Okay. So I see it is the top of the hour. So for those of you who are just joining us, welcome to today's Webinar, Employee Retention Credit: Latest Information on the Moratorium and Options for Withdrawing or Correcting Previously Filed Claims. We're glad you're joining us today. My name is Anika Pompey, and I'm a Senior Stakeholder Liaison with the Internal Revenue Service, and I'll be your moderator for today's webinar, which is slated for approximately 60 minutes. Before we begin, if there's anyone in the audience that is with the media, please send an email to the address on slide and be sure to include your contact information and the news publication you're with. Our Media Relations and Stakeholder Liaison staff will assist you and answer any questions you may have. But as a reminder, this webinar will be recorded and posted to the IRS Video Portal in a few weeks. The portal is located at www.irsvideos.gov. Please note, continuing education credits or certificates of completion are not offered if any version of our webinars are viewed after the live broadcast. Again, we hope you won't experience any technology issues.

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Again, I want to welcome you all and thank you for joining us for today's webinar. So before we move along with our session, let's make sure we're in the right place. Today's webinar is Employee Retention Credit; the Latest information on the Moratorium and Options for Withdrawing or Correcting Previously Filed Claims. Well, this webinar is scheduled for approximately 60 minutes from the top of the hour. And I would like to introduce to you our speaker today, Roy Chaney. So Roy is a Senior Stakeholder Liaison with the Communication and Liaison Division. He services the Greater Los Angeles Area, and he holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. And he brings over 33 years of IRS experience to the Stakeholder Liaison role by way of prior positions in Customer Service, Exam, Offer in Compromise and Field Collection. So with that being said, I'm going to turn it over to Roy to begin the presentation. Roy, the floor is yours. Thank you, Ms. Anika. So after today's presentation, I hope you'll understand these objectives. Number one, the moratorium on the Employee Retention Credit claims processing. Two, who is eligible to withdraw an ERC claim and how to do it. Three, how to recognize promoter scams and avoid filing false ERC claims. And lastly, what ERC resources are available. So before we begin discussing Employee Retention Credit processing and new options for resolving ineligible ERC claims, we want you to know that we do share your concern and honest taxpayers have been duped by promoters in the filing false claims.

We've been working on solutions to help. The new withdrawal option allows employers with pending claims to avoid future repayment of a refunded credit with penalties and interests. So we encourage them to closely review their withdrawal option and the requirements which we're overviewing today. We continue to urge taxpayers to consult with a trusted tax professional rather than a marketing company about this complex tax credit. So let me take a moment to recap what the IRS has been doing regarding ERC in the last couple of months. Amid rising concerns about a flood of incorrectly claimed Employee Retention Credits, the Internal Revenue Service announced on September 14th an immediate moratorium to at least the end of the year on processing new Employee Retention Credit claims. We did this to help protect honest small business owners and organizations from scams. Here is some context for this decision. Through mid-September, the IRS have received around 3.6 million ERC claims. But consider this. Our current open inventory was over 600,000, virtually all of which was received within the 90 days before the moratorium. That means, about 15% of all ERC claims received since the start of the program three and a half years ago, came in a 90-day period before the moratorium. That's an incredibly large number to have so far beyond the pandemic, and two years after the time period covered by the program. Thus the moratorium was ordered following growing concerns than a substantial share of new claims from the aging program are ineligible, and increasingly putting businesses at financial risk by being pressured and scammed by aggressive promoters and marketing. Tax professionals note anecdotally that they are seeing instances where 95% or more of claims coming in recent months are ineligible as promoters continue to aggressively push people to apply regardless of the rules. Speaking of tax professionals and for those in the audience, we'd like to recognize you, the hardworking tax professionals who play by the rules, only the risk having your clients go elsewhere, lured by false promises and wild exaggeration. Our partnership with you is so valuable and we appreciate you. You've been advocating for taxpayers financial security and facing challenging competition from ERC scam promoters. We hear you and are working on more solutions to help you with your clients. Now as the IRS continues working additional details on the ERC, here is what the IRS wants taxpayers and their tax professionals to know. For those who currently have an ERC claim on file before the moratorium, the IRS will continue processing these claims during the moratorium period, but at a greatly reduced speed due to the complex nature of these filings, and the need to protect businesses from being improperly paid. Normal processing times could easily stretch to 180 days or longer.

