Paid Family Leave. A 70-percent tax credit on up to $10,000 per employee per quarter means the maximum Employee Retention Credit is $7,000 per employee per quarter in 2021. For 2021, if the employer had an average of 500 or fewer full-time employees in 2019, then all of the employer's employees are eligible employees. Otherwise, only employees who were paid and who did not perform work are generally eligible employees. Receiving the Employee Retention Credit During 2020 and 2021, an employer was able to use the Employee Retention Credit to reduce its federal tax deposits, namely its the deposits of federal withholding tax, employee social security tax, employee Medicare tax, employer social security tax, and employer Medicare tax. If the employer's Employee Retention Credit exceeded its federal tax deposits, the employer was able to receive the additional tax credit refunded to it by check when it filed its Form 941. Employers that wanted to receive the tax credit before its next Form 941 was filed was able to fax a completed Form 7200 to the Internal Revenue Service in order to request a check sooner. An employer that has already filed its Form 941 for each quarter may file a Form 941-X with the IRS in order to request the tax credit be refunded to it by a check by mail. Notes References External links Employee Retention Credit, Internal Revenue Service Acts of the 116th United States Congress U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic