How do I claim the employee retention credit on wages already paid?

Glad to see you in the Community, loriwhite201.

I'd love to share ideas about retention credit.

Before you can take an employee retention credit, you need to do a few things. Here's what to do.

1. Make sure you qualify for the credit.
2. Set up your payroll to accept and track the credit

Qualifying wages that weren't included on past paychecks should be reported to us before July 1st, 2020.

Employees who fall into one of the categories below will not earn enough to get the maximum allowable retention credit:

• Full-time employees who make less than $10/hour
• Part-time employees

      3.Select your payroll to get started:

Step 1: Set up your employees with the pay types

1. Go to Payroll menu, then select Employee.
2. Select the employee you’d like to add paid leave to.
3. In the How much do I pay an employee section, select the edit icon to add more pay types.
4. Under the CARES Act section, select the pay types that apply to you: CARES Act Regular and CARES Act Overtime.
5. If applicable, select and enter any Employer Paid Health Insurance Premium amount to be tracked on each check.
6. Select Done.

Step 2: Run your payroll using the pay types

1. Select Run Payroll from the Overview screen.
2. If you have multiple pay schedules select the schedule you are paying.
3. Enter hours in the corresponding fields:
   • For regular hours in the Employee Retention Credit Regular.
   • For any overtime hours in the Employee Retention Credit Overtime.
   • If applicable, enter in the Employer Health Insurance Premium.
   • If your employee is salaried, select the salary amount shown to reduce the hours by the number of hours you are paying your employee with the Employee Retention pay items.
   • If your employee is commission only, you will need to convert their pay to an hourly rate.
4. Enter any other items you need to include.
5. Select Preview Payroll.
6. Review the paychecks, and then select Submit Payroll.

You can read through this article about the  Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act: How the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act affects your payroll

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to reach back to our Community site. Stay safe.

This is the same information that is available without reaching out to the experts.

Do I have to delete the payroll that has already been run and process payroll all over again for the quarter?

Hey there, @loriwhite201.

I want to share some clarifications and get you pointed in the right direction so you can claim the employee retention credit that was paid.

The Employee Retention Credit is a fully refundable tax credit for employers equal to 50 percent of qualified wages (including allowable qualified health plan expenses) that Eligible Employers pay their employees. This applies to qualified wages paid after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021.

Therefore, an Eligible Employer may be able to claim the credit for qualified wages paid as early as March 13, 2020.

To help you in claiming the credit that was paid, I suggest contacting our Customer Care Team. This way, you'll be guided in correcting your 2020 paychecks and help you claim the employee retention credit. Thus, you will no longer delete paychecks that have been processed.

To reach them:

1. Click on Help at the top menu bar.
2. Hit on the Contact Us button.
3. Enter a brief description of the issue in the What can we help you with? box.
4. Press on Let's talk.
5. Select on Get a callback.
6. Key in your contact details, then tap on Confirm my call.

For more information on how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act affects your payroll, I'll add these articles your reference:

• What you need to know about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• FAQs: Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act.

Please let me know how it goes or if you have any other questions or concerns. I want to make sure everything is taken care of for you. Have a good one!

I use QB Enhanced Payroll on Desktop

This is the method I used for revising my 941 for Q1 of 2021.  Note that for Q's that have already had 941's submitted you will need to complete a 941x and submit by mail.

I had not done any payroll using the ERC payroll item because we didn't qualify due to having a PPP loan.  Since the law has changed we are now eligible.  When I went to file our 941 for Q1 of 2021 there is no way to edit any of the numbers and worksheet 1 is not even available.

After spending a LONG time on the phone with support, they were telling me there is no way to edit the paychecks because the direct deposits had already been completed, and there is no way to edit the 941 or worksheet 1 because no ERC items had been used.

So....  I created a single paycheck (for later deletion) for someone in Q1 with $1000 of ERC (using the setup QB has outlined).  I did not submit or otherwise process this payroll.  I made sure the paycheck was for a period in Q1 and dated within Q1.  THEN when I run the 941 all of the items I need to revise became so I could override them, and worksheet 1 was available and I could edit the numbers I needed to.  I can then just delete the paycheck after submitting the 941.

Be sure you run and print (do not submit) a 941 prior to creating the fake paycheck so you know what the numbers are.

I have gotten to the point where I can submit the 941 but I haven't done so as I'm awaiting final review from my CPA, but I'm assuming that this method will work.

I have done this process a number of times today and keep getting second language English representatives who do not know what I am talking about. How about employing US residents who are familiar with this to assist us.

I use Intuit Payroll Online, which only has chat support. 

We discovered eligibility for Q1-2021 after filing the Form 941 and paying all the normal taxes when due.  Intuit's chatline rep sent our case to the "backoffice" to recalculate Q1 for the credit, which he said will take 5-7 business days.  He reassured me that the info for an amended Form 941 will be available once the payroll is recoded for ERC in Q1-2021. 

Appreciate the detailed info here for setting up for ERC in Q2-2021 and steps for claiming the ERC retroactively. Hope I don't have to do the gyrations above to get the numbers for the amended Form 941.

Thank you! Gesh - I love how all the replies from intuit is the same stuff you can already find online. Its like they are not even reading the question!!! I wouldn't be posting on here if there was already a post about it!!

The representative I spent an hour on the phone with today told me this is the first he has been asked about this issue.  He tried researching, sent me a link I had already seen which doesn't help and then told me to ask my accountant.  I still do not have an answer.  Any help is appreciated because QB does not know what to do.  My friends that use ADP had no issues.  This is frustrating!

Let me share with you a few information about Employee Retention Credit (ERC) in QuickBooks Online (QBO), @Demps4.

Before we start, I'd like to commend you for taking advance steps on personally addressing this concern.

The ERC is a fully refundable tax credit that's equal to 50 percent of qualified wages (including allowable qualified health plan expenses) that you pay your employees. Once you're eligible, you'll first have to make sure you set up your payroll account to accept and track the credit. 

There are two processes you need to perform:

• Set up your employees with the pay types
• Run your payroll using the pay types

For the step-by-step guide, I'd recommend checking out this article's Set up your payroll to accept and track the credit section: How to set up and track the Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act.

Then, in case you need further assistance in claiming ERC in QBO, I encourage you to reach out to our Customer Care team. They can securely pull up your account and guide you with all the necessary steps you need to claim ERC. You'll first need to check out our support hours to make sure we address your concern on time. Here's how:

1. Go to the Help menu.
2. Click the Contact Us button.
3. Enter a brief description of the issue in the What can we help you with? field.
4. Select Let's talk.
5. Choose the Get a callback option.
6. Key in your contact details.
7. Click Confirm my call.

I've attached a screenshot below for your reference.

In the meantime, I'm adding these articles below to learn more about how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act affects your payroll:

• FAQs: Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act

• What you need to know about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Don’t hesitate to visit us again here in the Community if you have other QuickBooks concerns. I’m only a few clicks away for help. Take care always.

Then you talk with them for an hour, still don't get the issue resolved and then call is "disconnected".  Foreign reps that have no clue as to their own software capabilities nor U.S. tax system. Useless!!

they are useless. rude and just hangs up when they get frustrated.....

I have QBDT Accountant and I do not see the How much do I pay an employee section.