The CARES Act Preserves Jobs for American Industry

By implementing the CARES Act, the Treasury Department is taking unprecedented steps to preserve jobs in industries adversely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The CARES Act offers meaningful financial support to American businesses and job creators so they can better support employees and be prepared to get back to business as soon as possible.

Employee Retention Credit

Employers of all sizes that face closure orders or suffer economic hardship due to COVID-19 are incentivized to keep employees on the payroll through a 50% credit on up to $10,000 of wages paid or incurred from March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

FAQ: Employee Retention Credit

Additional Tax Credits

The IRS is issuing tax credits in order to give small and mid-sized businesses the resources they need to cover the cost of providing paid sick and family leave wages.

Payroll Tax Deferral

To enhance cash flow so that businesses can better maintain operations and payroll, employers and self-employed individuals can defer payment of the employer share of the Social Security tax they otherwise are responsible for paying to the federal government with respect to their employees. The deferred employment tax can be paid over the next two years—with half of the required amount to be paid by December 31, 2021 and the other half by December 31, 2022.

Payroll Support

Treasury has published resources to assist eligible businesses in applying for payroll support to enable the continued payment of employee wages, salaries, and benefits, pursuant to the CARES Act (PSP1), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (PSP2), and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (PSP3).

A list of PSP1 participants, with amounts of assistance provided and, where applicable, financial instruments provided to the Federal Government as appropriate compensation for the provision of financial assistance, is available online.

A list of PSP2 participants, with amounts of assistance provided and, where applicable, financial instruments provided to the Federal Government as appropriate compensation for the provision of financial assistance, is available online.