Now as we continue shifting our focus to review these claims for compliance concerns, we are intensifying audit work where thousands of ERC claims have been referred for audit, where we may also seek additional documentation from taxpayers to ensure claims are legitimate. This means, the payments could take even longer to be processed. Also, due to the large volumes and the need for compliance checks to protect against fraud, the IRS is unable to expedite any individual claims.

This enhanced compliance review of existing claims submitted before the moratorium is critical to protect against fraud, but also to protect the businesses from facing penalties or interest payments stemming from bad claims pushed by promoters. For those who filed an ERC claim on September 14th or later, we are not processing these claims during the moratorium. For those considering filing a claim, the IRS urges businesses to carefully review the ERC guidelines during the processing moratorium period. The IRS urges businesses to talk to a trusted tax professionals, not a tax promoter or a marketing firm looking to make money generating applications that takes a big chunk out of the ERC claim. A careful review of the rules will show that many of these businesses do not qualify for the ERC. And avoiding a bad claim will avoid complications with the IRS. The new Employee Retention Credit eligibility checklist on IRS.gov can also help. Let's talk about that next. The IRS reminds anyone who incorrectly claimed the ERC, that they must pay it back, possibly with penalties and interests. A business or tax exempt group could find itself in a much worse financial position if it has to pay back the credit than if the credit was never claimed in the first place. Taxpayers should take particular precautions, because the promoter can collect a hefty contingency fee paid from the ERC refund.

This underscores the importance of taxpayers taking precautionary steps to independently verify their eligibility to receive the credit, especially before applying through a promoter. Now to help employers determine if they're eligible for the ERC, the IRS created a new interactive ERC eligibility checklist that provides a quick high level way for them to figure out if they might qualify to claim the ERC or if they potentially need to resolve an incorrect claim. Given that some small businesses and organizations may have been misled by aggressive promoters. This checklist is an important reference tool for people who are reviewing their eligibility. Within these if/then tools, we link out FAQs for ERC. These FAQs were updated in mid-September and have more information about common areas of misinformation that promoters use. For example, the IRS is seeing many instances of people improperly citing supply chain issues as a basis for an ERC claim. An employer with those issues will very rarely meet the eligibility criteria. This checklist provides cautions and resources to help determine this eligibility. Now let's talk about the withdrawal process, which the IRS announced in mid-October. For those who have filed prior to the moratorium and have a pending claim, they should carefully review the program guidelines with a trusted tax professionals and check the new Employee Retention Credit eligibility checklist on IRS.gov. If a business claimed the ERC prior to the moratoriums, and the claim has not been processed or paid by the IRS, they can withdraw the claim if they now believe it was submitted incorrectly. Even if their case is already under audit or waiting on it. You can use the ERC claim withdrawal process if all of these factors apply. You must have made the claim on an adjusted employment tax return that was amended only to claim the ERC with no adjustments. You must also withdraw the entire amount of the ERC claim, not just a portion.

Finally, the IRS must not have paid your claim. But, if it has, you must not have cashed or deposited the refund check. Please note, that if someone willfully filed a fraudulent ERC claim or if they are assisted or conspired in such conduct, withdrawing a fraudulent claim will not exempt them from potential criminal investigation and prosecution. But now let's discuss who can't use the withdrawal process. You're not eligible to use the withdrawal process, if any of the following apply. Number one, the credit you're trying to withdraw was filed on an original employment tax return. However, you can correct the amount of ERC claim on an original tax return by merely filing the adjusted return that applies to your business or organization and making payments for any tax due. Also, you're trying to withdraw only a portion of your ERC. For example, you claimed $50,000 of ERC, but realized you're only eligible for $25,000. Your adjusted return reports tax items not on your original returns. In addition to the ERC claim, you need to make other corrections to your return. You received your ERC refund and cashed or deposited the refund check or you received the notice or letter from IRS disallowing the entire amount of your ERC. So if you're not able to withdraw your claim, you can still file another adjusted return, if you need to reduce the amount of your ERC claim or make other adjustments to your amended return. Ms. Anika, I think it's time for our first polling question. All right, Roy. Yep, it is time for our first polling question. So audience, here is our first question. I want you to select the best answer to finish the statement. You can use the ERC claim withdrawal process if, A, you made the claim on an adjusted employment tax return, Forms 941-X, 943-X, 944-X or CT-1X.

