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ERC Today

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The profile

An Employee Retention Credit firm paid a percentage of what its clients recovered, which in late 2024 joined Stenson Tamaddon in suing the IRS over the automated "risk-scoring" that was disallowing ERC claims. A federal judge in Arizona denied an injunction in April 2025 because the firms could not show a court order would get them paid.

Identity and role

ERC Today LLC prepares Employee Retention Credit claims for businesses. In 2021 it marketed through the payroll company Thread HCM. The information sheet said "our sole purpose is to help businesses with more than 5 employees navigate the process of getting ERC refunds from the IRS": fill in a questionnaire, upload Forms 940 and 941 and a paycheck register, and "within 5 to 7 business days, we'll determine the ERC refund you can receive." The sheet cited the IRS's March 2021 guidance, Notice 2021-20, which let PPP borrowers claim the credit as well.

By 2026 its website led with the IRS moratorium of September 14, 2023 and offered an "ERC Second Look." It says it submits "the RIGHT claim, not the BIGGEST one." It says its fees are "up to 100% refundable if our mistake triggers any repayment to the IRS," and it lists client recoveries such as "$1,152,330.98 for 2021" for a distribution company with 208 employees. Those are the company's statements.

Pandemic-relief role

In court the firm described its model plainly. ERC Today and Stenson Tamaddon, "tax preparation firms that assist businesses in preparing and submitting claims for ERC refunds," use "a percentage-of-recovery fee model," the court wrote, so they "do not receive compensation when the IRS disallows Plaintiffs' clients' claims."

Litigation: ERC Today LLC v. McInelly

ERC Today and Stenson Tamaddon sued IRS officials in the District of Arizona on November 13, 2024 (No. 2:24-cv-03178). The first-named defendant, John McInelly, was the IRS's executive lead for the ERC, according to a February 2025 Chief Counsel memo addressed to him. They alleged that after the IRS lifted its processing moratorium in August 2024 they received "a large number of boilerplate rejections," and that an automated "risk-scoring analytic process" had "resulted in ERC denials for clearly eligible claims" without individual review.

The IRS answered with a declaration by Deputy Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell describing a "risk assessment model" that "applies entity level filters," including publicly available information such as state closure orders, and "predicts the likelihood that a taxpayer's claim is valid or invalid." On April 7, 2025, the court found the firms had an injury, lost fees, and that it was traceable to the IRS, but denied a preliminary injunction because they had not shown that the relief they sought would redress it.

The suit was brought by the firm. No government enforcement action against ERC Today appears in the records we reviewed. We did not find a final judgment in the case.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

The firm's website was online in September 2026, offering second reviews of existing claims.

Sources

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