BHT&D Certified Public Accountants Blog

To help trades and businesses retain employees and keep them employed during the COVID-19 crisis, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act created the Employee Retention Credit for 2020. As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CCA), the credit has been extended through December 2021.

The credit is actually a government-sponsored program to keep workers employed and is funded by providing qualifying employers with a refundable credit against certain employment taxes equal to 70% (up from 50% prior to 2021) of the qualified wages that an eligible employer pays to employees after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2022. (Before the extension, the credit ended on December 31, 2020.)

The CARES ACT provides employers an alternative to the Paycheck Protection Program under the Employee Retention Credit. You can only take advantage of one or the other, but not both.  

The goal of the Employee Retention Credit is to encourage employers to keep employees on payroll by offering a credit up to $5,000 per employee.