Payroll: Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC)

[Marta]

Hi,

I am a Square Payroll customer/employer. Given that the rules for the Employee Retention Tax Credit have changed  (As of December 2020, businesses now have the opportunity to take out a PPP loan and obtain the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) for both 2020 and 2021.), I'm eagerly awaiting how Square Payroll will allow for the calculation/implementation of this.  Given that these tax credits could be a significant help for some businesses, does Square Payroll plan to file or even guide employers on this? 

[YourMoms]

Did you ever hear back from them? 

[Hch]

 Any responce @Square about how long this will take to roll out? Other companies like Gusto and Intuit already have this feature and I'll have to switch as well!

[ArepasHouse]

I have a questions for those who changed payroll company. Once you switched, Were they able to help you with previous 941s to get the ETRC? 

Im thinking about switching as well.

[Beth]

ADP will not help you with the previous years returns unless you were a customer at the time. Gusto and ADP are helping current customers refile those returns. 

[Beth]

I spoke to Square Payroll they are not offering any help. I got this email after the call. 

Square Payroll does not currently have the ability to automatically apply the Employee Retention Credit to your account. However, if you would like to take advantage of this tax program, Square Payroll can turn off the debit and collection of your federal employment taxes which will allow you to apply for the tax credits and file the necessary tax forms with the IRS.

There are a few things to note when the federal tax debits are disabled:

• This affects the IRS debit for Medicare, Social Security and Federal Income taxes. You would be responsible for making these payments to the IRS at the appropriate times. Square Payroll will still debit for the federal unemployment tax (FUTA) when you process payroll.
• When the tax debits are disabled, Square Payroll will not be able to file Form 941 on your behalf. You would be responsible for filing this form outside of Square Payroll.
• Once tax debits are disabled for a given quarter, you will not be able to re-enable the debits partway through that quarter. For this reason, you may want to disable tax debits one quarter at a time.
• If you would like to apply the Employee Retention Credit to previously filed 941’s we recommend reaching out to your tax professional for assistance, as Square is unable to amend 941’s for this purpose.

PayChex, Gusto, ADP, OnPay are all good services. We'll be switching soon.  

[ReginaClose]

Well that is just ridiculous. Looks like I need to start looking into another service as well. 

[YourMoms]

@Square why isn’t this feature being implemented in square payroll like it is with other payroll services? 🤔

[jandr]

This is absurd!  They want us to turn off a feature we are paying them for, then get third party help from an accountant, and from the looks of it give us no help figuring out the numbers to submit on the amended forms????  Hey SQUARE - THIS SUCKS!!!

[Hch]

👏👏👏💯💯💯

come on square, you can do better than this! 

[LaurenSQ · Accepted solution]

Hello! We're happy to announce that Square Payroll can now help you claim the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) on your Form 941. If you need to claim the ERC for Q1 2021, please contact the Square Payroll Support team by April 21, 2021 with responses to the following questions:

• Is your business eligible for the ERC?
• What is your ERC amount?
• What were the total qualified wages used to calculate your ERC amount?
• Did the qualified wages include health plan expenses? If so, how much?
• Did you receive an advance credit through Form 7200?

To ensure your business is eligible to claim the ERC and that you are calculating the credit amount accurately, we recommend reading the Employee Retention Credit article in our Support Center. With the recent legislative changes, Square Payroll will be supporting the ability to claim the ERC on Form 941 through the end of the year. If your business continues to be eligible, please contact Square Payroll Support team to report your ERC amounts for future quarters as well! 

[appliancesaplus]

Hello-

Can you check if my business eligible for ERC and what amount my employee can get?

Thank you,

Larisa 

[serenityscasual]

Good Afternoon,

Can you tell me if my business qualifies for the ERC , Please Thak you 

[MayaP]

Hello there @serenityscasual, please note that this program ended in 2021. You can check out eligibility for Employee Retention Tax Credit here. . I hope this helps! 

[NickS]

As a long time and hyper-loyal Square customer, this experience with payroll (or lack of I guess?) has me second guessing our loyalty and reliance on Square. The lack of ERC support is an absolute failure on Square's part. 

[Valentina]

We support claiming this credit through Square Payroll, @NickS. The Best Answer on this thread should provide additional info if you click around on the links posted. We will reach out at the end of the quarter (mid June) for amounts for Q2 filings. Feel free to get in touch by phone if you have any questions for a Payroll specialist.

[Donith]

Hi. We as a business didn't claim any ERTC for 2020 and we're hoping to adjust our 941 to correct that and collect on the credit. Does Square have the ability to file a 941-X, with the included tax credit? If not, do you have any resources to file our own adjustment and claim the credit?

[Valentina]

The Best Answer in this thread should help shine a light on intricacies related to the ERC.

I've moved your post here so you can reference the post, but please be sure to get in touch directly with our team by phone if your question isn't answered here, so that a member of our team can take a look at your account with you, @Donith.

P.S. Welcome to the Seller Community!

[Flykid_boutique]

I just got an email for arc q3 Im trying to find out how do you even go about filing for the erc

[spnick]

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7426-employee-retention-credit

[AmsterdamCo]

I filed, I believe it was accepted. When can I expect the check or payment does anyone know?

[Kassi_]

Welcome back to the Community, @AmsterdamCo - 

I would recommend reaching out to our Payroll Team about this. They would be able to give you directed support since this account specific. 

Thank you!