B, you filed your adjusted return only to claim the ERC, and you make no other adjustments. C, you want to withdraw the entire amount of your ERC claim. D, The IRS has not paid your claim, or The IRS has paid your claim, but you haven't cashed or deposited the refund check or E, all of the above. So let's take a moment and click the radio button that best answers the question. I'll give you guys a few more seconds to make your selection. Okay, so we're going to stop the polling now. And let's share the correct answer on the next slide. And the correct response is E, all of the above. So let's see how many of us responded correctly to that. All right, so it looks like 96% of you responded correctly to that question. That's a great response rate. Roy, I'm going to turn it back over to you. Thanks, Anika. Now, if you use a professional payroll company, including a professional employer organization, certified professional employer organization or some other third-party payer arrangement, and they filed your ERC claim for you, you should consult with them if you want to withdraw your ERC claim. Depending on how the company filed your claim individually or a batched with others, you may need to have them submit your withdrawal request. Otherwise, you'll need to follow different steps depending on your situation. Generally, if you haven't received the refund, you can withdraw the ERC claims even if you've been notified that the claim is under audit. If you have received the refund, you generally cannot withdraw if you cashed or deposited the refund. So next we're going to review each of the four scenarios shown on the Slide above. Generally, the way you prepare your withdrawal request is going to be the same, except you will have different ways to submit the request. So let's get started on that process now. So if you haven't received a refund and haven't been notified your claim is under audit, and if you filed an adjusted return to claim the ERC and you would like to withdraw your entire claim, use the process shown on the slide. Now we have an important note though, if you filed adjusted returns for more than one period, you must follow the steps that we have below for each tax period for which you are requesting a withdrawal. So, to withdraw, you should one, make a copy of the adjusted return with the claim you wish to withdraw. In the left margin of the first page, write "Withdrawn". Now in the right margin of the first page, have an authorized person sign and date it. Write their name and title next to their signature. And lastly, submit the signed copy of your return using a computer or a mobile device to the IRS's ERC claim withdraw fax line at 855-738-7609. This is your withdrawal request, you need to keep this for your tax records. If you can't fax your withdrawal request, you can mail it to the address in the instructions for the adjusted return that applies to your business or organization. Before doing so, you should make a copy of the signed and dated first page to keep for your records.

It'll take longer for the IRS to receive your request if you mail it. Track your package to confirm delivery. If the IRS processes your earlier claim before receiving or processing your withdrawal request, your claim withdrawal request will be rejected. And you will need to file a new adjusted return to correct the amount of your previously filed ERC. So you should also note though, that this fax line is only for ERC claim withdrawals. The IRS will not process any new or previously unfiled tax returns, including any original filings sent to the dedicated ERC claim withdrawal fax line. Your withdrawal request, remember, must be signed by an authorized person.

The person who can sign an ERC claim for withdrawal request depends on the type of employer that you are. The table shown on this Slide outlines who can sign a claim based on the entity type.

And it's available in the latest Frequently Asked Questions for the Employee Retention Credit on IRS.gov. As noted at the bottom of the slide, take a look. Your withdrawal request may also be signed by a duly authorized agent of the taxpayer. For example, an individual with a valid Power of Attorney via Form 2848 or a Reporting Agent with Form 8655. So here we have showing on the slide a sample of a claim withdrawal request. It shows the word, "Withdrawn" written in the left margin of the Form 941-X. It also shows the name, the title, the signature, as well as the date of the authorized signer in the right margin. A copy of this sample is also available in the latest ERC Frequently Asked Questions again located on IRS.gov. Ms. Anika, I think it's time for our second polling question of the day. Roy, that is correct. So audience, it is time for our second polling question. So, here you go. Who is authorized to sign a withdrawal request? Is it A, the business owner. B, family member. C, a valid power of attorney via Form 2848 or D, both A and C. I want you all to take a moment and click the radio button that best answers the question.

I'll give you a few more seconds to make your selection. All right. We are going to stop the polling now and let's share the correct answer on the next slide. And the correct response is D, both A and C. So, we're going to take a moment to see how many of us responded correctly. Okay, so it looks like 92% of you responded correctly. That is a really great response rate. So Roy, I'm going to turn it back over to you. Thank you, Ms. Anika. Now after you have submitted your withdrawal request, the IRS will send you a letter, informing you whether your withdrawal request was either accepted or rejected. Your approved request is not effective until you have your acceptance letter from IRS. I will say again, your approved request is not effective until you have received your withdrawal acceptance letter from the IRS. If your withdrawal is accepted, then you may need to amend your income tax return. Please see the section of our FAQs called Claiming the ERC for an explanation of how the Employee Retention Credit affects your income tax return.

