Small business owners in the Southeast waiting for long-delayed pandemic aid are pushing for that money to recover from this fall’s brutal hurricane season. The federal government says more of it is heading their way soon.
The IRS said that around 400,000 claims worth $10 billion are now being processed for eligible business owners who applied for tax refunds under the Covid-era Employee Retention Credit program.
The agency didn’t give a concrete timeline or geographic details about the applicants. Still, it said Thursday that it’s accelerating work on those claims, and it estimated this summer that at least 1.4 million were still in the queue.
“Our top priority is to quickly help taxpayers affected by the devastation of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton,” IRS spokesperson Mike Martinez told NBC News. He also highlighted recently announced tax relief for those in affected regions, including filing and payment extensions for individuals and businesses. “We understand the urgent need across the federal government to provide financial assistance to small businesses.”