The Employee Retention Tax Credit is an incentive originally created within the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) intended to encourage employers to keep employees on the payroll as they navigate the unprecedented effects of COVID-19. The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, originally did not allow employers to both obtain a PPP loan and claim the ERTC. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which was signed into law by former President Trump on December 27, 2020, provides a much-welcomed modification to the CARES Act by now allowing all eligible employers to claim the ERTC, even if they have received a PPP loan. The Act also extended the ERTC to 2021.

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