The “Uncle Billy” Problem with the ERC

With Bradley Burnett, JD LLM

With 18 months of water under the bridge, we’re three-fourths of the way through the Employee Retention Program, the IRS changed their mind on an extremely important issue that changes many, many tax situations.

The question is: Who’s eligible? And who’s not?

The IRS did a complete about-face, now saying if you’re a 50-percent-plus owner and you have a living relative, or half relative, or an ancestor, or a descendant, or a multi-level marketing sponsor, or even an Uncle Billy you haven’t heard from in years… They say you’re not eligible.

It’s crazy! It’s just plain wonky.

So what do we do now?

Many practitioners in good faith have claimed the ERC. Now, do we have to amend? Or, can you let this ride? Congress is already asking IRS to change its position. Will the IRS reverse itself? Hard to say.

You’ll need to break out Form 827 for uncertain positions with your next filing.

There’s a lot to out sort out here.

Episode 4: IRS Notice 2021-29 “drops a bomb” on the Employee Retention Credit.