Business owners, check your qualification for relief due to COVID-19 response

Small Business owners, check into the Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act, which you may qualify for additional relief due to the damage that the COVID-19 response caused your business. Especially for restaurants, gyms, and any other business that was shutdown by the state! If you file an IRS Form 941, you may be able to claim the credit, including the refundable part.

The Credit pays for half of employee wages to a cap of $10,000 total for 2020, so it's worth up to $5,000 per employee for all of 2020. For 2021, the credit is worth up to $7,000 per employee, per quarter, on wages paid of $10,000 per quarter.

The credit was not previously available to those who also got a PPP loan, however, new legislation at the end of December last year, made it retroactively available to those who got such a loan. That also extended the credit out for the first 2 quarters of 2021.

Check with your accountant!

See https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/employee-retention-credit
and the FAQ: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-employee-retention-credit-under-the-cares-act
(These haven't yet been updated with all the changes from the new legislation)

Forbes also has several good articles on this subject, which also discuss the new changes at the end of the year.