In a song, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” lyrics warn us against messing with someone named Jim. So, what does that have to do with payroll taxes?
We have all heard these lyrics written by Josh Turner and made a Top 10 Hit (8) by Jim Croce in 1972 and, if your company has ever fallen behind on your payroll taxes (940 payments and 941 payments) with the IRS, you may have thought the lyrics should read, “And you don’t mess around with the IRS.”
When cash is tight and you are facing those weekly 941 payments, it is tempting, as the old saying goes, to “rob Peter to pay Paul” and catch up next week.
That is a huge trap that snares a lot of business owners. So, whether you are a manufacturer or you are a service provider and you have employees, you need to heed this warning – MAKE PAYMENTS ON PAYROLL TAXES AND FILE YOUR RETURNS ON TIME. The Internal Revenue Service does not mess around.
The IRS relies upon self-reporting and regular payments by businesses to track and collect its 941 and 940 payments.
This includes withholding taxes, FICA (Social Security), Medicare taxes and unemployment taxes. The IRS will hold every employer responsible for any delinquencies in 941 and 940 payments and can hold each and every owner and/or responsible person personally responsible for the portion known as the trust fund taxes.
