Tax Resolution — Protecting Your Business and Yourself
If you are a business owner, you are obligated to collect federal income taxes from your employees and then pay them over to the government. The taxes involved are called withholding or trust fund taxes. Typically, an employer must withhold income tax, Social Security tax and Medicare tax. There are serious penalties for failure to pay and collect these taxes to the IRS on your employee’s behalf. The IRS is required to give an employee full credit for the taxes withhold, even if the employer does not pay the taxes to the IRS. Therefore, the IRS is very serious and aggressive about collecting the withheld taxes.
Owing the IRS payroll taxes is not the same as owing income taxes. It is more serious and the IRS tax collection efforts are often harsher and applied faster than in non-employment tax situations.
Because of the seriousness of not receiving payment of withheld taxes, the IRS can also seek to collect the unpaid taxes from people who are considered “responsible persons” for the company’s failure to collect and remit the withheld trust fund taxes. This collection action is called a trust fund recovery penalty assessment and collection. If the IRS assesses a trust fund recovery penalty against a person, then that person will also be responsible for paying the delinquent trust fund taxes and the IRS will pursue collection actions (liens and levies) against that person in addition to the company.
Often the IRS is not very discriminating in who they initially assert to be ‘responsible persons”. In those situations, there are IRS procedures that may be successfully used to reverse the IRS’s trust fund recovery penalty assessment.
At the Law Office of Stanton D. Goldberg, you will find an experienced Dallas employment tax and trust fund recovery penalty disputes attorney ready to help you respond to and IRS. With over 30 years of experience, employment tax attorney Stanton D. Goldberg has the knowledge and skill needed to handle IRS collection actions and find solutions to keep your business running while your employment tax disputes are resolved.
To schedule a consultation to discuss your tax situation, please call 972-960-2200 or contact our firm online.
Contact An Experienced Dallas Payroll Tax Lawyer
Texas attorney Stanton D. Goldberg has extensive experience practicing tax law. If IRS revenue officers have visited you and you are concerned about the possible assessment of a trust fund recovery penalty, don’t hesitate to contact his firm. Call 972-960-2200. You may also contact his office online.