GENERAL TERMS

BILLING AND PAYMENTS

ACCURACY OF INFORMATION 

Occasionally there may be information on the Website that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies or omissions that may relate to product descriptions, pricing, availability, promotions and offers. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, and to change or update information or cancel orders if any information on the Website or Services is inaccurate at any time without prior notice (including after you have submitted your order). We undertake no obligation to update, amend or clarify information on the Website including, without limitation, pricing information, except as required by law. No specified update or refresh date applied on the Website should be taken to indicate that all information on the Website or Services has been modified or updated.

LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES

Although the Website and Services may link to other resources (such as websites, mobile applications, etc.), we are not, directly or indirectly, implying any approval, association, sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation with any linked resource, unless specifically stated herein. We are not responsible for examining or evaluating, and we do not warrant the offerings of, any businesses or individuals or the content of their resources. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the actions, products, services, and content of any other third parties. You should carefully review the legal statements and other conditions of use of any resource which you access through a link on the Website and Services. Your linking to any other off-site resources is at your own risk.

PROHIBITED USES

In addition to other terms as set forth in the Agreement, you are prohibited from using the Website and Services or Content: (a) for any unlawful purpose; (b) to solicit others to perform or participate in any unlawful acts; (c) to violate any international, federal, provincial or state regulations, rules, laws, or local ordinances; (d) to infringe upon or violate our intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of others; (e) to harass, abuse, insult, harm, defame, slander, disparage, intimidate, or discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, age, national origin, or disability; (f) to submit false or misleading information; (g) to upload or transmit viruses or any other type of malicious code that will or may be used in any way that will affect the functionality or operation of the Website and Services, third party products and services, or the Internet; (h) to spam, phish, pharm, pretext, spider, crawl, or scrape; (i) for any obscene or immoral purpose; or (j) to interfere with or circumvent the security features of the Website and Services, third party products and services, or the Internet. We reserve the right to terminate your use of the Website and Services for violating any of the prohibited uses.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

“Intellectual Property Rights” means all present and future rights conferred by statute, common law or equity in or in relation to any copyright and related rights, trademarks, designs, patents, inventions, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off, rights to inventions, rights to use, and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications and rights to apply for and be granted, rights to claim priority from, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection and any other results of intellectual activity which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world. This Agreement does not transfer to you any intellectual property owned by ercTree, Inc. or third parties, and all rights, titles, and interests in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with ercTree, Inc. All trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website and Services, are trademarks or registered trademarks of ercTree, Inc. or its licensors. Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website and Services may be the trademarks of other third parties. Your use of the Website and Services grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any of ercTree, Inc. or third-party trademarks.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

You agree that such Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and that your use of the Website and Services is solely at your own risk. We expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We make no warranty that the Services will meet your requirements, or that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; nor do we make any warranty as to the results that may be obtained from the use of the Service or as to the accuracy or reliability of any information obtained through the Service or that defects in the Service will be corrected. You understand and agree that any material and/or data downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of Service is done at your own discretion and risk and that you will be solely responsible for any damage or loss of data that results from the download of such material and/or data. We make no warranty regarding any goods or services purchased or obtained through the Service or any transactions entered into through the Service unless stated otherwise. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from us or through the Service shall create any warranty not expressly made herein.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will ercTree, Inc., its affiliates, approved firms, directors, officers, employees, agents, suppliers or licensors be liable to any person for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, cover or consequential damages (including, without limitation, damages for lost profits, revenue, sales, goodwill, use of content, impact on business, business interruption, loss of anticipated savings, loss of business opportunity) however caused, under any theory of liability, including, without limitation, contract, tort, warranty, breach of statutory duty, negligence or otherwise, even if the liable party has been advised as to the possibility of such damages or could have foreseen such damages. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the aggregate liability of ercTree, Inc. and its affiliates, approved firms, directors, officers, employees, agents, suppliers and licensors relating to the services will be limited to an amount greater of one dollar or any amounts actually paid in cash by you to ercTree, Inc. for the prior one- month period prior to the first event or occurrence giving rise to such liability. The limitations and exclusions also apply if this remedy does not fully compensate you for any losses or fails of its essential purpose.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify and hold ercTree, Inc. and its affiliates, approved firms, directors, officers, employees, agents, suppliers and licensors harmless from and against any liabilities, losses, damages or costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred in connection with or arising from any third-party allegations, claims, actions, disputes, or demands asserted against any of them as a result of or relating to your Content, your use of the Website and Services or any willful misconduct on your part. ercTree reserves the right to produce a quote using an approved firm’s average refund calculation when an approved firm has taken 15 days or longer to produce an ERC Refund Quote. The expectations are 5 to 10 business days to receive all ERC Refund Quotes from the day a customer’s file is submitted to approved firms. Due to ercTrees’ commitment to providing multiple quotes within 5 to 10 business days from submitting a customer’s file to approved firms, the average refund calculation rule is activated to allow the customer to file their ERC Refunds.

