The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), a federal watchdog assigned to examine fraud under the government’s COVID-19 relief programs, has estimated that fraud under the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) could cost U.S. taxpayers in excess of $2 trillion. The PRAC’s report issued late last year has largely flown under the radar, but is now gaining renewed attention as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) prioritizes ERC fraud enforcement heading into 2024. Boston tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains:Read More

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) was a pandemic-era program designed to help businesses that were struggling due to the economic impacts of COVID-19. Under the program, eligible businesses could claim a refundable credit for “qualified wages,” effectively subsidizing their payroll as long as they kept their employees onboard.Read More

In its efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency-related tax evasion, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has relied heavily on “John Doe” summonses in recent years. These summonses require cryptocurrency exchanges and other intermediaries to turn over their customers’ information to the agency—even though the agency doesn’t know whether these customers have committed a crime.Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a withdrawal process for businesses that have concerns about the validity of their Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims. As the IRS explains, it will treat withdrawn ERC claims “as if they were never filed,” and it will not impose penalties or interest.Read More

Faced with a wave of fraudulent claims, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has ordered an immediate stop to the processing of all claims for the federal Employee Retention Credit (ERC). As a pandemic-era economic relief program, the ERC was only available for the 2020 and 2021 tax years, but until recently, eligible businesses that did not claim the ERC during these tax years could do so retroactively.Read More