Employment Tax Enforcement

The Department of Justice has stepped up is prosecutions on the criminal and civil enforcement side against employers who pyramid (business withholds taxes from employees but intentionally fails to remit them to the IRS over several quarters), pay employees in cash, and file false payroll tax returns or simply fail to file. Employers have a legal responsibility to collect and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) taxes withheld from their employees’ wages. The Department of Justice has created a separate page on its website with links to recent criminal and civil employment enforcement. For example, the Justice Department recently announced on April 22, 2016, that a Nevada business owner and bookkeeper plead guilty to federal employment tax crimes. The government is sending a clear message that unpaid employment taxes are a substantial problem, and it is seeking permanent injunctions and criminal convictions.