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Should your Firm Retain ERC Clients?

  • Author:John Ray
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Should your Firm Retain ERC Clients?

Should your Firm Retain ERC Clients?

When I reached out to Ted Forman about speaking at our June 2023, Litigation update event, he said that he wanted to cover Covid  Employee Retention Credits (ERC). I knew law firms were involved in helping employers with filing returns that included rebate claims under the ERC program, but I didn’t understand why anyone was hiring a lawyer to assist with filing their returns. Generally, people hire lawyers once the IRS has taken exception with a filing, not before.
 
After seeing Ted’s presentation and further discussions it became clear to me why employers are retaining attorneys “on the front end” when filing their returns versus waiting to hire legal counsel when and if a problem occurs.

It also became clear to me why so many firms are signing “ERC” clients and why other firms should be retaining ERC clients, more on this topic below.

About Ted Forman

Ted  Forman is an accountant as well as a lawyer. Ted was  also a  former federal prosecutor who worked as a trial attorney prosecuting criminal tax cases in the Criminal Enforcement Section of the Tax Division of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

Ted is co-counseling with a significant number of firms that have retained ERC clients, that might not have been comfortable retaining these clients without the expertise of someone with Ted’s background on board. 

Should your Firm Retain ERC Clients?

While many firms may not have experience in tax matters, most firms have past clients, friends and family that own businesses.

It is not unusual for firms with contacts and name recognition to market for clients in cases in which the firm will include co-counsel in the performance of the client’s work.

Having Ted Forman as co-counsel allows any firm to take advantage of their name recognition and contacts to recruit clients that would benefit from having someone with Ted’s expertise on board. 

Why Are Clients Hiring Law Firms for a Tax Matter

  1. There is a common belief that the IRS is likely to scrutinize returns claiming rebates under the ERC program. Whether or not this concern manifests into reality has yet to be seen however, given the complex nature and the need to interpret the laws related to the temporary program, many employers feel more comfortable having a lawyer involved in the filing of their return versus potentially having to hire an attorney if the IRS decides to take issue with their claims.

  2. Because the “temporary laws” are complex many accountants and their clients are not comfortable moving forward without having an attorney experienced in tax matters on board.

  3. Due to the confusion over the hastily passed laws giving rise to the ERC program, many accountants have told their employer client’s that they do not qualify for the program (due to a lack of understanding of the law). 

Why Firms are Co-Counseling with Forman Law

Obviously, an attorney who is also an accountant and former “tax prosecutor” brings experience and expertise most firms do not have in-house. 
 
Ted signs the returns for his clients and those of the firms he co-counsels, he also provides an audit guarantee. If any client is audited, Teds includes representing any client through the audit should one occur. 

While no one at the IRS would likely admit this, having the signature of a former tax prosecutor, accountant and lawyer on a return might impact whether an individual agent decides to pursue a marginal case against a taxpayer. 

Why I recommend having a conversation with Ted:

  1. If you have already signed ERC clients and you feel like you need to bring some additional expertise on board.

  2. If you haven’t reached out to past clients, contacts nor marketed for these clients, because you are likely missing out on an opportunity to help and earn fees in the process.

  3. Last but not least, for your own firms ERC claim. 

 

Contact Ted at:

Email: ted@formanlawoffices.com
Phone: (561) 266 - 9998


 

Register and Book your room today for our September Litigation Updates event!

Book your room today: http://bookings.ihotelier.com/bookings.jsp?groupID=3956304&hotelID=15542



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