WASHINGTON – Rep. Jack Bergman sent a letter to the IRS opposing recent guidance discriminating against business owners with families and demanding immediate action to change this misguided rule.

On Aug. 4, the IRS issued guidance on the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) – a refundable tax credit that has helped thousands of businesses avoid laying off employees since the start of the pandemic. Rep. Bergman supported the creation of the ERC as part of the CARES Act in March of 2020. Unfortunately, the recent IRS guidance makes it so that wages to business owners or their spouses only qualify for the ERC if the business owner doesn’t have any living siblings, parents, or children.

This illogical guidance clearly goes against the intent of Congress and arbitrarily punishes Americans with families. The letter from Congressman Bergman is an important first step in efforts to overturn this unfair bureaucratic decision.

The full text of the letter can be found here.