Basics of Government Contracting
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The IRS Is Not a Bank
The Internal Revenue Service is not a lender of last resort. By not paying taxes, you are ultimately borrowing from the government, at extremely costly rates. The addition of compounding interest and penalties will make a bad situation much worse. Any unpaid taxes due will garner a daily interest rate, plus a monthly 5% penalty each month up to 5 months for a maximum of 25%.
For businesses, the most common tax payment problems come from not paying the payroll tax. Failure to pay 941 payroll taxes can easily put the entire business in jeopardy and have a drastic effect on the business owner’s assets. If the company is dissolved, the IRS will still require the owner to pay outstanding balances of payroll taxes.
The best advice for tax problems is to be proactive at all times. Like most bad situations, ignoring it will not make it go away. If there are not enough funds to pay taxes on a timely basis, there is a strong indication the business is improperly capitalized. This can cascade into difficulties that may be hard to get out of, which could create lasting negative obligations.
As far as the IRS is concerned, first, it will send a letter for a balance due. Upon not hearing anything from the taxpayer it might send a few more. When the bureaucracy figures out no one is heeding the message, it will assign a case worker. This means your account has moved down a notch. At this point either a payment plan is negotiated or a Notice of Federal Tax Lien is filed. Avoiding a tax lien is highly recommended. Once a payment plan is in place, it is imperative that payments are made on a timely basis. With good cooperation a payment plan can be in place without having a formal tax lien.
The latest news is that the IRS is now checking that Federal contractors are in compliance. Meaning, it conducts a review of certifications of non-delinquency in taxes for any companies bidding for Federal contracts. This could potentially kill an active solicitation bid if there are outstanding taxes due.
In some cases, a factoring company can actually assist in situations where there is a delinquency. But once a lien has been levied against a company it will require written subordination from the IRS in order for any commercial finance company to even consider funding. When a payment schedule is in place, the factor may send advances from invoices directly to the IRS. This insures that payments are being made in a timely fashion per the IRS agreement.
Fortunately, tax problems can be remedied. But they can’t be ignored.
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