If you're an employer who needs help with this, the IRS encourages you to seek out a trusted tax professional for assistance. But if you've been notified that the IRS is auditing the adjusted return that includes your ERC claim, prepare your withdrawal request using the steps previously described, but don't submit to the withdrawal fax line or mail it. Instead, we want you to take the following actions. One, provide the withdrawal request directly to the assigned examiner using the method that they request or two, if you haven't been assigned an examiner, provide the withdrawal request using the response instructions in the audit notice that you already received. Oppositely, if you have received a refund check, but have not cashed or deposited it you may still withdraw your claim. You need to mail the voided check back to IRS with your withdrawal request using these steps. First, prepare the claim withdrawal request using the steps previously described, but don't fax your request. Next, write "Void" in the endorsement section on the back of the refund check. And then, include a note that says, "ERC Withdrawal" and briefly explain the reason for returning the refund check. Make copies for your tax records of the front and back of the voided check, the explanation note and the signed and dated withdrawal request page, and please, don't staple, bend or paper clip the voided check, include it with your claim withdrawal request and mail it to IRS Cincinnati Refund Inquiry Unit, PO Box 145500, Mail Stop 536G, Cincinnati, Ohio 45250. This address is also located on the IRS.gov ERC withdrawal page.

Please track your package to confirm your delivery. And as previously mentioned, if you can't withdraw your claim, you may be able to amend your return. For example, if you want to withdraw your ERC claim, but also need to make other corrections to your employment tax return or you're still entitled to some of the credit, but claimed more than you're entitled to receive, you should prepare a new adjusted return with the correct amount of the ERC and any other corrections for that tax period. Mail the new adjusted return to the IRS using the address in the instructions for the form that applies to your business or organization. Again, do not send the new adjusted return to the dedicated ERC claim withdrawal fax lines. IRS will not process new adjusted returns sent to this fax line. Now the IRS is currently working on guidance to help those employers that were misled into claiming the ERC and have already received the payment and cashed or deposited it. We will share more information as details become available. I suggest you regularly check IRS.gov/ERC for all of the upcoming updates. So, Ms. Anika, I think it's time for our third polling question. Sounds good to me, Roy. Okay, audience. So here is our third polling question. What is the effective date for a withdrawal request? Is it A, the withdrawal request signature date. B, the fax confirmation date. C, the acceptance letter date or D, the proof of mailing date. I want you all to take a moment and click the radio button that answers the question. And I'm going to give you a few more seconds to make your selection. Okay. So we're going to stop the polling now. And let's share the correct answer on the next slide. And the correct answer is C, the acceptance letter date. All right. Let's see how many of you responded correctly. Okay, so it looks like only 71% of you responded correctly to that one. So, Roy can you clarify that for me? Yes, we can. So, ultimately, just as a precautionary and a remembrance, we're only doing the acceptance letter date for the withdrawal of the ERC claim. So, withdraw request signature date, fax confirmation date and proof of mailing does not apply. The only thing that applies is the acceptance letter date. Okay, Roy thank you so much for that explanation. I'm going to go ahead and turn it back over to you and we will keep moving. Thanks, Anika. The Employee Retention Credit can be both extremely complicated and potentially very lucrative, which is why unscrupulous tax advisers and promoters have taken advantage of it. And why it has landed at the top of the 2023 IRS Annual Dirty Dozen Tax Scams list. Marketers and scammers continue to evolve. They quickly revised their ERC pitches following the IRS's September 14th moratorium announcement. Some are now pushing employers who submit an ERC claim into agreeing to costly up-front loans in anticipation of a refund. The IRS urges taxpayers to avoid these loans. We continue to see scammers and unscrupulous promoters run aggressive broadcast advertising, and online promotions for the credit, plus direct marketing efforts via letters, phone calls and text messages. You can review the warning signs at IRS.gov/ERC and share them with clients. We continue to warn taxpayers that third-party promoters of the ERC often don't accurately explain eligibility requirements or how to calculate the credit and that they should seek out the help of a trusted tax professional using our tips and resources at IRS.gov. Search, Choose a Preparer. So next, let's discuss the variety of ways IRS is combating the ERC abuse. As part of the wider compliance effort, the IRS is working with the Justice Department to address fraud in the ERC program, as well as promoters who have been ignoring the rules and pushing businesses to apply. Specifically, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division is actively working to identify fraud and promoters of fraudulent claims for potential referral for prosecution to the Justice Department. IRS Criminal Investigation Division investigates a variety of COVID fraud allegations ranging from fraudulently obtained employee refund tax credits to falsify Paycheck Protection Program loans. As of mid-September, IRS CI has uncovered suspected pandemic frauds totaling more than $8 billion. As of July 31st, 2023, IRS CI had initiated 252 investigations, involving over 2.8 billion of potentially fraudulent Employee Retention Credit claims. Of those, 15 of the 252 investigations have resulted in federal charges. Of the 15 federal charged cases so far six matters have resulted in convictions. Four of those cases have reached the sentencing phase with average sentencing being 21 months. Criminal Investigations work is an addition to ERC audits that have started. The IRS has already referred thousands of ERC cases posing the greatest risk to train the examiners for audit and enhanced compliance reviews. These include claims filed for fictitious businesses, where identity theft is indicated, payrolls are inflated or false and entity conversions structured to falsely qualify individual owners. To report ERC abuse, you can submit Form 14242, Report Suspected Abuse Tax Promotions or Preparers. People should submit a completed Form 14242 and any supporting materials to the IRS Lead Development Center in the Office of the Promoter Investigations. The contact information is in the form instructions and our ERC FAQs. By the way, you don't have to include your contact information when submit this form. You can remain anonymous. However, it is helpful if you do, in case we have follow-up questions. All right, Anika it's time for our final polling question. Okay. Thanks, Roy. So audience, here is our fourth and final polling question. What is not a possible promoter tactic warning sign? A, unsolicited ads, calls, emails or text message from someone you don't know. B, statements that the promoter or company can determine your ERC eligibility within minutes. C, a large upfront fees to claim the credit. D, statements from the promoter that you qualify for the credit before any discussion about your tax situation or E, none of the above. So I want you all to take a moment and click the radio button that best answers the question. And I'm going to give you a few more seconds to make your selection. All right. So we're going to go ahead and stop polling now. And let's share the correct answer on the next slide. And the correct response is E, none of the above. So let's see how many of you responded correctly. So polling is a bit slow today. Okay. So it looks like 94% of you have responded correctly. So, Roy, I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to you. I believe you have some resource information to share. Thanks, Anika. I sure do. Here are our Employee Retention Credit resources on IRS.gov related to topics we discussed today. So as an aggressive maneuvers continued by marketers and scammers, we would like everyone here today to know that the IRS is committed to helping small businesses and others caught up in this onslaught of Employee Retention Credit marketing. The aggressive marketing of these schemes has harmed well-meaning businesses and organizations. We will continue to warn taxpayers to exercise extreme caution before applying before the ERC by utilizing the resources on IRS.gov and working with their trusted tax professionals. I want to thank you for participating in today's webinar. Anika, I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you so much, Roy.

So, hello again, to everyone. It's me Anika Pompey, and I am going to be moderating the Q&A session. So before we get started with the Q&A session, I do want to thank everyone for attending today's presentation. Employee Retention Credit: Latest information on the Moratorium and Options for Withdrawing or Correcting Previously Filed Claims. Now earlier I mentioned that we do want to know what questions you have for our presenter. And here is your opportunity. So, if you haven't input your question, there is still some time so go ahead and click on the dropdown button arrow next to Ask Questions field, type in your question and then click Send. Now, we are joined by Mr. John McInelly, who serves as the Executive who is overseeing the Employee Retention Credit Initiative for the IRS, where he leads the Service in efficient processing of ERC claims, while ensuring improper claims are identified and corrected. Previously, John served as a Director of Campus Examination in Cincinnati in the Small Business and Self-Employed Division. So John is here to answer your questions. But one thing before we get started, we may not have time to answer all the questions submitted, but we'll answer as many as time allows. So let's go ahead and get started, so that we can get to as many questions as possible. All right.

So, the first question. John, the first question we have for you is, I think my ERC was incorrect, but it was filed by my payroll service provider that files the forms and issues W2s.

