Tax Credits

Health Expenses: A Commonly Ignored Portion of the ERC Leaves Relief Money on the Table

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a huge benefit for businesses, but it is often incredibly difficult to maximize fully. Practitioners must perform a complex interplay of wages between PPP, grants, or other wage credits. They must know the voluminous rules of the ERC program itself, the other programs that may enter into the equation, and the related portions of the Tax Code. With so much to consider, a particularly powerful tool can easily be missed: the ERC health expenses.

Many are surprised when someone asks about health programs since they do not realize these benefits count as ERC qualified costs. Some ERC claims ignore health costs entirely or only capture the employee portions. Deductions for health costs are in the payroll data, but employer costs are typically not in pay records. By reviewing all the qualifying health expenses and available methods for allocating costs, you can really increase your ERC. Keep reading to learn more!

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CURRENT EDITION

The Wild West of Employee Retention Credits (ERC): Outlaws, Deputies, and Cowboys

Dominique Molina, CPA MST CTS

Gather ’round, pardners! The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) has been the latest gold rush in the tax frontier, drawing business owners, tax deputies, and even a few sly outlaws. But as the dust settles, the IRS—our law keeping sheriff—is on the hunt for any who might’ve bent the rules. In this frontier of finance, knowing who’s who can keep you out of trouble as the IRS rounds up dubious claims.

Selected Techniques to Monetize Tax Attributes

Ted Stotzer

In the prior article “Tax Trends in M&A and What It Means for Your Clients,” we had discussed certain techniques to, e.g., maximize net operating loss (“NOL”) and interest expense deduction utilization in the context of M&A transactions. This article examines certain additional strategies to monetize expiring, latent, or otherwise disallowed tax attributes.

Do Those Tricks Really Work?

Peter J Reilly CPA

On the website for Axium Wealth, Charles Dombek tells us that: “Most CPAs are historians that tell their clients how much they make, how much they owe, when and where to file their taxes, and oftentimes how to write large checks at the last minute when you least expect.” When it comes to Axium, though: “We help clients recover dollars they unnecessarily pay in State and Federal income taxes.” Axium also helps clients diversify capital into off-market passive real estate and alternative investments. Before Axium, there was The Optimal-Financial Group LLC. Of course many of the readers of Think Outside The Tax Box are CPAs, or EAs or others who both help their clients be compliant and advise on ways to minimize their liability. When I was practicing I would call the things I might suggest my “bag of tricks.”