I am a small business owner and cash flow problems have caused me to miss several employment tax payments. What do I do?
The IRS takes employment taxes very seriously, and is very aggressive in pursuing recovery of these taxes when they are not paid. As an owner of a small business, you may be personally liable for the employment taxes that were not paid by your business.
The IRS will also pursue any other decision makers in your business that were responsible for the company’s finances, including officers, directors, stockholders and management-level employees. Aggressive IRS officers will also seek to pursue bookkeepers or clerical staff of the company, particularly if they had authority to sign checks.
It is extremely important to implement changes so that you do not miss future employment tax deposits. The IRS considers the “pyramiding” of employment tax payments to be a serious offense, and it can sometimes be criminal.