How do I withdraw my claims if the payroll provider submitted it and not me? Hey, Anika. Thanks.

That's a great question and thanks, everybody for joining. So, as far as if you have, you know, if you're a client of a third-party payer, one of those companies in which you are one of many clients or what we refer to as a common law employer, then what we would ask you to do is to take your request to that third-party payer, because it's their return in which the ERC was claimed on, and it may have been claimed with a multitude of other ERC claims. So with that, you would ask the third-party payer to make the withdrawal and then the third-party payer would either withdraw all of the claims or if there's multiple, they would send in an amended return removing your claim. Good question. John, thank you for that response. That was a great answer.

Okay. So the next question is, how long will the withdrawal process be available? Is there a deadline? Another great question. When we initially developed the withdrawal program, there was a deadline, we still have. I mean, the program is not going to be indefinite, we do anticipate to sunset the program within a certain period of time. We don't have that date nailed down yet. It may be at the end of the moratorium, which as you all know, is December 31st, 2023. It just depends on the other programs, the timing we're able to announce those. Thank you, John. So I have another question here for you, of course. I want to be sure I get my clients withdrawal request done correctly. Are you seeing any common problems with the request? Do you have any tips or things to avoid doing? Another great question. Yes, so what we've seen so far as they've come in a couple of things, sometimes the faxes aren't coming in the best, also some missing signatures. So just to restate what Roy had said earlier, remember that you want to take a copy of the 941-X or the 943-X, whatever you'd claimed it on with the amended return, copy that with the withdrawal around it, but make sure that you're signing it, so that it's going to be able to be processed. All right. Thank you so much for that response. So moving on to our next question.

So from the audience, does withdrawing the entire amount of the ERC claim refer to all quarters or just all of the ERC claims per quarter? Well for example, could you withdraw just one or two quarters? So just like an amended return, you want to withdraw for each quarter in which you're withdrawing. So let me answer that example or let me, yeah let me give you an example to answer that question. So if you reclaimed ERC for three quarters and you identified that you were actually only eligible due to a partial government ordered shutdown for one of those three quarters. And the other two you were actually not eligible for. And this is your opportunity to submit not one, but two withdrawals of those two quarters in which they were not eligible. So you have to submit two. Thank you, John. All right. So moving on to our next question. I have a client who filed for the ERC through a third-party who amended Form 941 and then received the credit from the IRS. They were later contacted by another third-party, and were persuaded to apply for the ERC again, for the same quarters. The second company was not aware that the client already applied and received the ERC. The client was not aware that it was a duplicate filing. Can we use the ERC withdrawal process to withdrawal the second filing only? If so, what would the process be? They have not received the second refund. So that's an interesting scenario and it's probably one that multiple taxpayers may have found themselves in, especially with the aggressive marketing that we've identified from so many promoters. So if there's a potential of a second claim on the same quarter, and you've not yet received a refund on that, then you would simply take that second quarter that was a mistake and submit that through the withdrawal process to have that second duplicate credit removed. Thanks, John. That was a really good question. I'm sure they appreciate the clarification. So just moving on to our next question. Can we still file the ERC claim during the moratorium period? If not, when can we file?

So that and I'm seeing that question come up a lot. And I'm glad that then we got asked. So absolutely, yes, you can submit a claim for ERC during this moratorium. Remember, that the moratorium for any claims are received on or after September 14th, is simply that the IRS is not yet going to process those returns. Right? That's because we're urging all the businesses to carefully review to ensure that all the ERC guidelines are met. If you're 100% confident you know that this is a legitimate and good ERC claim. Please, we then, yes, you should be filing it. All right. Thank you so much for that. So on to our next question. So during the IRS ERC moratorium, what is the IRS telling business owners who have yet to file for these credits? So the same as the last question is that, again, we're urging the business owners to double, triple check, we have a new eligibility chart on the website to ensure that you are eligible for this credit, if you know through your own research or through a trusted tax advisor that you identify you do qualify for these credits and we do want you to file your claim for the ERC credit which you are entitled to. Thank you for that response, John. So we're going to move on to the next question. Do we still have to wait for guidance on partial ERC claim withdrawal? If not, what is the guidance for that? Oh, that's a great question. So, if you have, if you know that part of your ERC is incorrect, but some of it is correct and you're eligible, then we ask you to file an amended return. So amend the return that with the original ERC claim. Unfortunately, this time, not at this time, but just unfortunately the withdrawal line is only for full ERC withdrawals. So for each calendar quarter in which you're going to withdrawal the full amount that's where you use the withdrawal process. If you're going to modify the ERC, such as reducing it, but not completely removing it, then we'd ask that you file an amended return. Thanks, John. So, this question, this next question we have is really great. Well, the IRS extend the statute from April of 2024 for 2020 claims to July of 2024 due to the moratorium imposed? And why that question came up, because I don't want anyone to have the wrong idea, especially when it comes to statute of limitations, because that's something codified that both the agency and the taxpayers must abide by. There is no intent at this time that we see within the authority of the service to extend the statute of time for claims for the ERC. So that April 15th of 2024 that is still the statute of expiration to claim any ERC credit or any other credit on a tax year 2020 form, employment tax return.

