ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — From purchasing PPE and HVAC equipment, to purchasing cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer — businesses must adapt during the pandemic to help keep themselves and their customers safe. Now, to help offset some of the COVID-related costs, small businesses with 100 or fewer employees can claim a tax credit.
“The maximum tax credit they can get is $25,000. We do have a minimum requirement that they must demonstrate at least $2,000 worth of qualifying expenses to receive the $1,000 tax credit,” explains Paul Matrose, Director of Economic Incentives for Empire State Development Say.
The state budget allocated $250 million for the program.
Melissa Fleishut, president of the New York State Restaurant Association, said she thought it would help small businesses.
“I think most restaurants can take advantage of this, we have a lot of COVID-related expenses,” Fleischut said. “It can be used for things like having to put up barriers, like between booths or between cash registers. Put up barriers as COVID expenses. Or if you have to expand outdoor dining and incur expenses there.”
For those wanting to claim the tax credit, a pre-screening process needs to be completed first on the Empire State Development Corporation’s website.
https://esd.ny.gov/covid-19-capital-costs-tax-credit
An email will then be sent to eligible businesses with the completed and submitted application. Documentation must also be included to show proof of expenses, such as receipts and credit card statements. Upon approval, a tax credit certificate will be issued.
“If they want the credit on their 2022 tax return, they need to receive their tax credit certificate by Dec. 31,” Matros said. “Therefore, to give us some time to review the applications, we are asking businesses to submit their applications no later than December 1 to ensure they have a tax credit certificate issued to them by the end of the month to get their tax returns in 2022. .”
The application deadline is March 2023. First come first served.