The franchisee of a well-known restaurant chain in Colorado abruptly found eight of his stores closed by the state Department of Revenue because he had failed to pay state and payroll taxes.
Some of the stores were closed while customers were eating and the seizure left several employees without jobs and worrying about their next paycheck.
This is not where you want to find yourself as the owner or manager of a small business.
Failure to pay payroll taxes: Go to jail
Withheld payroll taxes are trust fund taxes because an employer holds the employees’ money (federal income taxes and employee portion of FICA taxes, an acronym for Federal Insurance Contributions Act) in trust until a federal tax deposit of that amount is made.
If any person willfully fails to collect, account for, and pay taxes imposed by the IRS, that person will be liable for a fiduciary penalty. Ouch! Such an action not only hurts your employees but can severely damage your company’s reputation, and your ability to carry out normal business operations.
This is important
Small business owners need to understand the importance of accounting for payroll taxes.
An owner must keep track of employees, hours, tax calculations and deductions—to name a few—and that accounting function demands a lot of time and resources.
There is a solution
With QuickBooks, you can save valuable time by running payroll in minutes either from your desktop computer, or with QuickBooks Online.
Also, QuickBooks Payroll gives you automatic reminders, allows you to enter overtime and deductions, run payroll as often as you’d like each month, pay payroll taxes and year-end W-2s, and prepares detailed reports right inside your QuickBooks program.
Furthermore, QuickBooks “Online Payroll” app allows you to run payroll anytime, anywhere from your mobile device!
Call Peak Advisers today and we’ll help you join the 1.2 million small businesses who rely on QuickBooks and we’ll help you choose the right payroll service and stop on top of new laws.
If you feel like your business is managing you—instead of the other way around—and your books are a nightmare, call Peak Advisers today for a free consultation. We can help you with a full-range of value-added business and financial solutions.
Peak Advisers is Denver’s leading advanced certified QuickBooks re-sellers and consultants. We make QuickBooks work for you and your small business. All purchases include free training. Call us today at: 303-801-4772; or email: info@peakadvisers.com