You might be a startup without even knowing it. If you are not a startup business today, you could be shortly. The incentive to start a business and hire employees is especially high now due to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). With a special rule specifically for startups, the government will pay 70 percent of the first $10,000 of an employee’s wages in both the third and fourth quarters of 2021. This means it’s possible a business with as few as eight employees can claim the maximum $100,000 under the Recovery Startup Business rules (RSB).
Even an existing business may qualify as a startup to claim RSB ERC. There are steps a business can still take today to qualify. A new business activity, reorganization, change in ownership, related company, business purchase, or even a more detailed review of the average receipts calculations could trigger a qualification. Read on to learn more about this planning opportunity and the rules to do it well.