Payroll Tax Problems Cleanup · Austin, TX · Serving business owners nationwide

Behind on payroll taxes? The sooner you act, the more options you keep.

Payroll tax problems move faster than any other kind, and they can follow owners home. We help you get this quarter's deposits right, work out exactly what's owed for the earlier ones, and put a plan in place before the IRS makes the decisions for you.

Where we start, and what you can expect

  • Current deposits back on schedule. We make sure this quarter is handled correctly so the balance stops growing.
  • Every past quarter accounted for. We file what's missing and correct what doesn't match your payroll records.
  • Your personal exposure taken seriously. We look at payment options and penalty relief with your own liability in mind.

How we get payroll taxes back under control

  1. Tell us what's happening. In a free, confidential consultation, share what you know and any letters you've received. An estimate of how far behind you are is enough.
  2. Stop the balance from growing. The first priority is making sure current deposits are made correctly and on time. The IRS is far more willing to work with a company that's compliant today.
  3. See what the IRS sees. With your written permission, we review your account records quarter by quarter to find what's been filed, what's been paid, and where the gaps are.
  4. File and correct the returns. Missing quarters get filed, and returns with errors are amended so the totals match your payroll records and W-2s.
  5. Address the balance and your personal exposure. We look at payment options and penalty relief, and we pay close attention to how payments are applied, because it affects what an owner could be held responsible for.
  6. Repair the payroll setup. We correct the platform settings, assign a clear owner for notices, and connect payroll to your books properly.

Payroll taxes were never the company's money, and the IRS can come to you personally for them.

The income tax, Social Security, and Medicare you withhold from each paycheck are held in trust for the government until the deposit is due. When those deposits are missed, the IRS escalates faster than it does for other tax debts, and penalties of up to 15% are added to each late deposit.

An LLC or corporation won't protect you here. The IRS can hold owners, officers, and anyone else who decided which bills got paid personally responsible for the full amount withheld. We look at your personal exposure from the first conversation, while there's still room to reduce it.

The payroll tax problems we work on most

  • Missed or late deposits,whether it's one quarter or several years' worth.
  • Unfiled quarterly and annual payroll returns,including Forms 941 and 940.
  • Returns that don't match the W-2s,which is one of the most common reasons the IRS sends a payroll notice.
  • rust Fund Recovery Penalty letters proposing to hold an owner or officer personally responsible.
  • Worker classification questions,where contractors may need to be treated as employees.
  • Texas Workforce Commission filings,covering state unemployment tax and quarterly wage reports.
  • Multi-state payroll,for companies with employees working outside Texas.

If a revenue officer has called or stopped by

Payroll cases are often assigned to a revenue officer, an IRS employee who handles collections in person. Be courteous, write down the officer's name and what's being requested, and ask for time to get professional help before answering detailed questions about who handled the company's finances. Then call us the same day, along with any letter mentioning a levy or a penalty against you personally.

Payroll software only works as well as the way it was set up.

ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Rippling, and Intuit all handle deposits and filings reliably when they're configured correctly. Trouble starts when the deposit schedule is wrong, when no one is assigned to read the notices, or when payroll never syncs to the accounting system, so the books and the tax filings tell two different stories. Once you're current, we make sure the setup matches how your company actually runs.

Payroll records are easier to untangle with everyone at the same table.

After your free consultation, we are glad to meet in person anywhere in the Greater Austin area, and it often helps to have your bookkeeper or office manager join. Owners anywhere else in the country work with us by phone and video. Because we work with Texas employers every day, Texas Workforce Commission filings are part of the same cleanup.

Austin

Questions owners ask when payroll taxes fall behind

It can levy bank accounts and receivables, file liens, and in rare, repeated cases ask a court to step in. In practice, the IRS would much rather have a company that's operating, depositing on time, and paying down what it owes.

Your next payroll deposit can be the one that turns this around.

The first conversation is free and confidential. Tell us where things stand, and you'll leave knowing what to do before the next payday.

Call or text (512) 996-5845
Austin, TX 30.27° N · 97.74° W Based in Austin, TX · Serving business owners nationwide · In-person meetings available across Greater Austin
Request my free consultation
Call Text Free consultation