“A Whole Bowl of Wrong”
Small Business Shouldn’t Have to Subsidize Infrastructure Deal
Senate sponsors of the infrastructure legislation currently being negotiated in the U.S. Senate have been scrambling to find funding sources for the bridge and highway, drinking water quality and other overdue infrastructure projects without raising taxes or user fees.
One funding source they’ve decided to tap into is the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) that was enacted during the pandemic to encourage employers to keep employees on their payroll by granting them a significant tax credit for doing so – effectively subsidizing their payroll costs for a limited period of time.
That time period was extended twice – it’s currently scheduled to end on 12/31/21 – and eligibility has been expanded so the credits would apply to more small and midsize businesses than the initial legislation.
Give with One Hand, Take Back with the Other
The Senate’s infrastructure architects, however, now wish to renege on this commitment. They’re proposing to retract these extended benefits – only months after approving them in March, 2021 – by moving the expiration of these credits back from 12/31/21 to 9/30/21, shortening the eligibility period by three full months..
The intent of this back room sausage-making is to redirect those three months of funds from their legislatively-approved intent of helping small and midsize businesses to recover from the pandemic’s adverse business impacts AND help employees of these businesses retain their employment income at least through this entire year of 2021.
Their logic? Not enough small and midsize businesses have taken advantage of this previously approved tax credit, none of which requires repayment as do PPP loans that fail to meet their forgiveness requirements.
And just who’s fault would that be?
Rather than work harder to raise awareness of this transitional economic support and put these sorely needed funds to their legislatively-approved purpose, the Senate infrastructure negotiators would instead penalize the intended beneficiaries of the ERC credits – small and midsize businesses and their employees – for its own failure to effectively manage and promote the program.
Withdrawing promised support for U.S jobs is more than a bit ironic for proposed legislation entitled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act .
This is what the Jeff Green character on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm would call “A whole bowl of wrong”!
Here’s How Businesses Can Fight Back
Given this new accelerated eligibility deadline for ERC credits – for which almost every U.S. business should qualify – that now seems inevitable, it’s imperative that small and midsize businesses act quickly to determine their eligibility amounts and gather the necessary documentation to receive these credits – which can improve their cash flow almost immediately – BEFORE the proposed new 9/30/21 deadline.
If your credits exceed your payroll taxes, then you can request a direct refund from the IRS for the excess amount and can even request an advance on this payment.
Click the button below to learn more about how the ERC can generate up to $33K/employee for your business…
Given the filing documentation requirements, this means that the time to get that process started is NOW. We can help prepare the required documentation and work with your CPA or accountant to get your cash flow benefit quickly.
And you can do it with minimal effort and without risking a dime. There’s no fee if we’re unable to find you savings.