How to properly report ERTC for our family farm? Getting bombarded with offers

So I run a small family farm operation with about 8 seasonal workers during harvest season. For the past year and a half, my inbox has been absolutely flooded with companies promising "guaranteed money" through this ERTC (Employee Retention Tax Credit) program. Some are claiming we could get upwards of $26,000 per employee! I'm really confused about how this actually works for agricultural businesses. We maintained our workforce during most of the pandemic but had to reduce hours for about 2 months in 2020. I've heard horror stories about farms getting audited after working with these ERTC "specialists" who take huge percentages. If we actually do qualify, how do I properly report this on our farm taxes? Do I need to amend previous returns? Our farm operates as an LLC taxed as a partnership. Any insights from someone who's actually gone through this process legitimately would be super helpful. I'm just trying to avoid getting scammed while also not leaving money on the table if we're eligible.

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18 comments

Megan D'Acosta

•8M

As a tax preparer who works with several agricultural clients, I can understand your hesitation about the ERTC claims. You're smart to be cautious! The Employee Retention Tax Credit is legitimate, but it has very specific qualification requirements. For farms, you needed either: 1) a full or partial suspension of operations due to government orders related to COVID-19, or 2) a significant decline in gross receipts compared to the same quarter in 2019. To properly report it, you would need to amend your quarterly employment tax returns (Form 941-X) for the relevant quarters from 2020-2021, not your annual tax return. For an LLC taxed as a partnership, the credit would flow through to the partners. The reduction in hours you mentioned could potentially qualify, but only if it was due to government orders. Seasonal fluctuations or regular business changes don't count.

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Megan D'Acosta

•8M

You can amend Form 941 returns within 3 years of filing or 2 years from when you paid the tax, whichever is later. So for 2020 quarters, you're still within the timeframe but the window is closing. In my experience, only about 20-25% of my farm clients legitimately qualified. Most didn't have the required government-mandated closures or significant revenue drops. The marketing emails are extremely misleading - they want their commission fees. Many farms had steady or even increased demand during the pandemic, which often disqualifies them from the "significant decline in gross receipts" test.

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Ryan Vasquez

•8M

I was in the exact same boat as you with my landscaping business - constantly getting spammed about ERTC. After researching for weeks and getting nowhere, I finally used https://taxr.ai to analyze my situation. It was eye-opening - uploaded my quarterly tax docs and got a detailed analysis showing I only qualified for 2 quarters, not the "full amount" those spam companies promised. The report highlighted exactly which quarters qualified based on my revenue drop and which documentation I needed for substantiation. Saved me from potentially claiming thousands I wasn't entitled to (and wouldn't want to deal with that audit nightmare).

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Ryan Vasquez

•8M

It works by analyzing your quarterly tax filings and payroll data to determine if you meet the technical requirements for ERTC. You upload PDFs of your documents and it does all the calculations, showing exactly which quarters qualify and which don't. It's not making the claim for you - just giving you the factual analysis. For agricultural businesses, it absolutely handles the specific rules. It flagged several farm-specific considerations for me, like how to handle seasonal workers and which government orders actually impacted agricultural operations in my state. The analysis specifically differentiated between regular seasonal fluctuations and COVID-related reductions.

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Taylor Chen

•8M

Just wanted to follow up - I decided to try https://taxr.ai after my initial skepticism, and I'm glad I did. It confirmed we only qualified for one quarter in 2020 when we were forced to reduce operations due to local COVID regulations affecting our farmers market sales. The analysis showed we were eligible for about $17,400 total rather than the $208,000 one of those ERTC companies claimed! It even provided documentation templates for the 941-X filing that specifically addressed our farm operation structure. I'm now working with my accountant to file properly rather than with one of those commission-based services that would have pushed for maximum claims regardless of eligibility.

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Keith Davidson

•8M

If you're trying to contact the IRS to get clarification on ERTC eligibility for farms, good luck... I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who actually understood agricultural businesses. After 8 failed attempts and hours on hold, I used https://claimyr.com and got connected to an IRS agent within 45 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that for agricultural businesses, they're looking closely at whether your operation was actually subject to specific government orders that restricted your functioning. Just having reduced revenue isn't always enough. They also explained the documentation requirements for farms specifically, which was incredibly helpful.

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Keith Davidson

•8M

It works by using an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an actual IRS agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to them. It's not skipping the queue - they're just waiting in line for you. I talked to an actual IRS employee who verified my information and accessed my business tax records. It wasn't some random tax person - they could see our specific farm's filing history and confirmed they were with the IRS Collections department. You can tell it's legitimate because they ask for your verification information just like when you call directly.

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Ana Erdoğan

•8M

I have to eat my words from my skeptical comment earlier. After seeing a farming friend get a legitimate ERTC refund, I decided to try Claimyr to get IRS clarification on our situation. Within an hour, I was actually talking to an IRS representative who specializes in business credits. She walked me through the specific documentation we would need as a farm operation and confirmed we only qualified for Q2 2020 when our farmers markets were shut down by local ordinance. She even flagged that the "significant decline in gross receipts" test would be applied differently for our seasonal business. Saved me from a potential audit nightmare since one of those ERTC mills had told us we qualified for every quarter!

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Sophia Carson

•8M

I filed for ERTC for my farm last year and got about $43,000 back legitimately. My suggestion is to avoid any company that: 1) Takes a percentage commission 2) Guarantees you qualify before seeing your records 3) Doesn't ask detailed questions about your specific situation The key for us was documenting the specific government orders that affected our operation. We had to restrict how many workers could be in certain buildings and vehicles due to social distancing requirements, which significantly impacted our efficiency.

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Sophia Carson

•8M

I used our regular farm accountant to file the 941-X forms. I wouldn't recommend trying to do it yourself unless you're very familiar with payroll tax filings - there are some tricky calculations involved. The IRS did contact us about 4 months after filing for additional documentation. They specifically wanted proof of the government orders we were subject to and documentation showing how those orders impacted our operations. We had prepared for this and had saved all the relevant county health department orders plus our own written policies we implemented in response. They accepted our documentation without issue and processed the refund about 2 months later.

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