SEVERABILITY

All rights and restrictions contained in this Agreement may be exercised and shall be applicable and binding only to the extent that they do not violate any applicable laws and are intended to be limited to the extent necessary so that they will not render this Agreement illegal, invalid or unenforceable. If any provision or portion of any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, it is the intention of the parties that the remaining provisions or portions thereof shall constitute their agreement with respect to the subject matter hereof, and all such remaining provisions or portions thereof shall remain in full force and effect.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

The formation, interpretation, and performance of this Agreement and any disputes arising out of it shall be governed by the substantive and procedural laws of Wisconsin, United States without regard to its rules on conflicts or choice of law and, to the extent applicable, the laws of United States. The exclusive jurisdiction and venue for actions related to the subject matter hereof shall be the courts located in Wisconsin, United States, and you hereby submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts. You hereby waive any right to a jury trial in any proceeding arising out of or related to this Agreement. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to this Agreement.

ASSIGNMENT

You may not assign, resell, sub-license or otherwise transfer or delegate any of your rights or obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent, which consent shall be at our own sole discretion and without obligation; any such assignment or transfer shall be null and void. We are free to assign any of its rights or obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, to any third party as part of the sale of all or substantially all its assets or stock or as part of a merger.

CHANGES AND AMENDMENTS

We reserve the right to modify this Agreement or its terms relating to the Website and Services at any time, effective upon posting an updated version of this Agreement on the Website. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. Continued use of the Website and Services after any such changes shall constitute your consent to such changes.

ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS

You acknowledge that you have read this Agreement and agree to all its terms and conditions. By accessing and using the Website and Services you agree to be bound by this Agreement. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Agreement, you are not authorized to access or use the Website and Services.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

ercTree, Inc. DOES NOT provide any legal or accounting advice and users of this web site should consult with their own lawyer and C.P.A. for legal and accounting advice. This web site (the “Site”) is a general service that provides legal information over the Internet. We are not a law firm and our employees are not acting as your attorney. The information contained in the Site is general legal information and should not be construed as legal advice to be applied to any specific factual situation. If you are unsure whether your particular situation requires that a document, be changed, you should consult a lawyer. Any use of the Site DOES NOT create or constitute an attorney-client relationship between ercTree, Inc. or any employee of or other person associated with ercTree, Inc., and a user of the Site. As the law differs in each legal jurisdiction and may be interpreted or applied differently depending on your location or situation, the information or use of documents on the Site is not a substitute for the advice of a lawyer. Any information on the Site is subject to our Terms and Conditions. For the most part, our Terms and Conditions specify that there is no guarantee or warranty and that we are not responsible for any loss, injury, claim, liability, or damage (“damages”) related to your use of the Site, whether from errors or omissions in the content of the Site or any other linked sites. We are not responsible for any damages from the Site being inaccessible to the user and use of the Site is at your own risk. Refer to our Terms and Conditions regarding details of any exceptions such as our Quality Guarantee. While we have worked to make our Site and all the features on our Site compatible with the most commonly used browsers, we cannot represent or guarantee that every feature will work with your browser. Use of our Site is governed by our Terms and Conditions; refer to this document for more information.

CONTACTING US

If you would like to contact us to understand more about this Agreement or wish to contact us concerning any matter relating to it, you may send an email to support@ercTree.com.

ADDITIONAL TERMS

ACCURACY OF SUBMISSION

We submit your application and all required documentation for ercTree approved Firms to analyze and generate your ERC analysis quote based upon the information provided during the qualifying submission process. You certify that all information you have provided is accurate to the best of your knowledge and agree to hold ercTree, Inc. and its affiliates, approved firms, directors, officers, employees, agents, suppliers and licensors harmless from and against any liabilities, losses, damages or costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred as a result of inaccuracies on your ERC filing as a result of inaccurate information provided to us during the qualification submission. ercTree, Inc. will keep record of all responses received during the qualification submission, as well as any additional information received after the initial qualification submission.

GUARANTEE

ercTree, Inc. is engaging approved Firms due to our ability to help clients navigate and file for the ERC tax credits available under the CARES act and the additional amended guidelines of the ERC Program. ercTree approved Firms charge reasonable fees for this process. We also provide a complementary discovery process to help determine the qualification for ERC tax credits before engaging in services. If during the discovery effort it is determined that no credit can reasonably be qualified for under the law, no fees will be charged and any deposits will be returned.

SERVICES

This agreement is for the scope of services that includes only tax work by ercTree’s approved Firms. This work may include navigating laws and rules affecting the client, filing, and financial forecasting. In the scope of our tax work, we seek to identify the most favorable opportunities allowable under the IRC to arrange personal, business, or estate affairs so as to minimize various taxes owed by the taxpayer.

INFORMATION

All the work that we do requires substantial access to client information. It is the responsibility of the client to provide full and timely information – and it is our responsibility to ask clearly for all such information. We hold all information in total privacy to the client. Only personnel performing the actual services agreed upon have access to client information. We are also willing to return and remove all records of any client information upon request from said client. Client information includes documents and records, correspondence, and intangible information such as trade secrets, business relationships, processes, intellectual property and all other forms of proprietary client information.

TAX LAW

In providing tax services we always seek to remain safely in the realm of tax law. All advice we provide is to the best of our knowledge within the lawful scope allowable under the IRC. In the case of newly issued laws, and infrequently in the case of more established ones, the IRS may provide case rulings that interpret, clarify, restrict, or expand the written law. These rulings provide a precedence for safe processes. In the absence of such precedence, we follow the law as best it can be interpreted. ercTree approved Firms are always prepared to explain any tax law to any client or associate of such client. ercTree approved Firms never move forward with any execution until understanding and consent is satisfactorily achieved.

AUDIT

When a client an ercTree approved Firms advise comes under audit by a taxing authority, unless otherwise specified in our agreement, we are willing to provide documentation and assistance to provide the best case conceivable for our client. While we cannot guarantee the results of any audit, we can provide an explanation of the lawfulness of the course taken, sound documentation, and willingness to work directly with the client through the process to seek favorable results. When planning is done in this way, it is our experience that audits are fair. We do not issue tax opinion or shelters – all our work is based on well-established law directly by the ercTree approved Firms.

ERRORS

When an error is identified, we are committed to making it known immediately to our client and providing a path for resolution. If the error was clerical or otherwise due to incorrect process on our part, we seek to fix it to the full extent of our ability without requiring additional fees for service. If the error is due to a material omission or refusal to provide information on the part of a client, we may need to negotiate terms of resolution.

