Press Releases

WASHINGTON—A new report prepared by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) says the expanded Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) spearheaded by U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and enacted into law as part of the most recent COVID relief bill will help over 6 million businesses retain or rehire over 13 million workers over the next six months. According to the JCT estimate, businesses will claim over $35 billion in employee retention tax credits, with small businesses employing fewer than 500 workers claiming the vast majority of those federal benefits. Murphy, who sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, introduced a bipartisan bill to expand the ERTC—H.R. 6776, the JOBS Credit Act—in May 2020 and then worked for eight months to successfully shepherd it into law.

“This job-saving tool will help millions of businesses, especially smaller businesses, retain or rehire millions of American workers during this pandemic, keeping these workers connected to their jobs and to their employer-sponsored health insurance,” said Murphy. “I’ll keep working to raise awareness about this refundable tax credit so as many workers and businesses as possible will benefit from it.”

The ERTC encourages businesses financially impacted by COVID-19 to keep workers on their payroll or to re-hire workers who were laid off. Murphy was the first Member of the U.S. House of Representatives to propose the ERTC as a way to help employees and employers during the pandemic. The ERTC was included in the March 2020 CARES Act and then extended and enhanced as part of the December 2020 COVID relief bill as a result of the bipartisan effort spearheaded by Murphy.

To see the complete JCT analysis of the expanded ERTC, including a chart showing the number of businesses and workers that will benefit, click here.

###