IRS to Accept Discounted Repayment of Disallowed Employee Retention Credits

January 2024 Congress created the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) program in early 2020 as a way to encourage employers to keep employees on their payrolls during the COVID-19 pandemic. The credit was only available for designated periods in 2020 and 2021, but employers could file claims into 2023. The number of improper claims grew to the point that the IRS temporarily suspended all processing of new claims in September 2023. It announced a Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDC) at the end of 2023 that allows certain employers who received “questionable” ERCs to repay them at a discounted rate. View the full article here.