Thank you for that clarification. This next question is actually really good too. So, how do you withdraw for one client when everything is combined on the PEO 941-X, since we have over 100 clients on our Schedule R? So I believe we do have a lot of professional employer organizations on this call. And again, to my earlier point, if you are the professional employer organization, you're that third-party payer that files the Schedule R, and you have hundred clients or you have a thousand clients. If all of those ERCs are going to be withdrawn, then we would ask you to use the withdrawal process. If you're not going to withdraw all of them, but you are going to withdraw some of them, then we would ask that you submit an amended Form 941 with an updated Schedule R. All right. So moving on to the next question. What is the IRS's plan to deal with the ERC marketers who knowingly filed for taxpayers who did not qualify? That's a great question. So as Roy covered earlier in the presentation, we do have a criminal investigation arm actively investigating any of the promoters that were knowingly attempting to help taxpayers or employers evade tax, in other words, commit tax fraud. In addition to our Criminal Investigation Unit, we also have on the Civil Investigation, active investigations into these promoters that were encouraging taxpayers to claim these credits, even knowing that they did not qualify, that could potentially face civil penalties, such as promoter penalties or civil penalties against the promoters. So we're actively investigating on both the criminal and the civil front for these marketers. Thanks, John. So our next question is, when withdrawing an ERC claim, is the requirement to withdraw just the full quarter or all of the quarters? And that's kind of a mix of some of the questions we've had earlier. So again, to help clarify, if you're going to withdraw the ERC, if you're going to withdraw all of the ERC on a calendar quarter, then you would use this withdrawal mechanism for that specific quarter. If you're withdrawing ERC for multiple quarters, you would still submit your withdrawals through this fax line, but you do it with a copy of each quarter in which you're withdrawing. So, again, if you have three quarters, and you're going to withdraw for all three quarters, then the expectation be three copies, one of each quarter with the withdrawal markings on them. Thanks for that response, John. So our next question is a really interesting one. So if you withdraw a claim, will penalty and interest still apply? No, that's something that I'm very happy to state, that if you are withdrawing, if you have a claim of ERC which is yet to have been processed, meaning, we have not paid it out, then you, this withdrawal process absolutely allows you to withdraw that claim without any civil penalty or interest associated with it. Thank you. All right. So our next question. So could you file a withdrawal form even if you cashed the check and sent a business check with the withdrawal form? Unfortunately, if you've cashed the check, that's not going to be an option, because your account will then show that there's a refund that has gone out and we don't want to create an adjustment where you may get a balance due suddenly. I can tell you that it's currently if you're in that circumstance, you could always, you're more than welcome to, submit a Form 941-X or whatever 94 Form you file with a check for the amount that to be received. And we also have new guidance coming out for taxpayers that have identified that they incorrectly got an ERC refund and what to do about that. So we're going to, that should be coming shortly.

Thanks for that response, John. So, on to our next question and audience, this looks like it might be our final question. But what types of things are you seeing that make business owners ineligible? Is it phony businesses or businesses that didn't lose the 50% or 80% drop in revenue?

If it's the latter, how does the IRS determine that? So we're identifying, it's a broad, it's a spectrum right as with everything with the employment tax, we're seeing from taxpayers claiming ERC on businesses that didn't even exist during the tax year of '20 or '21. And yet, we're getting claims for those to the point where we're getting claims on businesses in which they are claiming that they're eligible due to gross receipts. And yet, when we review the gross receipts they're gained, not dipped down. So it's, and then, of course, there's also the gray line of what constitutes the government order with respect to having a, experiencing a partial shutdown, including with a supply chain. So, it can be something that's super technical, and in which we have to review you know at the highest standard of looking through the technical, or technicalities or it can be something again, flagrant like not existing, no W2s being filed, something of that nature. Okay, thanks, John. So I have time for one more really quick question.

