Ep. 62: Hot on the hotline — ERC mills? That's a thing? And can I send my clients to them for a fee?

Ethically Speaking

Winter is coming... Are you overwhelmed with clients asking you to amend their 941s? And are you getting calls from businesses offering to help you out for a fee?

In this episode, Joan Farris and John Wiley, two CPAs on staff in the AICPA Professional Ethics Division, talk through some questions we’re getting on the hotline. What’s legit and what isn’t, what could put you at risk, not just of violating various codes of conduct, but of being the subject of a lawsuit when all is said and done?

You’ll want to listen in and check out the following resources.

AICPA resources

Take a learning dive into the code

• Contingent Fees Rule
• Commission and Referral Fees Rule
• Independence Rule

Call the hotline

You can reach the ethics hotline at

• 888.777.7077, option 2 then option 3
• [e-mail]

You can reach the tax section at [e-mail]

Listen to related episodes from the Tax Odyssey podcast:

• Reconciling ERC claims with reality: The state of ERC now (September 22, 2022)
• Q&A on ERC, tax legislation and IRS woes: Covers several legislative items, including ERC (June 30, 2022)
• Mythbust and maximize the employee retention credit: Take a deep dive into the ERC (June 7, 2022)
• ERC — What we know now: A look at guidance released in Aug. 2021 (August 11, 2021)
• Challenges with contingency fees and the ERC: A look at how contingent fee rules have evolved and how they relate to the ERC (June 9, 2021)

Other resources

• Exposure draft of the revised Statements on Standards for Tax Services
• Download: ERC: Fact or fiction?