COVID-19-Related Employee Retention Credits: Amount of Allocable Qualified Health Plan Expenses FAQs

This FAQ is not included in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and therefore may not be relied upon as legal authority. This means that the information cannot be used to support a legal argument in a court case.

Determining the Amount of Allocable Qualified Health Plan Expenses

Qualified wages include an allocable portion of the "qualified health plan expenses" paid or incurred by an Eligible Employer. "Qualified health plan expenses" are amounts paid or incurred by the Eligible Employer to provide and maintain a group health plan (as defined in section 5000(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code")), but only to the extent that those amounts are excluded from the gross income of employees by reason of section 106(a) of the Code.

62. How is the amount of qualified health plan expenses that is treated as qualified wages determined?

Generally, the qualified health plan expense is the amount that is allocable to the hours for which the employees receive other qualified wages. See:

• May an Eligible Employer that averaged 100 or fewer full-time employees in 2019 treat its health plan expenses as "qualified wages" for purposes of the Employee Retention Credit?
• May an Eligible Employer that averaged more than 100 employees in 2019 treat its health plan expenses as qualified wages if it continues the employees' health care coverage, but does not pay the employees' wages for the time for which the employees are not providing services?
• May an Eligible Employer that averaged more than 100 full-time employees in 2019 treat its health plan expenses as qualified wages if it continues the employees' health care coverage and pays its employees a reduced amount of wages for the time the employees are not providing services?

Qualified health plan expenses are properly treated as qualified wages if the allocation is made on a pro rata basis among covered employees (for example, the average premium for all employees covered by a policy) and pro rata on the basis of periods of coverage (relative to the time periods for which such wages relate).

63. Does the amount of qualified health plan expenses include both the portion of the cost paid by the Eligible Employer and the portion of the cost paid by the employee?

The amount of qualified health plan expenses taken into account in determining the amount of qualified wages generally includes both the portion of the cost paid by the Eligible Employer and the portion of the cost paid by the employee with pre-tax salary reduction contributions. However, the qualified health plan expenses should not include amounts that the employee paid for with after-tax contributions.

64. May an Eligible Employer that averaged 100 or fewer full-time employees in 2019 treat its health plan expenses as qualified wages for purposes of the Employee Retention Credit? (updated May 7, 2020)

Yes. An Eligible Employer that averaged 100 or fewer full-time employees in 2019 may treat its health plan expenses paid or incurred, after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, during any period in a calendar quarter in which the employer’s business operations are fully or partially suspended due to a governmental order or a calendar quarter in which the employer experiences a significant decline in gross receipts as qualified wages, subject to the maximum of $10,000 per employee for all calendar quarters for all qualified wages.  Eligible Employers may treat health plan expenses allocable to the applicable periods as qualified wages even if the employees are not working and the Eligible Employer does not pay the employees any wages for the time they are not working.

Example 1: Employer Y averaged 100 or fewer employees in 2019.  Employer Y is subject to a governmental order that partially suspends the operation of its trade or business.  In response to the governmental order, Employer Y reduces all employees’ hours by 50 percent.  It pays wages to the employees only for the time the employees are providing services, but Employer Y continues to provide the employees with full health care coverage.  Employer Y’s health plan expenses allocable to wages paid during the period its operations were partially suspended may be treated as qualified wages for purposes of the Employee Retention Credit.

Example 2: Employer Z averaged 100 or fewer employees in 2019.  Employer Z is subject to a governmental order that suspends the operation of its trade or business.  In response to the governmental order, Employer Z lays off or furloughs all of its employees.  It does not pay wages to its employees for the time they are laid off or furloughed and not working, but it continues the employees’ health care coverage.  Employer Z’s health plan expenses allocable to the period its operations were partially suspended may be treated as qualified wages for purposes of the Employee Retention Credit.

65. May an Eligible Employer that averaged more than 100 full-time employees in 2019 treat its health plan expenses as qualified wages for purposes of the Employee Retention Credit? (updated May 7, 2020)

Yes. An Eligible Employer that averaged more than 100 full-time employees in 2019 may treat its health plan expenses paid or incurred, after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, allocable to the time that the employees are not providing services during any period in a calendar quarter in which the employer’s business operations are fully or partially suspended due to a governmental order or a calendar quarter in which the employer experiences a significant decline in gross receipts as qualified wages, subject to the maximum of $10,000 per employee for all calendar quarters for all qualified wages.  However, an Eligible Employer may not treat health plan expenses allocable to the time for which the employees are receiving wages for providing services as qualified wages; only the portion of health plan expenses allocable to the time that the employees are not providing services are treated as qualified wages.
 
Example 1: Employer A averaged more than 100 full-time employees in 2019.  Employer A is subject to a governmental order that partially suspends the operation of its trade or business.  In response to the governmental order, Employer A reduces all employees’ hours by 50 percent and pays wages to its employees only for the time that the employees are providing services, but Employer A continues to provide the employees with full health care coverage.  Employer A’s health plan expenses allocable to the time that employees are not providing services may be treated as qualified wages.  However, Employer A may not treat health plan expenses allocable to the time for which the employees are receiving wages for providing services as qualified wages.

