Behind on Payroll Taxes? The IRS Can Make It Personal.

The IRS treats unpaid payroll tax as money you held in trust for your employees and failed to turn over. It pursues unpaid Form 941 employment taxes faster and harder than almost any other balance — and it can come after you personally, even when the business is an LLC or a corporation.

That personal assessment is the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, and it is the thing worth acting on. It is what we defend. If a revenue officer has been assigned, or has asked to interview you, the window to shape the outcome is open now and does not stay open long.

Peter Kici, EA, is an IRS Enrolled Agent in Central Florida who represents business owners and the individuals the IRS is moving to assess. Call or text (407) 531-8705.

What Actually Becomes Personal

Not the whole balance. The withheld income tax and the employees’ share of Social Security and Medicare are the trust fund portion — that is what can be assessed against an individual. The employer’s matching share stays a company liability.

The IRS can assess it against anyone it finds was both responsible — holding the duty and the power to direct which bills got paid — and willful, meaning they knew or should have known and were at least plainly indifferent. No bad motive is required. It can reach an owner, an officer, a controller, a bookkeeper, sometimes more than one person at once. Once assessed, it follows the individual and does not disappear in a business bankruptcy.

Read the full explanation of how the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty works — the interview, the 60-day clock, and what can be challenged.

Why the IRS Moves Fast on 941 Debt

Unpaid employment tax is the top IRS collection priority. Cases are routinely assigned to a revenue officer — a local IRS collection employee with authority to file liens, levy accounts, and in serious cases recommend shutting the business down. If a revenue officer has already contacted you, do not go into that meeting alone. See defending against IRS collection actions.

What We Do

We represent the person the IRS is moving to assess. The 941 liability is handled as part of that matter — it is not something we take on its own.

File the authorization and get between you and the revenue officer.
Pull the account records and establish what was assessed, for which quarters, and against whom.
Test both elements — whether you truly held the duty and the power, and whether the willfulness finding survives the facts.
Prepare you for the interview and attend it, so the record reflects what actually happened rather than a conclusion.
Bring missing or late 941 filings current so the account is compliant. See help with unfiled returns.
Where more than one person is in the frame, make sure the record shows who really controlled the money.

We do not run payroll and we do not offer payroll processing. This is representation work on a collection matter.

No one can promise you a number on payroll tax debt, and anyone who does is not being straight with you.

How This Starts

1. You retain us. A retainer secures our services, the same way you would retain an attorney. It is not priced against a scope, because the scope is not known yet.

2. Discovery. Authorizations go in and we go to the IRS for the account records. That takes weeks, not days. Anyone quoting you a plan before seeing the transcripts is guessing.

3. The case is built on what comes back. Strategy follows the record, and the resolution work is scoped separately once we know what we are dealing with.

Questions Business Owners Ask

My business is an LLC. Doesn’t that protect me?
Not from this. The Trust Fund Recovery Penalty is assessed against an individual, and the entity does not stand in the way of it.

If I close the company, does it go away?
No. An assessment already made against you personally outlives the business and is not discharged by a business bankruptcy.

I only did the books. Am I exposed?
Possibly. The test is authority and control, not job title — and equally, being an officer who could sign checks is not enough on its own.

A revenue officer contacted my business. What do I do?
Get representation in place before the interview. What goes into that record is what the case is built on.

What does it cost?
We do not quote a resolution fee on a first call, because the information to price it does not exist yet. You retain us, discovery happens, and the resolution work is scoped after that.

Talk to an Enrolled Agent in Orlando, Not a Call Center

Peter Kici is an Enrolled Agent — federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Call (407) 531-8705 or book a consultation.

Not ready to call? Get the free IRS Survival Guide.