Many small businesses in Alabama are still waiting to receive a tax credit that was offered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IRS admits there is a backlog in processing claims from businesses to receive the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC). The tax break was part of the CARES Act and was for eligible businesses and tax-exempt organizations that were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic or kept employees on payroll during the economic challenges of the pandemic.
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) joined a letter earlier this year asking for urgency on these claims. “Each day that passes with outstanding ERC claims unprocessed is a disservice to taxpayers and a threat to small- and medium-sized businesses,” Tuberville wrote.
Ryan Taylor, the spokesperson for the Coalition to Preserve American Jobs (CPAJ), discussed the issue Friday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program.”
“A lot of these small businesses, their recovery is not complete yet,” Taylor said, “and so we’ve got to make sure that that they are getting the support that they were promised.”
Taylor explained why many businesses are frustrated with the lack of urgency from the IRS on processing these claims.
“The IRS has been claiming that they are prioritizing denial letters for fraudulent claims,” he said. “Certainly, the coalition, and we can all agree that getting rid of waste, fraud and abuse and government programs is really important. But rather than prioritizing these fraudulent claims, we just don’t understand why they didn’t prioritize the 180,000 to 300,000 low-risk, valid claims.”
The IRS announced a moratorium on processing new claims for the ERC in September 2023
“They’re letting those languish,” he added, “and it’s just It boggles the mind. Yesterday the IRS finally announced that they would process 50,000 claims next month, of these low risk claims. They’ve been saying that for a year now. So we’re hopeful that we’re gaining some momentum here, but we’ve got to finish the job.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
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