Employers who realize they should not have filed an ERC claim can participate in the withdrawal process if all of the following apply:

They claimed the ERC on an adjusted employment return (Forms 941-X, 943-X, 944-X or CT-1X);
They filed the adjusted return only to claim the ERC and made no other adjustments;
They want to withdraw the entire amount of their ERC claim; and
The IRS has not paid the claim, or the IRS has paid the claim but they haven't cashed or deposited the refund check.

The withdrawal procedure depends on how the original claim was filed and where taxpayers might be in the process:

Taxpayers whose professional payroll company filed their ERC claim should consult with the payroll company. The payroll company may need to submit the withdrawal request for the taxpayer, depending on whether the taxpayer's ERC claim was filed individually or batched with others.
Taxpayers who filed their ERC claims themselves; haven't received, cashed or deposited a refund check; and have not been notified their claim is under audit should make the request directly to the IRS.

Related: Employee retention credit update: Why is IRS putting a pause on processing new claims?

For more details about the ERC moratorium and withdrawal process, specific instructions are available at www.IRS.gov/withdrawmyerc.

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