Murphy and Delgado Leads Members in Urging Support for the Employee Retention Tax Credit

WASHINGTON-Today, U.S. Representatives Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., led 15 of their colleagues in sending a letter to House leadership in support of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).

The ERTC allows small business owners to claim a payroll tax credit of up to $7,000 per employee, per quarter for wages paid while closed or operating at reduced capacity due to the pandemic. Congress established the ERTC in the CARES Act in March 2020 and later reauthorized it through December 31, 2021 in the American Rescue Plan. The letter calls on House leadership to ensure that the ERTC remains in place for the remainder of this calendar year.

"I was proud to lead the bipartisan effort over the past year-and-a-half to establish the employee retention tax credit, which provides financial support to businesses who retain or rehire workers, rather than lay them off," said Murphy. "Now I'm working in partnership with Congressman Delgado to keep the ERTC in place through the end of 2021, so we can help as many workers and businesses as possible recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic."

"I've heard from countless small business owners about the importance of the ERTC," said Delgado. "For some, it has been the difference between closing their doors and staying open for business. I'm proud to lead my colleagues in pushing for this critical lifeline for small businesses in upstate New York and across the country."

The full text of the letter can be found below. It was signed by Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., and Representatives Susan Wild, D-Pa., Henry Cuellar, D-TX, Lou Correa, D-Calif., Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia, Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Sharice Davids, D-Kan., Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Dean Phillips, D-Minn.

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Speaker of the House

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

Thank you for your leadership and steadfast commitment to supporting America's small businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate all that you have done to ensure that our nation's small businesses can make rent, pay their employees, and keep their doors open.

As you know, Congress established the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) in Sec. 2301 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136). The ERTC originally allowed employers to claim a payroll tax credit of up to $5,000 per employee for wages paid while closed or operating at reduced capacity due to the pandemic between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

The ERTC's refundable structure ensures that small businesses receive the benefit more quickly than income tax credits. In addition, the CARES Act instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue the credit in the form of an advance payment. Moreover, the ERTC is particularly beneficial to small businesses. While the CARES Act allowed larger firms to claim the credit for wages paid to employees who were not working because of the pandemic, firms with 100 or fewer full-time employees could claim it for all wages paid.

Congress subsequently expanded and extended the ERTC in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2). Taken together, these statutes raised the credit cap to $7,000 per quarter paid between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.

When Congress reauthorized the ERTC through the end of 2021 this past March, we acknowledged that far too many of our nation's small businesses are struggling to regain strong economic footing after an incredibly difficult year. These struggles are further compounded by the Delta variant, now the dominant strain of coronavirus across the United States, which spreads faster and causes more infections than earlier forms of the virus.

We have all heard from our constituents about the importance of the ERTC. For some small businessowners, it has been the difference between closing their firms and remaining open for business. As the House considers critically important legislation to make long-overdue investments in our nation's infrastructure and create a better future for ourselves and future generations of Americans, we ask that you ensure the ERTC remains in place for the remainder of this calendar year.

The credit has been a crucial lifeline for small businesses across the country, and countless small businessowners have already factored the credit into their financial plans for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2022. To end the ERTC prematurely would not only jeopardize the earnings of the tens of millions of Americans employed by small businesses, but also pull the rug out from under small businessowners who expected, reasonably, that the credit would be available until the end of 2021.

Thank you for your commitment to America's small businesses and for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

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