The CARES Act's Employee Retention Credit is a fully refundable tax credit. For the 2020 program, the ERC is equal to 50% of qualified wages (including allocable qualified health plan expenses) that eligible employers pay their employees. This applies to wages paid after 3/12/2020 and before 1/1/2021. The maximum amount of wages taken into account with respect to each employee for all calendar quarters is $10,000, so that the maximum credit for an employee is $5,000.For the 2021 program, the credit is increased to 70%, and the limit is $10,000 per quarter. This means the annual maximum for an employee is $28,000.The tax credit offsets all withheld federal employment taxes including federal income tax withholding, Employer FICA and Medicare. Any excess credit will be refunded or advanced by the IRS.