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News EssentialsThe Newsroom TopicsIRS Resources | Issue Number: IR-2023-135Inside This IssueIRS Commissioner signals new phase of Employee Retention Credit work; with backlog eliminated, additional procedures will be put in place to deal with growing fraud risk WASHINGTON – With the Internal Revenue Service making substantial progress in the ongoing effort related to the Employee Retention Credit claims, Commissioner Danny Werfel said the agency has entered a new phase of increasing scrutiny on dubious submissions while renewing consumer warnings against aggressive marketing. Speaking Tuesday at a special roundtable session of tax professionals in Atlanta, Werfel noted the IRS has shifted efforts after successfully clearing the backlog of valid Employee Retention Credits (ERC) claims. Now, the agency is intensifying compliance work and putting in place additional procedures to deal with fraud in the program. Werfel told a group of tax professionals dealing with fall-out from aggressive ERC claims that the IRS has increased audit and criminal investigation work on these claims, both on the promoters as well as those businesses filing dubious claims. "The further we get from the pandemic, we believe the percentage of legitimate claims coming in is declining," Werfel told attendees at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum in Atlanta. "Instead, we continue to see more and more questionable claims coming in following the onslaught of misleading marketing from promoters pushing businesses to apply. To address this, the IRS continues to intensify our compliance work in this area." The Employee Retention Credit, also sometimes called the Employee Retention Tax Credit or ERTC, is a tax credit enacted to help businesses during the pandemic that was subsequently amended three times by Congress. Many businesses legitimately apply for the credit, but aggressive marketing has overshadowed the program. The period of eligibility for the credit for affected businesses is very limited, covering only between March 13, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021. Under the current law, businesses can typically continue to file claims for the credit until April 15, 2025. That raises future concerns, Werfel said. "The amount of misleading marketing around this credit is staggering, and it is creating an array of problems for tax professionals and the IRS while adding risk for businesses improperly claiming the credit," Werfel said. "A terrible scenario is unfolding that hurts everyone involved -- except the promoters." "This was not how the law was meant to work, and Congress can help with this situation," Werfel added. "We will work with Treasury to explore legislative solutions we can share with Congress to help address fraud and error, including potentially putting an earlier ending date for businesses to claim the credit and increase IRS oversight of return preparers." The IRS continues to urge businesses, tax-exempt organizations and others considering applying for this credit to carefully review the official requirements for this limited program before applying. In the meantime, the IRS continues to intensify compliance activities involving ERC claims. With more than 2.5 million claims coming in since the program was enacted IRS claims processing slowed due to the complexity of the amended returns. The IRS has made substantial progress on these claims this year, with 99 percent of claims approximately three months old as of mid-July. The additional effort has been critical in helping legitimate businesses receive the money they can claim legally under the law. The IRS has trained auditors examining ERC claims posing the greatest risk, and the IRS Criminal Investigation division is working to identify fraud and promoters of fraudulent claims. The IRS reminds anyone who improperly claims the ERC that they must pay it back, possibly with penalties and interest. A business or tax-exempt group could find itself in a much worse cash position if it has to pay back the credit than if the credit was never claimed in the first place. So, it's important to avoid getting scammed. When properly claimed, the ERC is a refundable tax credit designed for businesses that continued paying employees during the COVID-19 pandemic while their business operations were fully or partially suspended due to a government order or that had a significant decline in gross receipts during the eligibility periods. The credit is not available to individuals. To help tax professionals and others, the IRS continues to provide additional legal clarity around ERC rules. On July 20, the IRS issued a legal advice memorandum applying the statutory requirements to five different scenarios. The memorandum highlighted that employers experiencing supply chain disruptions qualify for ERC only if they had to suspend their business operations because their suppliers were unable to provide critical goods or materials due to a government order that caused the supplier to suspend its operations. Contrary to advice given by unscrupulous preparers, this guidance makes clear that supply chain disruptions do not qualify an employer for the credit unless they are due to a government order. Werfel told Tax Forum participants the IRS remains deeply concerned about the impact of the ERC on tax professionals who are doing the right thing while their clients are being lured by aggressive marketing claims. "Hard-working tax professionals who play by the rules see their clients go elsewhere, lured by false promises and wild exaggerations," Werfel added. "The resulting number of claims prevents the IRS from doing other priority work. But the biggest risk is being taken by the promoters pushing these schemes and businesses filing these claims. This is an area where we urge caution; those improperly claiming the credit could face follow-up action from the IRS." Warning signs of aggressive ERC marketing
Unscrupulous promoters may lie about eligibility requirements, including refusing to provide detailed documents supporting their computations of the ERC. In addition, those using these companies could be at risk of someone using the credit as a ploy to steal the taxpayer's identity or take a cut of the taxpayer's improperly claimed credit. How the promoters lure victims
How businesses and others can protect themselves
To report ERC abuse, submit Form 14242, Report Suspected Abusive Tax Promotions or Preparers. People should mail or fax a completed Form 14242, Report Suspected Abusive Tax Promotions or Preparers, and any supporting materials to the IRS Lead Development Center in the Office of Promoter Investigations. Mail: Properly claiming the ERC
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