When looking over information to provide with your business’s Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC/ERC) application, as an employer, you may be dealing with some sensitive details about your employees. Businesses can protect sensitive information while managing ERTC data by following some pretty standard data protection strategies.
Protecting Sensitive Info in ERTC Data
A big part of applying for the Employee Retention Tax Credit is documentation of information like the number of employees and payroll records for your business. This naturally involves you, or whoever is helping you apply for the ERTC, looking at quite a bit of employee information that might be considered sensitive.
It is paramount that employees keep employee data safe from malicious actors. This data can contain sensitive information like names, addresses, and Social Security numbers. There are steps you can take to better protect sensitive information overall at your company that can also specifically help you protect info as you’re managing necessary ERTC data.
For instance, for any and all employee data, you should have a data access policy. Which authorized individuals have access to this data, and have they been cleared to examine personal information? This is a good policy to have in place in general, and will be helpful when it comes to ERTC data and documentation.
You should also make sure your company has strong authentication protections in place. This might sound daunting, but it can be as simple as implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) like biometrics, passwords, one-time codes, and more. If it will help you project sensitive information for your business overall, it can also help with managing Employee Retention Tax Credit data.
Limiting Data Access
Securing personnel records is a big part of protecting employee information, and you’ll want to be sure only certain people have access to these records and information when applying for the ERTC. If you have physical records, you should limit access to them and make sure there is a record of who does get access to them, at all times. When removing physical documents, make sure the information is properly disposed of.
When it comes to digital files, as aforementioned, you should be sure access to that information is limited and secure, and monitor exactly who is looking at that documentation, whenever they access it. Unauthorized access should be dealt with swiftly to avoid a breach of personally identifiable information (PII).
As an employer, you should also make sure there are backup plans for employee data in place just in case of system failures. No one plans for a catastrophic system failure, but they happen, and you want to be ready so you can produce any of that information as needed – especially if you need records upon a request from the IRS.
Finally, it’s important to both be transparent about what information you’re providing as part of your ERTC data and to offer regular training on security best practices to your employees. As a business owner, you can help your staff members understand how they’re helping to protect company data on their end, but also reassure them that their data is protected on your end.
ERTC Application Assistance from Dayes Law Firm
If you’re looking for assistance in applying for the Employee Retention Tax Credit for your business, and are concerned about choosing a partner that will make protecting sensitive information a priority, Dayes Law Firm is the way to go.
Dayes Law Firm and our partner firms have already helped hundreds of business owners file for the tax credit and the filings represent more than $100 million in tax credits. We are a team of tax professionals who are extremely familiar with tax law and very aware of the importance of protecting and managing sensitive data.
To discuss the unique circumstances of your business in regard to applying for the Employee Retention Tax Credit, please contact our firm by calling (800) 503-2000 for a free, no-obligation consultation of your ERTC needs. We would be more than happy to help you with your application and with making sure all the information included in your claim is secure. Give us a call today!