 2020 quarters.
Please reference the IRS notices pertaining to suspension qualification: Notice 2021-23, Notice 2021-33 & Notice 2021-49
More than Nominal Impact - The partial suspension from a government order must have had a more than nominal effect, which means it affected more than 10% of business operations. This impact can come from a reduction in business hours of 10% or more, or a suspension of your business operations that represented 10% or more of gross receipts as compared to 2019. (This DOES NOT mean that a 10% reduction in sales is required to qualify, but the order must have suspended at least 10% of your revenue producing operations.)
Government orders required a restaurant to close 2 hours early due to curfew requirements. The 2 hours represented 15% of the business working hours. This business qualifies for the period affected by the government order.
Government orders required a radiology clinic to stop elective procedures during Q2 & Q3 of 2020. The business reviewed their gross receipts for Q2 & Q3 of 2019 and determined that the suspended elective procedures represented 18% of their total gross receipts during those quarters. This business qualifies for these two quarters.
Inability to Convert to Telework - If the business was able to effectively convert to a remote work environment that mitigated the nominal impact on the business, they do not qualify for the suspension qualification.
An employer that operates an essential business is not considered to have a full or partial shutdown if government orders allow them to remain open. However, an employer that operates an essential business may be considered to have a partial suspension if more than a nominal portion of its business operations are suspended.
The partial suspension qualification applies if employers could not obtain telework capabilities that allowed their business to operate as usual (adequate IT support etc). It also applies if the employee's work was not portable, or the presence of having an employee in the physical workspace plays a critical role.
If an employer's workplace is closed due to a government order for certain purposes, but the employer's workplace may remain open for other limited purposes, the employer's operations would be considered to be partially suspended if more than a nominal portion of the business cannot be performed.
A restaurant must close its on-site dining or every other table due to government orders but can still operate its drive thru or carry out service. This would be considered partially suspended.
For any periods you qualify for you will be required to provide a brief description of the more than nominal effect on your business to substantiate your claim.
Supply chain disruption is a common qualification for businesses that rely on vendors and suppliers for their business to function properly. This qualification must have resulted from a government suspension order to your supplier that resulted in the supplier not being able to deliver critical goods. The specific requirements for this qualification are listed below. These impacts qualify a company regardless of revenue gain or loss. Documentation of the supply chain issue is required by the IRS. Do not answer YES if you cannot substantiate through documentation the disruption or slow down to your supply chain.
Please reference the IRS notices pertaining to supply chain disruption qualification: Notice 2021-11 & Notice 2021-20
More than Nominal Impact - The supply chain disruption must have resulted in a more than 10% impact on your business. This can be directly from the reduction of sales from the inability to procure the supply item, or from the impact not being able to procure the item had on your business. To calculate the more than 10% impact, evaluate the impact of the supply item on your 2019 gross receipts. For example, if you were not able to procure pallets for shipping of goods, consider how much of your business relied upon pallets in order to operate in 2019. If it was more than 10%, this qualification can apply.
No Replacement Supplier - The business must not have been able to find a replacement supplier for the supply item affected by the government suspension order.
Please provide a list supply items that were disrupted including the suppier of the items. Additionally, if there were any shipping delays, please list the shipping company responsible for those delays.
Depending on your qualifications, you will see your substantiation statements below. These statements will be retained to substantiate your claim with the IRS.
Under the facts and circumstances, is claiming the Employee Retention Credit for , due to supply chain disruption that affected one or more suppliers, making them unable to make deliveries of critical goods or materials. The supply item(s) caused a more than nominal impact on , which was not able to find a replacement supplier.
Under the facts and circumstances, is claiming the Employee Retention Credit for , due to a government order that resulted in a partial suspension to their business that caused a more than nominal impact. The resulting suspension impacted due to:
As well as: . The specific details of the partial suspension are as follows: .
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This is an estimate only based on the responses and employee counts provided and is not guarantee of your credit amount or qualification. Many factors are evaluated during your ERC analysis and if we determine you qualify, this number could be much higher or lower.
Before continuing please add to your email safe sender list or you may not receive communication as your ERC credit is processed. For instructions, click here.
Before continuing please add to your email safe sender list or you may not receive communication as your ERC credit is processed. For instructions, click here.