Employment Taxes, Payroll Taxes & the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty
Tax attorney Daniel W. Layton handles all aspects of tax disputes involving payroll taxes including fighting overly aggressive collection efforts by the IRS or the California Employment Development Department on past due unpaid payroll taxes.
As a former tax trial attorney for the IRS, Daniel W. Layton learned about the IRS from the inside out, learned how to speak the government's language and, when necessary, learned hold the government accountable for its missteps. When your business receives levy or lien notices for employment and unemployment taxes, you have to act fast to protect your rights before the IRS issues levies to your banks or even directly to your clients. These aggressive collections can threaten to derail your business's ability to rebound from a low point or put you out of business if not addressed promptly and competently.
On the federal level, the IRS is not only concerned with employment taxes (Form 941) and unemployment taxes (Form 940), but has made the collection of the "trust fund" portion (the employee's share) of the employment tax liabilities a priority. To this end, the IRS could begin a "Trust Fund Recovery Penalty" investigation under section 6672 of the Tax Code to impose personal liabilities against an owner, officer, or other responsible employee of a corporation, LLC, partnership, or other business entity. The EDD can similarly impose personal liability for the full amount of its payroll tax liabilities where it can show a person was both responsible and willful with respect to the failure to pay the liabilities.
Mr. Layton has experience negotiating with the IRS via requests for an Offer in Compromise of Trust Fund Recovery Penalties and for employment and unemployment taxes. We have convinced the IRS to withdraw levies in order to allow our clients to continue operating their businesses and enter into a voluntary payment plans or installment plans with the IRS. Mr. Layton has successfully appealed IRS determinations to impose the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (personal liability penalty) against individuals, convincing the IRS to close its case with no personal liability against business owners for payroll trust fund taxes. Although each case is different and rests on its own individual facts, you can rest assured your case is in good hands with tax attorney Daniel W. Layton.