TAX DEPOSITS

All money owed to taxing authorities will be clearly outlined in our planning process. It is then the responsibility of the client to ensure such taxes are paid timely, except in the case where we also provide deposit services. All money received via refund from a taxing authority is outside of our control in terms of timing of payments. Approved ercTree Firms will take all best efforts to ensure all required documentation is in good order so as not to slow any payment or refund processes.

GOODWILL/GOOD FAITH

In all affairs, we will seek to do what is best for our clients. We are in good will and faith to seek to help every client successfully reduce their tax liability by all legal means available to them. We seek to avoid any practice that will bring any unnecessary burden or difficulty to our clients by understanding their business and seeking to act prudently to protect and assist in its success.

ERC CREDIT ADDITIONAL DETAILS

The Employee Retention Credit – as released March 12, 2020 and amended Dec 27, 2020 – in place to provide incentive to employers who wish to keep their employees on payroll despite difficulty due to COVID-19. A brief description is available here, not as a matter of advice, but just to promote understanding of the law. ercTree, Inc. provides all of the required services to file forms, amendments, registration, or otherwise needed forms to submit all required documentation in good order.

BUSINESSES QUALIFY FOR THIS CREDIT BASED ON ONE OF

Loss of Revenue 2020: 50% quarter over quarter reduction in gross sales for 2020 vs 2019 2021: 20% quarter over quarter reduction in gross sales for 2021 vs 2019 or 2020 vs 2021 OR Full or partial shutdown Of the client business due to legitimate government orders that restrict business in a substantial way.

AVAILABLE CREDIT

2020: 50% credit on up to $10,000 of wages per employee for the entire year. This means a maximum credit of $5,000 per employee in 2020. 2021: 70% credit on up to $10,000 of wages per employee per quarter through Dec 31. This means a maximum credit of $7,000 per quarter due. These are the numbers we will use to determine your qualification – actual numbers are a close estimate. When filing the tax forms, it is not uncommon to see small differences or to find new opportunities.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS TO NOTE

Generally, payroll is a cost that your business is already incurring. Here is a factor of what taxes are remitted for each $10,000 qualifying amount. If taxes were not remitted prior to our filing, it is not usually expected that additional cash costs will be incurred, but rather the IRS will deduct the taxes that would have been owed from the total credit. 2020 – FICA/Medicare – 15.3% or $1,530 is remitted as federal payroll tax deposits. Income Tax – Withholding is elective and totally dependent on the employee’s situation. The $10,000 of wages claimed for the credit is $10,000 in taxable income to the employee in 2020 – as is all payroll – to be filed with their regular income taxes before April 15, 2021. 2021 – FICA/Medicare – 9.1% or $910 must be remitted – or rather, 6.2% can be skipped as part of normal tax deposits for a qualifying business in a given quarter. Income Tax – Withholding is elective and totally dependent on the employee’s situation. The $10,000 of wages claimed for the credit is $10,000 in taxable income to the employee in 2021 – as is all payroll – to be filed with their regular income taxes before April 15, 2022. Unemployment Insurance- Localities have a requirement to remit unemployment insurance on each employee. Rates for this insurance vary by industry and location – but generally range from 0.5 – 3% of total payroll. Penalties – Filing late results in a 5% monthly penalty on the tax due up to 25%. Late deposits result in up to 15% penalty. Overall, you can pay up to a 40% penalty on your 15.3% payroll tax.

ELIGIBLE PERSONS

A business may claim any employee paid during a calendar quarter where the business is in a qualifying position. The exception to this rule is persons who are related to an owner of the business who owns directly or indirectly more than 50% of the shares of the business:

• A child or a descendant of a child;
• A brother, sister, stepbrother, or stepsister;
• The father or mother, or an ancestor of either;
• A stepfather or stepmother;
• A niece or nephew;
• An aunt or uncle;
• A son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

Note, not mentioned are self or spouse.

CONTACTING US

If you would like to contact us to understand more about this Agreement or wish to contact us concerning any matter relating to it, you may send an email to support@ercTree.com. This document was last updated on July, 19, 2022