My business owes employment taxes – what should I do to protect myself?

Even if your business is incorporated, you can be held PERSONALLY liable if the business fails to pay over to the Internal Revenue Service the taxes withheld from employees. The IRS will attempt to assess all of the owners and officers of such a business, as well as mere employees who work in the financial or managerial division of the business, with the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty.

If you are assessed with this tax, you will have a limited period of time to appeal or challenge the assessment. Mr. Cohen has been very successful in having this type of assessment thrown out or reduced. Many variables come into play, and you likely will need a tax attorney to help you avoid or reduce the sting of this type of tax. If you are a responsible person at a business that is behind in its employment taxes, be forewarned that the government will not permit you to continue such unauthorized “borrowing.”