The Employee Retention Tax Credit is set to expire at the end of 2021. This tax credit program was created during the worst of the pandemic in 2020 and was initially set at 50% of up to $10,000 in qualifying wages per employee but was expanded via the American Rescue Plan Act to include 70% of $10,000 in qualifying wages per employee per quarter in 2021, which makes the tax credit much more lucrative for business owners.
Unfortunately, the status of this program is somewhat tentative in that the Infrastructure Bill before Congress would strike the program (yet industry groups are advocating for the continuation of the program via the Build Back Better bill). So, what should businesses contemplating applying for the tax credit do?