Outsourcing payroll doesn’t outsource tax liability

  • By Mike Benbow
  • Tuesday, September 6, 2011 10:57am
  • Business

Outsourcing your payroll doesn’t mean business owners have outsourced their federal tax liabilities.

That’s the message from the Internal Revenue Service, which notes that its had several recent cases where individuals and companies posing as payroll service providers have stolen money intended for payment of employment taxes.

The IRS issued a news release Tuesday reminding businesses that the business is ultimately liable for paying the money. It notes that there can be penalities and interest for nonpayment, and that is some cases business owners can be held personally liable.

The agency notes that it send correspondence about any problems to the address of record and suggest that business owners not change that address to that of the payroll service provider.

It also suggests that owners choose a provider that uses the electronic federal tax payment system and that they register on the system to get a personal identification number they can use to verify the payments.

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