Amid rising concerns about a flood of improper employee retention credit (ERC) claims, the IRS has announced an immediate moratorium through at least the end of the year on processing new claims for the pandemic-era relief program to protect honest small business owners from scams.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel ordered the immediate moratorium today, beginning Thursday, Sept. 14, to run through at least Sunday, Dec. 31.
The immediate moratorium comes after growing concerns inside the tax agency, from tax professionals as well as media reports that a substantial share of new claims from the program are ineligible and increasingly putting businesses at financial risk.
The IRS continues to work on previously filed ERC claims received prior to the moratorium but renewed a reminder that increased fraud concerns means processing times will be longer. Read more about this immediate pause here.