The IRS recently announced that it is pausing acceptance of new Employee Retention Credit submissions through at least the end of the year. The reason for this pause is to prevent fraud and manage the backlog of nearly 600,000 pending applications.
 
Unfortunately, the ERC has been targeted by less than reputable companies and the IRS is seeing some fraudulent applications. This is why WRA is working with Adesso Capital—an established, reputable, vetted company that many other state restaurant associations are working with as well. Adesso's experts are well-versed with all aspects of the ERC and specialize in working with restaurants. So far Adesso has helped Wisconsin restaurants claim nearly $12 million in ERC dollars through our partnership.
 
What Does This Pause Mean for Restaurants?

• If you’ve already received your ERC, no action is required at this point.
• If you submitted your ERC paperwork before September 14, 2023, and you haven’t received your tax credit yet, the IRS will continue to process these claims. However, processing times are expected to slow. This is part of the backlog that they are trying to clear.
• If you are working on an ERC submission, do not stop the process. Continue preparing everything so your submission is ready to go as soon as the IRS resumes accepting ERC filings.
• If you haven’t filed yet, we recommend that you speak to the experts at Adesso to determine if you’re eligible to apply, and if you are, start your paperwork so Adesso can submit it as soon as the IRS resumes accepting ERC filings. According to the IRS, the ERC is not going away with this pause, and submissions can be filed through April 15, 2025 (NOTE: the amount you can claim will reduce on April 15, 2024 from $26,000 to $5,000). Start your eligibility evaluation process here.

Learn More

• Read Adesso’s statement on this development here.
• We encourage you to reach out with your questions - particularly if you have a pending ERC submission or are wondering if you qualify. Visit the WRA ERC portal or call WRA at 608.270.9950.
• Don’t hesitate to email WRA's Dawn Faris or call her at 608.444.9481 if you have questions about Adesso or the ERC.

Over the last few years, as food, labor and property costs have increased, a new trend has emerged to help offset the cost of accepting credit cards called Surcharging. By now, you might have experienced this practice in restaurants and retail stores, but there still lies confusion around the Surcharging rules and who enforces them.

In the State of Wisconsin, it is legal to charge a surcharge to credit cards as long as the customer is notified in writing prior to checking out. It is against card brand rules to add a surcharge to sales completed by debit card, regardless of using the debit card or credit card network. You must also apply the same surcharge amount to all cards and cannot offer a cash discount in conjunction with surcharging. In short, it must be one or the other across the board.

What changed?
Starting April 15, 2023, Visa imposed a maximum of 3% surcharge rule for all credit cards to help recoup some or all of the card processing costs.  Visa’s decision to reduce this from 4% to 3% is due in part to an increase in surcharge related violations and confusion around the rules.

What would happen if we chose not to follow card brand rules?
Visa employs secret shoppers as well as a public facing document for violation reporting. If caught, a cease and desist letter is sent, followed by fines up to $10,000 PER OCCURENCE. If the business or business owner continually repeats the offense, Visa can remove their ability to accept Visa cards permanently.

What actions do you need to take? 
If you are currently surcharging, ensure your point of sale can detect debit vs credit cards so that a surcharge is not mistakenly added to a debit card. Also, ensure that your surcharge does not exceed 3% to the customer. 

Finally, update your in store and/or menu signage to reflect this change and create transparency for the customer. 

Special thanks to Heartland Payment Systems for providing this information.
 
Questions? Email or call the AskWRA Team at 608.270.9950

​You hope it never happens to your restaurant, but it’s important to be prepared if disaster strikes. Pre-planning and a good blueprint for what to do if a fire breaks out can have a big impact on the safety of your employees and guests and the ability of your business to recover quickly. The National Restaurant Association recently released a new guide in their series of restaurant-specific disaster preparedness guides.
 
Always Ready: Fire is a great resource for restaurants. Take a look to make sure you’re doing everything you can to be prepared in the case of a fire.
 
Check out their Always Ready: Natural Disasters guide for great information on preparing for and recovering from natural disasters. The National Restaurant Association also has mini guides on floods, tornados, severe winter storms and wildfires.
 
For more useful guides and restaurant operations information from the National Restaurant Association, check out their Resource Library.

Good news! The WRA, along with other associations representing retailers, successfully advocated for an increase in the Sales Tax Retailer’s Allowance – which increases the amount paid to retailers for administration of sales and excise tax. The increase was included in the 2023-2025 state budget signed the first week in July.
 
Here's some background on the issue. In Wisconsin, all retailers collect sales taxes from the public on behalf of state and local governments. Currently they are provided a “retailer’s allowance” of .5 percent of the taxes they collect - capped at $1,000 per filing period - as compensation for the costs they incur in collecting the tax.
 
As of October 1, retailers will now be able to retain .75 percent of the taxes they collect, and the total amount per filing period is now capped at $8,000. 

What This Means for Restaurants
While it doesn't take out the sting completely of having to pay credit card fees on government taxes collected, it is a big improvement and will mean more money that restaurants don't have to pay out. 
 
Like the repeal of the Personal Property Tax, WRA worked hard lobbying in the Capitol to secure financial relief for all restaurant businesses, especially as inflation and ramifications from the pandemic continue to make it harder to stay in business.

Questions? Contact Susan Quam

​Effective in the 2024 tax year, businesses will no longer pay their local municipalities personal property taxes (PPT) on equipment, fixtures and furnishings. Included in the massive Local Shared Revenue Bill recently brokered between Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Governor Tony Evers, the PPT was officially repealed when the Governor signed the bill on June 20, 2023.
 
The WRA has advocated for PPT relief/repeal for 20-plus years and played a major role in the past decade to get the law repealed. Many WRA members have testified at legislative committee hearings and made office visits with their legislators, telling their story on how onerous the PPT is and how negatively it effected their business. We thank all of our members who helped get the message across and contributed to this repeal.

The repeal will save Wisconsin businesses over 200 million dollars in 2024. The WRA joined forces with over 50 other business organizations to get the repeal completed. 
 
Keep in mind, Wisconsin businesses will still have to pay their 2023 PPT bill in early 2024, since the “backfill” to make municipalities whole does not take effect until the 2024 tax year.
 
Questions? Contact us.

ServSafe is the premier provider of materials and programs specifically for the restaurant industry and is accredited by ANSI and the Conference for Food Protection. For the past 30 years, ServSafe has been an industry leading program dedicated to protecting restaurant professionals, customers, and communities from foodborne illness.
 
The Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation’s (WRAEF) mission is to support industry education and training programs. Here in Wisconsin, ServSafe is administered by the WRAEF with 100% of the net proceeds going directly towards workforce development efforts.
 
ServSafe training keeps customers safe:

• ServSafe food safety training prevents foodborne illness in Wisconsin restaurants.
• ServSafe certification ensures that restaurant employees follow best practices for food safety and sanitation.
• The Wisconsin Restaurant Association takes food safety very seriously—in fact the Association was founded with the purpose of reducing the incidence of foodborne illness in our state. 

ServSafe training is an investment in employees:

• Employees gain critical food safety knowledge from ServSafe training.
• The ServSafe credential is earned by the employee and remains with them wherever they choose to work.
• A vast majority of employers pay for their employees ServSafe training, rarely does an employee pay for their own certification.

The Suite of ServSafe programs include:

• ServSafe Manager,
• ServSafe Food Handler,
• ServSafe Alcohol,
• ServSafe Allergens, and
• ServSafe Workplace which includes courses for workplace conduct and safety for both managers and employees.

​We encourage you to consider these training opportunities for yourself and your staff. For more information about these programs go to: wirestaurant.org/servsafe