 In addition to that 10% to 20%, another 60% to 70% of the claims show what the IRS calls an unacceptable level of risk. To qualify for an employee retention tax credit, a business had to show that it was shut down by a government COVID order, so was subject to some sort of lockdown during 2020 or the first quarter of 2021, or that the business had experienced a decline in gross receipts during that period.