Example 2: Employer B averaged more than 100 full-time employees in 2019.  Employer B is subject to a governmental order that partially suspends the operations of its trade or business.  In response to the governmental order, Employer B reduces its employees’ hours by 50 percent, but it reduces its employees’ wages by only 40 percent, so that the employees receive 60 percent of their wages for 50 percent of their normal hours.  Employer B continues to cover 100 percent of the employees’ health plan expenses.  In this case, Employer B may treat as qualified wages: (i) the 10 percent of the wages that it pays employees for time the employees are not providing services, plus (ii) 50 percent of the health plan expenses, because the health plan expenses are allocable to the time that employees were not providing services. 

Example 3: Employer C is subject to a governmental order that fully suspends the operations of its trade or business.  Employer C lays off or furloughs its employees and does not pay wages to the employees, but does continue to cover 100 percent of the employees’ health plan expenses.  In this case, Employer C may treat as qualified wages the health plan expenses that are allocable to the time that the employees are not providing services. 
 

66. For an Eligible Employer that sponsors more than one plan for its employees (for example, both a group health plan and a health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA)), or more than one plan covering different employees, how are the qualified health plan expenses for each employee determined?

The qualified health plan expenses are determined separately for each plan. Then, for each plan, those expenses are allocated to the employees who participate in that plan. In the case of an employee who participates in more than one plan, the allocated expenses of each plan in which the employee participates are aggregated for that employee.

67. For an Eligible Employer who sponsors a fully-insured group health plan, how are the qualified health plan expenses of that plan allocated to the qualified wages on a pro rata basis?

An Eligible Employer who sponsors a fully-insured group health plan may use any reasonable method to determine and allocate the plan expenses, including (1) the COBRA applicable premium for the employee typically available from the insurer, (2) one average premium rate for all employees, or (3) a substantially similar method that takes into account the average premium rate determined separately for employees with self-only and other than self-only coverage.

If an Eligible Employer chooses to use one average premium rate for all employees, the allocable amount for each day an employee covered by the insured group health plan is entitled to qualified wages could be determined using the following steps:

1. The Eligible Employer's overall annual premium for the employees covered by the policy is divided by the number of employees covered by the policy to determine the average annual premium per employee.
2. The average annual premium per employee is divided by the average number of work days during the year by all covered employees (treating days of paid leave as a work day and a work day as including any day on which work is performed) to determine the average daily premium per employee. For example, a full-year employee working five days per week may be treated as working 52 weeks x 5 days or 260 days. Calculations for part-time and seasonal employees who participate in the plan should be adjusted as appropriate. Eligible Employers may use any reasonable method for calculating part-time employee work days.
3. The resulting premium should be adjusted to reflect any portion that employees contribute after-tax.
4. The resulting amount is the amount allocated to each day of qualified wages.

Example: Employer D sponsors an insured group health plan that covers 400 employees, some with self-only coverage and some with family coverage. Each employee is expected to have 260 work days a year. (Five days a week for 52 weeks.) The employees contribute a portion of their premium by pre-tax salary reduction, with different amounts for self-only and family. The total annual premium for the 400 employees is $5.2 million. (This includes both the amount paid by the Eligible Employer and the amounts paid by employees through salary reduction.)

For an Eligible Employer using one average premium rate for all employees, the average annual premium rate is $5.2 million divided by 400, or $13,000. For each employee expected to have 260 work days a year, this results in a daily average premium rate equal to $13,000 divided by 260, or $50. That $50 is the amount of qualified health plan expenses allocated to each day of qualified wages per employee.

68. For an Eligible Employer who sponsors a self-insured group health plan, how are the qualified health plan expenses of that plan allocated to the qualified wages on a pro rata basis?

An Eligible Employer who sponsors a self-insured group health plan may use any reasonable method to determine and allocate the health plan expenses, including (1) the COBRA applicable premium for the employee typically available from the administrator, or (2) any reasonable actuarial method to determine the estimated annual expenses of the plan.

If the Eligible Employer uses a reasonable actuarial method to determine the estimated annual expenses of the plan, then rules similar to the rules for insured plans are used to determine the amount of health plan expenses allocated to an employee. That is, the estimated annual expense is divided by the number of employees covered by the plan, and that amount is divided by the average number of work days during the year by the employees (treating days of paid leave as work days and any day on which an employee performs any work as work days). The resulting amount is the amount allocated to each day of qualified wages. Adjustments should be made for employee after-tax contributions.

69. For an Eligible Employer who sponsors a health savings account (HSA), or Archer Medical Saving Account (Archer MSA) and a high deductible health plan (HDHP), are contributions to the HSA or Archer MSA included in the qualified health plan expenses?

The amount of qualified health plan expenses does not include Eligible Employer contributions to HSAs or Archer MSAs. Eligible Employers who sponsor an HDHP should calculate the amount of qualified health plan expenses in the same manner as an insured group health plan, or a self-insured plan, as applicable.

70. For an Eligible Employer who sponsors a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), a health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA), or a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA), are contributions to the HRA, health FSA, or QSEHRA included in the qualified health plan expenses?

The amount of qualified health plan expenses may include contributions to an HRA (including an individual coverage HRA), or a health FSA, but does not include contributions to a QSEHRA. To allocate contributions to an HRA or a health FSA, Eligible Employers should use the amount of contributions made on behalf of the particular employee.

71. Are qualified health plan expenses allocable to qualified leave wages excluded from the definition of qualified wages?

Yes. Wages for which an Eligible Employer may claim the Employee Retention Credit do not include the qualified sick leave and qualified family leave wages for which it claims credit under the FFCRA. This exclusion also applies to the qualified health plan expenses that are allocable to these qualified leave wages.

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