Two possible reads:
Bushnell acquired Weeksie's Pizza's existing legal entity in December 2019 and rebranded operations after a renovation period. Under this read, the legal employer existed before February 15, 2020 → not an RSB; the 2019 baseline for the gross-receipts decline test would be Weeksie's Pizza 2019 figures.
Bushnell formed a new LLC (e.g., "June Cork Pub LLC" or similar) that acquired the location/assets and began carrying on a trade or business in June 2020 → potentially a Recovery Startup Business for 2021 Q3 and 2021 Q4 (the only post-IIJA pathway for Q4 2021), subject to the ≤$1M average annual gross-receipts cap and the $50K/quarter credit cap. Under this read there is no 2019 comparable for the gross-receipts decline test, and the alternative comparison rules for new employers apply (Notice 2021-23, Notice 2021-49).
Why this is load-bearing: RSB vs. non-RSB radically changes which quarters are even reachable and which test is available. Required client documents to resolve: NH Secretary of State business filing showing entity formation date and EIN issuance date; copy of the Weeksie's Pizza purchase agreement showing whether it was an asset sale or stock/membership-interest sale; copy of the entity's first Form 941 to confirm operating start date.
Source citations below pulled from public sources (NH Governor's office press releases, Ballotpedia, Husch Blackwell tracker, Citizens Count). Each order should be cited by name/number/effective date in the appeal packet; analyst should retrieve primary text from the NH Governor's emergency-orders archive (governor.sununu.nh.gov/news-and-media/emergency-orders-2020) before drafting IRS-facing language.
| Date | Event | Effect on Dover restaurant ops |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-03-16 | NH emergency order — dine-in / bar service closure | Full suspension of dine-in service. Takeout/delivery only. |
| 2020-03-27 | NH Emergency Order #17 — Stay-at-Home / closure of non-essential businesses (effective 11:59 PM) | Stay-at-home period. Restaurants restricted to takeout/delivery only. |
| 2020-06-15 | NH allows indoor dining to resume — Strafford County limited to 50% capacity, tables ≥6 ft apart (six other counties at 100%) | Partial suspension — capacity cap. |
| 2020-08-21 | Strafford County (with Hillsborough, Rockingham, Merrimack) moves to 100% capacity with 6 ft table spacing retained | Spacing restriction continues; capacity cap lifted. |
| 2020-10-01 | Tables permitted <6 ft apart with physical barriers between parties | Reduced spacing burden subject to barrier installation. |
| 2020-10-29 | Restaurants required to collect customer name + phone for contact tracing | Operational compliance burden. |
| 2021-05-07 | All NH restaurant restrictions lifted | End of partial-suspension fact pattern. |
| Quarter | Restriction profile | Pre-engagement note |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Q2 | ~76 of 91 days under full closure / takeout-only (Apr 1 – Jun 14); remainder at 50% capacity. | Strong partial-suspension fact pattern. Gross-receipts test pathway depends on Read A vs. Read B above. |
| 2020 Q3 | 50% capacity through Aug 21 (~52 of 92 days), then 100% with 6 ft spacing remainder. | Partial-suspension fact pattern through Aug 21; mixed-quarter analysis past that. |
| 2020 Q4 | 6 ft spacing → barrier-or-spacing rules from Oct 1; contact-tracing data-collection mandate from Oct 29. | Partial-suspension fact pattern is thinner here; quantification of operational impact required. |
| 2021 Q1 | Spacing/barrier + contact-tracing mandates throughout the quarter. | Strong quarter on the partial-suspension prong. |
| 2021 Q2 | Restrictions in force only through May 7 (~37 of 91 days). | Partial-quarter eligibility flag. Partial-suspension argument covers <50% of the quarter calendar; gross-receipts decline test is the more likely primary pathway, threshold dependent on the legal-entity question above. |
| 2021 Q3 | No NH state-level restaurant orders. | Partial-suspension prong unavailable absent county/local order. Eligibility depends on (a) gross-receipts decline vs. 2019 (or 2020 fallback if no 2019 comparable), or (b) RSB pathway if Read B applies. |
| 2021 Q4 | No NH state-level restaurant orders. | Eligible only as RSB. Read B is the gating question. |
The pub serves substantial food (multiple meal services listed) but is also clearly drink-forward (12 taps, 20+ bottles, cocktails/wine, Cicerone-certified staff). Two candidates:
Why it matters: NAICS classification matters for PPP/RRF analysis (RRF eligibility tracked food-and-beverage NAICS codes; specific filings rely on the entity's self-reported NAICS). Action: confirm at intake what NAICS code the entity used on its Forms 941 and federal income tax return; pull the food-vs-alcohol revenue split from POS data once available.
Public searches for "June Cork Pub" PPP and RRF awards returned no specific records. Three possibilities, none ruled out:
Action: confirm at intake; request copies of any PPP forgiveness application and any RRF award documentation. ERC qualified-wage base must be reconciled against PPP-forgiven wages and RRF-funded wages per Notice 2021-20 Q&A 49 and Notice 2021-49.
Restaurant-vertical canonical list, scoped to this case:
hf/intake/related-party-default.md).Standard Kwong / IRC § 7508A(d) two-track filing posture applies. Outer 941-X / Form 843 protective-claim deadlines for the 2020 and 2021 quarters cluster around 2026-07-10 under Kwong. Engagement signed in May 2026 has tight execution lead time; for any multi-quarter file, document collection should start the day the engagement letter signs.