The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, signed on March 11, 2021, extends the expiration date of the employment tax credits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) until September 30, 2021. Employers are no longer required to provide emergency paid sick leave and emergency family and medical leave, but they may still offer and provide the leave payments and receive tax credits for the leave paid.
The ARPA also expanded the definition of “qualified sick leave wages,” which now includes all of the following:
- Employees who are “experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis”
- Employees “seeking or awaiting the results of a diagnostic test for, or a medical diagnosis, of COVID-19 and the employee has been exposed to COVID-19 or the employer has requested the test or diagnosis”
- Employees “obtaining immunization related to COVID-19 or recovering from any injury, disability, illness, or condition related to the COVID-19 vaccination”
Additionally, the ARPA expanded the definition of “qualified family leave wages” to include leave in order “to accompany an individual to obtain immunization related to COVID-19 or to care for an individual who is recovering from any injury, disability, illness or condition related to the immunization”.
The tax credits the employer receives are calculated in the same manner as the credits under the FFCRA and are subject to the same limits.
Please contact us if you have questions regarding the extension of the date for employer tax credits or other questions related to the additional benefits that employers may provide. Your independent pharmacy may qualify for these tax credits.
