Employee Retention Credit That Turned Into a Billion Dollar Debacle

Tax Notes Publishes Article titled “Employee Retention Credit That Turned Into a Billion Dollar Debacle,” Co-Authored by Two of the Firm’s Attorneys

Managing Member Guinevere Moore and Associate Attorney Lauren Darwit co-authored an article for Tax Notes, titled “Employee Retention Credit That Turned Into a Billion Dollar Debacle.” This is the first article in a three-part series written exclusively for Tax Notes about the ERC. The article covers the most common disputes between taxpayers seeking the credit and the Internal Revenue Service as well as the history of this pandemic-era relief program.

The ERC was a relief program created during the pandemic in response to the impact COVID-19 had on business operations. A tax credit, it was made available to employers who were directly impacted by the pandemic and were suffering from either a lack of revenue or were forced to shut down during a time when the country was under social-distancing mandates and stay-at-home orders. While well-intentioned, this program quickly became riddled with fraud and scams that will impact taxpayers, tax return preparers, and the IRS for the foreseeable future.

As Guinevere and Lauren write, “Had the ERC submission, processing, and payment processing gone smoothly, it truly would have been a beacon of relief for taxpayers.”

A timeline* of the implementation of the ERC is available here. The full article is available to Tax Notes subscribers here.

*This resource was created by Project Assistant Quinn Akin and is included in the copy of the article available on Tax Notes.