Covid ERC in 2026
Picking Up the Pieces ~ Which are Ticking Time Bombs?
with Bradley Burnett, J.D., LL.M.
Thursday, June 18. 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT
3 CPE. $149 This course is eligible for 3 IRS CE.
Remember when Covid ERC was the hottest thing going? In 2021–2024, somewhere around 70–80% of business tax practitioners had a client claiming it. Then the music stopped — but the dance floor never cleared. The truth nobody wants to say out loud: most of those claims are still sitting out there, unresolved, with the fuse quietly burning. IRS hasn't paid many. Has flatly denied others. Has paid part and rejected part of still more. And a frightening number have imminent action required — by the taxpayer, by the practitioner, or both — that no one is watching. This isn't clean up. It's defusal. Over three fast-moving hours, Bradley Burnett, J.D., LL.M., walks you through the live wires, color by color, so you know which to cut and which will blow up in your hands.
For most clients with lingering ERC issues, nobody is in their corner. The promoters who filed the claims have vanished. The IRS isn't calling to help. The clock is running, and rights expire whether or not anyone's paying attention. That vacuum is exactly where the trusted advisor steps up — not as a passive return-preparer, but as a genuine professional advocate.
Professional advocacy on ERC means standing between your client and an indifferent system. It means knowing the deadlines so cold that a right is never lost to silence. It means reading the transcript like a defense attorney reads a file, choosing the right battle — Exams, Appeals, court, or strategic retreat — and choosing it on time. It means having the spine to tell a client when to fight and the judgment to tell them when to walk. And it means protecting yourself, too, because the practitioner who advocates skillfully and documents diligently is the practitioner enforcement leaves alone.
This webinar arms you to be that advocate — the one professional in the room who actually picks up the pieces and defuses the bombs before they go off.
Defuse the ticking time bombs. Register now. 💣💣💣
In 2021-2024, Covid ERC was the hottest topic going on. 70-80% of business tax practitioners nationally had a client claiming ERC. Most Covid ERC claims are still sitting out there unresolved (many with imminent current action needed by the taxpayer and/or practitioner). Not much of anyone is paying attention to or helping to resolve Covid ERC unfinished business. Covid ERC’s interaction with the federal income tax deduction for wages continues to rock America. Congress wrote a vague rule that the income tax deduction for wages must be reduced by Covid ERC. Chaos broke out over that vague rule. Compliance response was all over the board. IRS continues to meddle and threaten taxpayers in the matter.
Masses of American employers, seeking to survive Covid, filed claims for ERC. IRS has not yet refunded most of those claims. This leaves most companies in a lurch. What to do now in the face of it? Must a taxpayer act soon (now) to protect their rights (else lose them)?
Federal court cases interpreting Covid ERC provisions are beginning to pop. How are taxpayers faring in the early going? How do income tax liability related issues play out in the face of it all?
CPA Trendlines Academy Exclusive: 2 downloadable Employment Retention Credit checklists; one to assess your firm's liability and the other for analyzing your client's ERC situation and roadmap for the resulting interview.
What Brad Tackles
Across 21 hard questions, Brad gets practical about the messes that are actually on your desk right now:
The waiting game. If you claimed ERC and the money still hasn't shown up — not paid, not denied, just limbo — what do you do next, and by when? Which deadlines are bearing down fast, which can be survived, and which absolutely cannot be missed?
The window you assumed was shut. Is it still possible to file an ERC claim? (The answer surprises people.) And how do protective claims — old ones and new ones — change your whole strategy?
Reading the tea leaves. What to hunt for on a taxpayer's IRS transcript to solve the mystery of status and next steps. How to honestly grade the technical strength of a claim filed years ago, in today's light.
When it's already gone wrong. What to do if a client claimed ERC and likely shouldn't have — especially if IRS already cut the check. How long can IRS claw it back? How long does the statute really stay open against the taxpayer who didn't do the right thing?
The PEO purgatory. Stuck behind a PEO with a claim frozen in the logjam? Brad lays out how to break it loose.
The courts wake up. Early federal court rulings on ERC eligibility are starting to pop. Who's winning, who's losing, which criteria the courts are honoring and which they're ignoring — and what those early indicators mean for your open files.
The enforcement chill. Penalties, sanctions, even jail time are landing on practitioners who got ERC wrong. Where's the real risk exposure, and how much of it grows simply by doing nothing?
Knowing when to fold. Is it worth pouring more resources into a refund chase — and how do you decide whether to proceed, pause, or walk away?
The deduction headache. Congress wrote a vague rule reducing the wage deduction by ERC, chaos followed, and IRS keeps meddling. Did IRS overreach in its guidance? Are you exposed if you followed it — or if you challenged it?
The big question. Is ERC truly behind us, or are the biggest bombs still ahead? What has to happen to actually close it out?
Group Live Internet
Field of Study: NASBA Taxes
Level: Intermediate
IRS Crs # IVYPC-T-00010-26-O
CPE 3. $149
About the Presenter
Bradley Burnett, J.D., LL.M., is a practicing tax attorney, licensed in Colorado, with 38 years of tax practice experience. His practice emphasis is on tax planning and tax controversy resolution. Prior to establishing his own law firm in 1990, he practiced tax accounting with national and local CPA firms, worked as a trust officer for a Denver bank, and managed the tax department as partner in a medium-sized Denver law firm. After receiving his undergraduate degree in accounting and law degree (J.D.), he earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from the University of Denver School of Law Graduate Tax Program.
Mr. Burnett has delivered more than 3,400 presentations on U.S. tax law throughout all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the Bahamas, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Canada. He has authored texts of 45 CPE courses. Mr. Burnett served as adjunct professor at the University of Denver School of Law Graduate Tax Program, where he pioneered an employment tax course and taught IRS practice and procedure. He has appeared on television answering tax questions for call-in viewers of Denver NBC affiliate KUSA Channel 9. Brad received the Illinois Society of CPAs Instructor Excellence Award for teaching in Chicago and five times has been the top rated, most requested instructor for CPA Society annual tax conferences.
About the Sponsor
The CPA Trendlines Academy (Thomas Advisors LLC d/b/a) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors via its website at nasbaregistry.org.
