The IRS is warning small businesses about “improper” claims for the employee retention tax credit (ERTC). As you know, restaurants were uniquely qualified for the COVID-related ERTC due to partial closure orders and/or revenue declines in 2020 and three calendar quarters of 2021. 

However, the IRS is reporting that some third-party companies are offering bad advice to small businesses regarding eligibility or the estimated value of the ERTC. 

We urge you to closely review the information from the IRS. Click here to see the IRS press release. 

An ERC Company That You Can Rely On 
We at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association know how important it is to be comfortable with the companies that you choose to do business with. Especially when it involves your finances. WRA, along with many of its other state restaurant association partners across the country, has partnered with Adesso Capital to offer ERC filing services. Adesso provides concierge financial services to small and mid-sized businesses. And when the pandemic drove business into a downturn, Adesso assembled a team of tax experts to help businesses maximize the federal COVID relief available to them.

Adesso takes compliance and qualifications very seriously. Adesso also has other guardrails in place to protect their clients. 

1. Their ERC consultants and CPAs are well-versed with changes to IRS and CARES Act regulations and ongoing Guidance.
2. Adesso only submits amended payroll tax returns that cover impacted quarters. They validate the beginning and end-dates for COVID-related Government Orders and maintain a database of these for all 50 States.
3. They appropriately coordinate ERC benefits with other Federal Covid relief, including PPP, RRF, EFMLA, EPSLA, and WOTC benefits, as required by law.
4. All information their CPAs include in filings, particularly concerning a business’ revenue drop, can be backed by verifiable documentation.
5. Adesso stands behind their ERC-Filings with free Audit Protection, standard with every filing, to answer any questions that the IRS may have if audited.

Click here to read Adesso’s statement on the recent IRS warning.
 
Q2 2023 Deadline for Q2 2020 Filing 
Have you claimed your ERC dollars yet?  It not, the first deadline is coming up in Q2 of 2023.  You have until then to amend your Q2 2020 taxes and claim your employee retention credit if you qualify.

We encourage you to sign up for a 10-minute consultation with an Adesso ERC tax expert to see if you have money to claim. So far Adesso has filed for nearly $5 million in ERC dollars in just the past few months for restaurant owners in Wisconsin alone and over $300 million across the country.

Check Today To See If You Qualify for ERC

Want to talk about this first, feel free to reach out to Dawn Faris – 608.444.9481 – dfaris@wirestaurant.org

On occasion the Department of Revenue's Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Unit confiscates contraband alcohol beverages. The DOR is authorized to sell the confiscated product to the highest bidder. Many times, bottles sell well below wholesale price.

This sale consists of 925 bottles of Taxed Intoxicating Liquor.

Bids for the entire lot will be accepted from either a wholesale permittee or persons licensed to sell wine at retail (Class A or B Liquor License). Items within the lot may NOT be bid on separately.

Sealed bids must be received at 265 W Northland Ave., Appleton, WI not later October 17, 2022. Bid opening at 9:00 am on October 8th, 2022.
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Successful bidder must pick up product by October 31, 2022. Product is located in Madison, WI.

​Central Standard Craft Distillery Co-Founders Evan Hughes and Pat McQuillan are launching a month-long campaign encouraging Wisconsinites to request hand-crafted brandy from local, family-owned distilleries in their Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned cocktails and has created the Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame.

Individuals deserving of Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame status can be nominated for this unique honor.
 
Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame inductees get some fantastic perks:

• A year’s supply of North Wisconsin brandy
• A custom bottle of North Wisconsin brandy with their photo on it
• Lifetime VIP status at the Central Standard Crafthouse & Kitchen, the Midwest’s first urban distillery and restaurant in downtown Milwaukee (Free Brandy Old Fashioned Drinks!)
• Their photo displayed in the Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame in the Founders’ Room at the Crafthouse & Kitchen

Anyone can nominate a potential hall of famer by going online and explain why he or she is worthy in 50 words or less.
 
Nominations will be accepted through September 30, the last day of Brandy Old Fashioned month. A panel of judges will select the inaugural class of Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame inductees based on the strength of their nomination and their Brandy Old Fashioned story. The honorees will be announced in mid-October.

September is Brandy Old Fashioned Month in Wisconsin!
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has proclaimed September Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned month and the first day of fall (Sept. 22 in 2022) as Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned Day.

The news that we did not get the RRF replenishment bill through was a gut-punch to our Wisconsin Restaurant Community. Everybody, including myself and my entire team at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, are upset and, honestly, scared for the future. Even though we are crushed by the outcome, it was not without a great deal of effort on your part and on ours. I want to share some of the actions and activities that have been part of our ongoing efforts to tell the story of devastation and impact the pandemic has, and continues to have, on our industry. 
 
We knew from the beginning Congress did not fully fund the RRF and replenishment was an uphill climb, but one that was critically necessary. The likelihood of replenishment was always a longshot, but that did not stop us from working to overcome every obstacle we could.  
 
Through your calls, messages, emails and engagement through our action alert system, many thousands of messages had been sent during this fight to that end, I wanted to provide you with a more detailed outline of what and how the WRA and National Restaurant Association have been working on your behalf: 
 

• We kept you updated through emails, alerts, and electronic newsletters primarily sent to the WRA membership 
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• You responded with almost 11,000 messages through our action alert system to Wisconsin’s Congressional Delegation asking for RRF replenishment  

 

• WRA held seven virtual and in-person meetings specifically with Senator Ron Johnson and his staff about RRF. This includes an in-person meeting with the Senator with twelve WRA members who flew out to DC to engage with our elected officials on RRF. We also personally expressed our disappointment to Senator Johnson that he did not vote in favor of the much-needed relief desperately needed by our members, whose losses were imposed on them by the government, and not by their own actions. 

 

• WRA held four virtual and in-person meetings specifically with Senator Tammy Baldwin and her staff. Senator Baldwin has been unwavering in her support of our industry and the RRF replenishment efforts. We have personally, in person and on social media, thanked Senator Baldwin for her support on RRF replenishment and efforts to get it passed. 

 

• This does not include the multitude of personal messages we have seen from many of you who have direct contact with our US Representatives and Senators 

 

• We engaged with local media throughout the state on the overall story of the impact on restaurants and the necessity of replenishing the fund 

 

• Through the National Restaurant Association, our lobbyists and industry representatives have been on Capitol Hill with daily meetings and communications with Senate leaders, Senate offices and the White House, urging immediate action.  
   
• It should be noted that even without Senator Johnson’s vote, eight votes from other Republican Senators or from Democratic Senators (who were absent) were needed or the motion was doomed to failure. Our partners at other State Restaurant Associations, plus the National Restaurant Association, have amplified our communication efforts with every Senator in our country. We had bipartisan support for the ultimate bill intent, but the breakdown was how to pay for the fund. 

 
There is no other issue in our history that garnered more action from you, our members. Thank you for your passion and unwavering support of these efforts. We hear you and you can be rest assured that we will continue to fight for our industry in every way possible. We will continue to engage on a host of issues critical to your success and recovery efforts will remain a top focus for us at the local, state, and federal levels. Though RRF replenishment is likely no longer an option, we will continue to fight in any way possible to help our industry survive. 

Kristine Hillmer 
President & CEO 
Wisconsin Restaurant Association ​