Each month, I post tax tips for business owners in my Tips from the TaxMan series on the “The Big Biz Show” blog. “The Big Biz Show” airs each weekday and is hosted by Sully & Russ ‘T’ Nailz, two San Diego radio and television personalities. The show covers current events, business trends, investment opportunities, live market updates, and more.
This week, I was inspired to share some
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Doris Ruiz, of Minneapolis, Minn., was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and ten counts of failure to account for and pay over federal employment taxes. The indictment alleges that from 2005 to 2007 Ruiz diverted $152,292.44 in payroll taxes by instructing employees to stop preparing tax return forms.
Ruiz is the owner of Olen Staff Company, a temporary work agency in Minneapolis. If convicted, she faces
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The IRS revealed last week a new program where business owners, particularly those that own small businesses, need to reclassify contractors as employees and make a small payment to cover past payroll taxes. The article Price of Reclassifying Workers, written by Sarah E. Needleman and Emily Maltby comes after an ultimatum by the IRS for small businesses (which tend to have less staff and a looser structure): raise operating costs
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There has been a lot of buzz about the IRS’s New Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program (also known by the acronym VSCP).  It’s on IRS.gov, going out in newsletters and major media publications are covering it in stories.  What I am not seeing covered yet is how this new settlement program as a disguised as amnesty for small businesses – like a payroll tax “fresh start” settlement program of sorts
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Unpaid payroll taxes can lead to the downfall of your business. As a business owner, you have a duty to collect the correct amount of taxes and turn them over to the IRS. When payroll taxes go unpaid, the IRS does not mess around. The man in the article below deliberately scammed the IRS of payroll taxes and he will be paying for his crime soon.
The owner and operator of
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A Miami contractor was sentenced to 18 months in prison for employment tax fraud.
Reynaldo Orozco was also ordered to pay $504,047 in restitution to the United States.
Orozco previously pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false employment tax return on March 22, 2011. According to court documents, from 2004 to 2007, Orozco owned and operated Rock Construction Builders Inc., a construction business located in Miami-Dade County.
Orozco admitted that he
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In this video, I speak to small business owners and independent contractors who owe delinquent employment or payroll taxes. When you don’t pay your payroll taxes, the IRS WILL catch up to you.  Should you find yourself in a payroll tax problem position where you have IRS stress, here are three key points to understand about the IRS’ stepped up efforts with collections. (See video and I type out the
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The man in the article below is a great example of a case of double tax evasion: collecting payroll taxes and failing to turn them over to the IRS is his first crime.  Failing to pay personal taxes is his second strike.  The IRS does not take these offenses lightly – as can be seen by his hefty prison sentence.
Stuart M. Register, 44, of Brandon, Fla., was sentenced to 27
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Last week I appeared on the Big Biz Show to continue the Tax Resolution Tax Day Countdown with Russ & Sully to talk about the 7 top things business owners must know about payroll tax problems.
The IRS assigns a much higher priority to the collection of payroll taxes mainly because at the end of the year, most employees can claim the taxes deducted on their W-2s as a credit and
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As the Tax Day Countdown series continues on the Big Biz Show, don’t miss tomorrow’s segment on the 7 Things small business owners should know about payroll tax problems! It will air at 1:10pm PST.
As the tax day quickly approaches, are you prepared as a small business owner to own your tax returns? Are there things about payroll taxes that you may not know about? Oftentimes, what you don’t
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While many business owners are struggling in the current economic climate, I want to emphasize that in addition to abnormal tax deductions, there are a number of other things that can trigger IRS audits, penalties, and potential jail time.
CBS Interactive Business Network BNET recently published an article, “How to Stay Out of Tax Hell” in which I shared important tax help advice for business owners, including how failure to pay
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Unpaid payroll taxes are no joke to the IRS.  The unpaid taxes will generate huge IRS penalties and debt, and may be considered a federal crime, especially when the unpaid payroll taxes amount to millions, as in the article below.  Payroll tax help is available through Tax Resolution Services – we have helped businesses across the nation resolve payroll tax problems, which has saved many businesses.  Payroll tax troubles can mean the end of a business,
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The Jan. 31 deadline for filing Form 1099s for independent contractors is around the corner. A major target on the IRS hit list is worker status.
Why would the IRS care how a business owner classifies workers? Because the tax burden on the owner changes dramatically depending on how a worker is classified. The IRS is on the lookout for worker misclassification—it doesn’t matter if it is deliberate or inadvertent—to capture
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As a business owner, there are two types of workers you will deal with: employees and independent contractors. When it comes to tax and the IRS, the difference between the two is crucial.
For each employee, it is the business owner’s responsibility to withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, income taxes and pay unemployment taxes on wages paid. However, when employing an independent contractor, as a general rule, the
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Nonpayment of payroll taxes is taken very seriously by the IRS.  Payroll taxes are considered a “trust tax” and when employers try to evade paying the payroll taxes due, or simply not pay them at all, the IRS can be very aggressive in their collection attempts.  Unpaid payroll taxes can cause you to lose your business – and your freedom – as demonstrated in this article below:
Victor Manuel Amaya of
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