Top 3 Must-Know Things About Payroll Back Tax

COMPLETE IRS & TAX REPRESENTATION

Top 3 Must-Know Things About Payroll Back Tax

 

Business owners – If you have fallen behind on your payroll tax, here are 3 important things you need to know. Seriously, write these down!

 

As an employer, you are responsible for withholding certain tax from your employees, and then paying those withholdings over to the IRS. The payroll taxes that consist of the employees’ portion of Social Security, Medicare, and Income Tax withholdings are referred to as the “trust fund” portion of total payroll tax debt.

 

Often a business owner will withhold those funds from the employees’ paychecks, but not pay them over to the government. Instead, the business owner may use the funds for more immediate necessities like rent, business telephone, or maybe to meet next week’s payroll. Unfortunately, these things happen, and they create SERIOUS legal and financial problems.

 

Here is what you need to know.

 

#1 – Trust Fund Recovery Penalty

 

The trust fund tax can be assessed against you personally.  This is what is referred to as the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty.  This tax does not go away.  You can’t get rid of it in bankruptcy.

 

It’s a big deal. It means that however much you owe as a business, you now owe that same amount as an individual.

 

#2 – Criminal Investigation for Trust Fund Tax

 

If you, as the business owner, are found personally responsible for the tax, you can also be found to be in willful violation of a criminal tax statute.

 

Once you’re on the government’s radar (IRS or State) as being personally responsible for that trust fund tax, then you could also be found criminally responsible. Seriously, read that again.

 

# 3 – Hiring the Right Tax Attorney

 

You are probably looking for a tax attorney to help you solve this problem.  You need a plan. You need to protect yourself against the “personally responsible” legal problem.

 

Why is this so important? Because the same set of rules that determine your personal responsibility can also determine criminal liability.

 

Now to do this, you cannot just hire a tax resolution firm off the radio. And you cannot hire an accountant. This is not their area of expertise.

 

You need an attorney for this because all these things are serious LEGAL problems.

 

Make sure your attorney has a plan to pay off the trust fund tax you owe.  That tax is the part that IRS is really cracking down on. They’re spending more and more money to recover those trust fund taxes, which means they are coming after business owners.

 

These things are real. They happen, and they happen to innocent business owners, just like you.

 

If you are behind on your payroll taxes, take control now.

 

Contact Tax Law Offices – We can help!