How to Defend the IRS Trust Fund Penalty, Former IRS
As a former IRS agent and teaching instructor with the Internal Revenue Service I have worked well over 750 trust fund cases.
I have been on both sides of the fences, for the Internal Revenue Service as a former IRS revenue officer, I set up the deficiencies for the trust fund and being on the other side of the fence I put together solid tight packages for IRS trust fund defense penalty help.
The IRS trust fund penalty defense is an art and it’s a very important that you understand the ramifications of the IRS trust fund penalty.
If the IRS sets up this tax deficiency against you, IRS has its full legal resource to enforce and collect back taxes as though you owe individual taxes and therefore it must be taken seriously.
You can expect letters from the Internal Revenue Service that will threaten IRS tax levies,wage garnishment, and federal tax liens.
So, it’s best to stop this proceeding by understanding how to defend yourself against the IRS trust fund penalty.
The bottom line here is to FIND SOMEONE TO BLAME!
In putting your case together you need to have documentation supporting your claim.
It’s critical to support your claim with Internal Revenue Service with written affidavits from third parties explaining why you are not responsible for this tax.
The revenue officer will gather as much possible information from as many sources as they can to make a determination.
The use of the IRS form 4180 by the RO is very critical to investigation. You must know the form and the questions the IRS will ask, so be prepared.
The RO determines many things including the business financial policy. As a Former IRS agent I took massive amounts of these 4180 interviews.
The RO will ask a series of questions on the form that will start to point to the responsible persons. Page 2 is critical.Keep in mind, along with the answers and facts and the documentation is king.
IRS will look closely at those who filed and review tax returns, who signed the checks, sign contracts, who signed for loans, who made day-to-day decisions, who paid the bills, who decides what bills not to pay, and who ran the show.
The RO can contact former employees, bank officers, anybody they can find to interview, the secretary is a great source of information.
The principal factor that the IRS considers when examining which individuals may or may not be liable for the TFRP is, who signs company checks.
Now, may times others have signed checks but IRS is looking for ultimate control.Who had the power, who had control.
As we say in IRS, follow the money and you will find the responsible.
In defending responsible persons, it is critical to demonstrate that a person lacked the financial control exhibited by the foregoing factors through such things as company business records, involving the business, contracts, and affidavits from third parties, and providing statements to the IRS.What you are proving is that someone was controlling and directing you.
You must build your own case that you were being controlled of directed by others.
The IRS Revenue Officer.
The TFRP investigation is conducted by a revenue officer from the IRS’s collection unit. The revenue officer typically requests bank signature cards, cancelled checks, corporate resolutions and other business records to identify potential responsible persons.
If the company does not provide these documents voluntarily, administrative summons, a form 2039 will be used to demand the records from the business, banks or from third parties.
The RO usually will follow up with a call or simply send out forms to the company indicating who is responsible, the agent will try to set up as many persons and they can and throw an broad net around everyone.
Lastly, get as many people as you possibly can to support you. everybody will blame everybody else so get ready for a battle and get ready to fight.
If you have been assessed this penalty, by all means, appeal.
