As you are preparing your 2020 business tax return on Schedule C you may be surprised by one of the notifications from your tax preparation software: 'Taxpayer may qualify for Form 7202 sick leave and family leave credit' or something along those lines.

Your first question is 'what is this credit', followed immediately by 'do I qualify for this' and finally, 'how much is this credit'?

This is the Sick Leave and Family Leave Credit for coronavirus-related absence from your business, either quarantining and receiving care yourself OR providing care for a dependent who is required to quarantine, receive care or due to a closure of a school or care facility. The take-away here is that you were unable to perform services due to these circumstances.

The credit rate differs for these two types of leave (sick aka self as compared to family leave). For care you required, you can receive a credit up to $511 per day, up to 10 days, For care you provided to another, you can receive a credit up to $200 per day (subject to limitations).

The amount of the ultimate credit depends how many days you were unable to work as well as the number of days you were required to care for a child.

There are certain limitations on both the sick leave and family leave portions of the credit which the software should take into account for you. If you have questions about this credit and whether or not you qualify you can find more information from the IRS here.