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Management Took Actions to Address Erroneous Employee Retention Credit Claims; However, Some Questionable Claims Still Need to Be Addressed

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2024-400-068
Report Type
Audit
Special Project
Pandemic
Special Emphasis
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and COVID-19 Related Audits
Joint Report
Yes
Participating OIG
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$1,885,749,111

Recommendations

On February 28, 2024, we alerted the ERC Team Lead of our concern and recommended that the IRS review the 997 tax returns we identified and consider them for post-refund compliance review to recover potentially erroneous ERC paid.

On February 28, 2024, we alerted the ERC Team Lead of our concern and recommended that the IRS review the 139,993 and 44,930 Tax Years 2020 and 2021 returns and consider them for post-refund compliance to recover any potentially erroneous ERC paid.

The Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, should ensure that the 923 entities we identified receive a disallowance letter to prevent erroneous ERC claims from being paid.

The Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, should ensure that any subsequent analysis to identify businesses for recapture letters uses accurate wage data and takes into consideration lessons learned from the Tax Year 2020 recapture letters.