Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Ends Employee Retention Credit as of October 1, 2021

The H.R. 3684 – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed by the Senate on August 12, 2021, the House of Representatives on November 5, 2021, and now awaits President Biden’s signature. Once signed, Section 80604 of this bill will amend the termination date of Employee Retention Credit in Section 3134 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 from January 1, 2022 to October 1, 2021 (or, in the case of wages paid by an eligible employer which is a recovery startup business, January 1, 2022).

The modification to the Employee Retention Credit removes business owners' access to the expected fourth-quarter credit for 2021 but may still be available to entities classifying as Recovery Startup Businesses until January 1, 2022. 

Note: Recovery Startup Businesses are an entirely new category of Eligible Employers introduced by the American Rescue Plan Act and include any company that:

• began operations after February 15, 2020, and,

• has average annual gross receipts of $1,000,000 or less.

Our firm is diligently monitoring this information and we will provide accurate updates as soon as we are made aware of any possible options for business relief outside of Recovery Startup Businesses.