Saying $80,000 restaurants could close permanently, is being conservative. We’ll talk about the employee retention tax credit later. But in response to the RRF update, Erika Polmar, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition stated: “We estimate more than half of the 177,300 restaurants waiting for an RRF grant will close in the next few months as a result of congressional inaction.”
What is the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF)?
The fund was established and monies allocated under the American Rescue Plan Act to help businesses stay open.
The RRF provided funding of up to $5M per location for restaurants, bars, breweries, wineries and other eligible businesses.
If your company was owned by a woman, veteran or socially and economically disadvantage, you got priority for this money.
Application is made by the Small Business Association (SBA)’s special online RRF application portal.
Once you got the money, you had to follow the rules.
Repayment of RRF money is forgiven, if you used it is specific ways by the due date, which was March 1, 2023.
Can I still get RRF Money?
The bad news is and the short answer is: No.
Only 101,000 businesses were lucky enough to get funds in the first 3 weeks, before the funds ran out. Apparently, the government under-estimated the amount of pain that COVID-19 inflicted on the restaurant industry.
177,000 were hoping that the US Congress would vote to replenish the funds. Well if you’re a restaurant or in one of the other eligible food related businesses, you can stop holding your breath.
After approving $40B in aid to Ukraine, our senators apparently lost their appetite for funding programs. On May 19, 2022, the RRF replenishment legislation has officially failed!
And according to the Independent Restaurant Coalition, half of those waiting for the replenishment money will likely fail as a result.
Oh-No, What’s a Restaurant to do?
The good news is: ERTC money is still available for restaurants and all small businesses.
ERTC, which stands for Employee Retention Tax Credit, was funded as part of the CARES Act, along with programs like the PPP loan. It is a rebate from the IRS of taxes paid in 2020 and 2021, during the heat of the pandemic.
What makes the Employee Retention Tax Credit so different is that, it is NOT a loan. It’s a tax credit in the form of a cash rebate from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Once you get the ERTC money, you can use it however you wish. There are no restrictions on how it is used, and it never has to be paid back!!
What qualifies my business to get Employee Retention Tax Credit?
Employee Count
• 2020: Your business had between 5 and 100 full-time W-2 employees on payroll.
• 2021: Your business had between 5 and 500 full-time W-2 employees on payroll.
COVID impact:
• Your business was placed under any type of government shutdown order.
OR
• You lost revenue in 2020 or 2021, as compared to 2019.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Also note: If you started your business during the pandemic, you can get ERTC COVID relief money too!
But, of course, the government makes it complicated to figure out how much you qualify for.
So, our specialty CPA firm focuses 100% on helping businesses apply for and collect the ERTC.
Fill out the form on our site, to we can start getting you an estimate of how much money IRS owes you?
More Employee Retention Tax Credit good news:
Initially you could not get both the PPP loan and the ERTC tax credit.
Hence, many accountants will tell you that you do not qualify for ERTC money.
However, in 2021, amendments to the legislation now allow you to get the ERTC, even if you previously received the PPP loan.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan no longer disqualifies you!
Some incredible ERTC news:
Even death does not disqualify you – meaning death of the business
I wrote another article called “ERTC is life after death for business owners”. And the same message is still true.
Businesses and restaurants that were COVID fatalities, can still get ERTC COVID relief money.
Because, remember: ERTC is a rebate of taxes you already paid to the IRS.
Are you ready to get your Employee Retention Tax Credit (before this money runs out)?
IRS Tax Credit Rebate and ERTC Express have teamed up to help businesses with 5 or more full time W-2 employees, qualify, document and claim the ERTC Tax Credit Rebate of up to $26K per employee!
And if you don’t want to wait the up to 10 months for the IRS to process your claim, you can take advantage of our Rapid Rebate option.
Learn more at irsOWESyou.MONEY
Whether your business / restaurant has already closed, or is likely to close in 2022, or is now thriving, some Employee Retention Tax Credit COVID-19 relief money should help. Don’t be one of the estimated 80,000 restaurants that will close. Get the money that the IRS owes you.