As you may be aware, the IRS announced in September 2023 it was delaying the processing of Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) applications. Even before this moratorium, the IRS had a tremendous backlog for ERC review, meaning submissions before the moratorium announcement were already delayed. Although these delays are out of the firm’s control, we want you to receive your payments plus interest as soon as possible. It is important to note the IRS’s actions are unprecedented as it is proactively going against the will and intent of Congress, which is to assist businesses that suffered through the Pandemic.
We believe that people should take proactive action to help spur quicker processing by the IRS with your ERC application so you can receive your payment plus interest more quickly. If you don’t want to continue to wait for the IRS to process your ERC amended returns and pay you your money plus interest we suggest you consider retaining us to do any or all of the following three actions:
Present your case to the Taxpayer Advocate Service (“TAS”);
Present your case to your congressperson;
Refund Litigation against the IRS in Federal District Court or Federal Court of Claims including a request for reimbursement of your legal fees.
Continue to Wait
The IRS is processing the ERC amended returns submitted prior to the announced moratorium. However, the IRS has advised Congress this spring that there is no timetable for processing all ERC submissions. We believe that the IRS moratorium is incredibly wrong as this is the first time in United States history that the IRS has chosen to ignore the law and the intent of Congress. Only the Congress makes the law, the IRS merely facilitates the law made by Congress. Part of this law was to get government money into the hands of business quickly, the IRS moratorium is doing exactly the opposite of why this law was passed.
Explained below are three courses of action that we are recommending to get the IRS to do what this law requires of them and as quickly as possible:
Taxpayer Advocate Service Request: The firm can submit a TAS request on your behalf. The TAS is an independent organization within the IRS that ensures that every taxpayer is treated fairly. The TAS may speed the processing of the request by contacting the department holding your returns. This action will require our application and correspondence to be issued to TAS in addition to communication between the firm and the TAS.
Firm presentation to Your Congressperson: The firm can present your case to your Congressperson describing the hardship of these delays on your business and your request to this congressperson to act on your behalf and contact the IRS. Remember this Congressperson has worked on this very law that the IRS has chosen to defy.
Refund Litigation against the IRS in Federal District Court or Federal Court of Claims: If a person who has filed a refund claim (the ERC amended tax return) and has not had a response or notice of disallowance within a qualifying time period, the person may file a refund suit against the IRS in federal court. The refund suit may cause IRS Counsel in this suit to directly contact the IRS department handling your claim and possibly spur processing the return as to avoid litigation, which causes a burden on the IRS’s resources. If we choose this course of action, we will also request that the Court award you attorney fees.
We can do any or all of the above for you and we believe that doing them in a certain order will be the most effective for you. Please note that above actions 1, 2 and 3 would need a new engagement with our firm should you choose to engage us with this. We believe that these actions are your best course of action in response to the IRS moratorium to help speed up the processing of your returns and your payment plus interest more quickly
Please contact our office at 888-TAX-DEAL or online at moskowitzllp.com for a free consultation to discuss what we believe is best for you to receive your money plus interest as quickly as possible.