So can the form be signed electronically? Or does it need a written signature? So I believe it can be filed electronically, but I don't know exactly. I can't say that with absolute authority.

So I apologize, but I'm sorry, I believe it can be electronic. No, they want to know if they can sign it electronically. I'm not sure if I misread that. They want to know if they can sign the amended reforms electronically or is it require a written signature? Yeah we'll have to take that one back, because I'm not 100% certain. All right, John. Well, thank you so much for answering our questions. So audience that is all the time that we have for questions. And I do want to thank our Presenter, Roy Chaney for sharing his knowledge and expertise and John McInelly for answering our questions. So before we close the Q&A session, Roy, do you want to share some key points that you want the attendees to remember from today's webinar? Thanks, Anika.

Absolutely. So here are the key takeaways from today's webinar. The Service isn't currently processing ERC claims filed after September 13th. Filer of claims filed before September 14th, should understand that process can take up to 180 days from filing or even longer, if the claim is selected for further compliance review or an audit. Third, filers of claims before the, excuse me before the moratorium that now believe are ineligible or are otherwise incorrect, can withdraw the claim if they meet the withdrawal criteria. The withdrawal option can help an ineligible taxpayer avoid receiving an erroneous refund and having to pay it back possibly with penalties and interests. And lastly, ERC promoters are constantly changing their marketing tactics. We continue to remind taxpayers to seek out a trusted tax professional who understands the complex ERC eligibility rules, not a promoter or a marketer trying to get a hefty contingency fee while taking advantage of honest taxpayers. We will continue to partner with tax professionals and the small business and tax exempt communities. Audience, that's my time for today. I thank you for your participation within the webinar. Anika, I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you so much, Roy. So audience, we are planning additional webinars throughout the remainder of this year, and that includes a two-hour ethics webinar on Tuesday, November 28th. So to register for the ethics webinar or any upcoming webinars, you can visit the IRS website and do a keyword search for Webinars and either select Webinars for Tax Practitioners or Webinars for Small Business. When appropriate, we will offer certificates and continuing education credits for any upcoming webinars. We invite you to visit our video portal at www.irsvideos.gov, there you can see all of our archived versions of our webinars. But just a reminder, we do not offer any continuing education credit or certificates of completion for archived versions of any of our webinars on the IRS Video Portal. Another very big thank you to Mr. Roy Chaney, for a great webinar and for sharing his expertise and I want to say thank you to our attendees for attending today's webinar. Employee Retention Credit: Latest information on the Moratorium and Options for Withdrawing or Correcting Previously Filed Claims. Now, if you've attended today's webinar for at least 50 minutes after the official start time, then you're going to receive a certificate of completion that you can use with your credentialing organization for one possible CE credit. Again, anytime that you spent chatting before the webinar started does not count towards the 50-minute. If you're eligible for continuing education from the IRS and you registered with the PTIN, your credit will be posted to your PTIN account. And if you're eligible for continuing education with the California Tax Education Council, your credit will be posted to your CTEC account as well. If you qualify and you have not received your certificate or your credit by December 31st, just email us CL.SL.Web.Conference.Team@IRS.gov. We appreciate if you take a moment to complete our short evaluation before you exit. And if you'd like to have more sessions like this one, just let us know. We would love your thoughts on how we can make them better. And please let us know that as well. So if you have any requests for future webinar topics or pertinent information you'd like to see in an IRS tax tips or an FAQ on irs.gov, please include your suggestion in your comment section on the Survey. Click the Survey button on the right side of your screen to begin, and if it doesn't come up, make sure you check your pop-up blockers. Now, it has been a pleasure to be here with you all on behalf of the IRS and our speakers. We would love to thank you for attending today's webinar. It's important for the IRS to stay connected with the tax professional community, individual taxpayers, industry associations along with our federal, state and local government organizations. So you make our job a lot easier by sharing the information that allows for proper tax reporting. Thank you for your time and attendance and we wish you much success in your business or practice. You may exit the webinar at this time.