As aggressive marketing continues, the Internal Revenue Service today renewed an alert for businesses to watch out for tell-tale signs of misleading claims involving the Employee Retention Credit.
The IRS and tax professionals continue to see a barrage of aggressive broadcast advertising, direct mail solicitations and online promotions involving the Employee Retention Credit. While the credit is real, aggressive promoters are wildly misrepresenting and exaggerating who can qualify for the credits.
The IRS has stepped up audit and criminal investigation work involving these claims. Businesses, tax-exempt organizations and others considering applying for this credit need to carefully review the official requirements for this limited program before applying. Those who improperly claim the credit face follow-up action from the IRS.
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC), also sometimes called the Employee Retention Tax Credit or ERTC, is a legitimate tax credit. Many businesses legitimately apply for the pandemic-era credit. The IRS has added staff to handle ERC claims, which are time-consuming to process because they involve amended tax returns.
The IRS has been issuing warnings about aggressive ERC scams since last year, and it made the agency’s list this year of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams that people should watch out for.