In what clearly must be a mistake, the IRS issued Notice 2021-49 to deny the employee retention credit (ERC) on the wages paid to most C and S corporation owners.



According to the IRS:

Your corporation can qualify for the ERC on the wages paid to a more than 50 percent owner of an S or C corporation if that owner does not have any living brothers and sisters (whether whole- or half-blood), spouse, ancestors, or lineal descendants.
Your corporation cannot qualify for the ERC on the more than 50 percent owner’s wages if one of those relatives (other than the spouse) is alive.