Amid rising concerns about a flood of improper Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims, the IRS ordered an immediate moratorium through at least the end of the year on processing new claims for the pandemic-era relief program to protect honest small business owners from scams. The IRS continues to work previously filed ERC claims received prior to the moratorium but renewed a reminder that increased fraud concerns means processing times will be longer. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel ordered the immediate moratorium, beginning Sept. 14 through at least Dec. 31, following growing concerns inside the tax agency, from tax professionals as well as media reports that a substantial share of new claims from the aging program are ineligible and increasingly putting businesses at financial risk.