Installment agreement
Pay the balance over time on terms the IRS will accept.
Payroll TaxResolution
Getting your business out from under unpaid payroll taxes — before the IRS escalates. We negotiate the resolution and protect you personally from the trust fund recovery penalty.
What We Negotiate
Your resolution options
- 01Installment agreement
- 02Currently not collectible
- 03Offer in compromise
- 04Penalty abatement
Harvard, MA & Nationwide · CPA-led
The short version
- Payroll tax resolution is getting your business out from under unpaid payroll taxes before the IRS escalates — which on payroll taxes it does quickly.
- The IRS treats withheld payroll taxes as trust fund taxes, so it can pursue responsible individuals personally through the trust fund recovery penalty when the legal requirements are met.
- Alexander Accountants negotiate the resolution and protect you personally from the trust fund recovery penalty.
Payroll tax debt can be one of the most serious tax debts a business carries, because part of the balance includes taxes withheld from employees, and the IRS may pursue responsible individuals personally for the trust fund portion.
Part of every payroll tax deposit is money you withheld from employees and hold in trust for the government. Because that money is not really the company's, the IRS escalates faster than on income tax and can pursue owners personally.
Your resolution options
Currently not collectible
Collection pauses when the business genuinely cannot pay.
Offer in compromise
Settle for less than the full amount when you qualify.
Penalty abatement
Penalties come off for first-time or reasonable-cause situations.
How the engagement works
- 01
Get current
The IRS won't settle an old liability while new ones pile up, so the first move is always to get current on deposits and returns.
- 02
Confirm every open quarter
We total the real liability across all open quarters so nothing surfaces later to reopen the case.
- 03
Negotiate the resolution
We negotiate the business liability on the path that fits — installment agreement, currently not collectible, offer in compromise, or penalty abatement.
- 04
Defend the trust fund exposure
We structure the resolution around personal exposure, defending any trust fund recovery penalty alongside the company balance.
1995
Serving business owners since
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Across 36 Google reviews
4
IRS resolution paths we work
What payroll tax resolution costs
Cost depends on three things: how many quarters are open, the size of the debt, and which resolution path fits. We quote it up front once we see where you stand.
Why payroll tax debt is more dangerous than other tax debt
Part of every deposit is money you withheld from employees and hold in trust — so the IRS treats it differently, and more aggressively, than ordinary income tax debt.
It becomes personal debt
The IRS can pursue owners, officers, and other responsible people personally through the trust fund recovery penalty.
The IRS escalates faster
Because trust fund money isn't really the company's, collection moves quicker than on income tax.
A revenue officer may be assigned
Payroll cases often draw direct, in-person IRS collection — with less room to wait it out.
This fits if…
- You are behind on payroll tax deposits or 941 filings.
- You've heard from an IRS revenue officer.
- You are worried about being held personally responsible.
- New quarters keep piling up before you can address the old ones.
Payroll tax debt grows and it gets personal. Addressing it while an installment agreement or offer in compromise is still on the table is what keeps a cash crunch from turning into a personal liability.
Resolve your payroll tax debt
Tell us roughly how far behind you are and whether you've heard from a revenue officer, and we'll lay out the resolution options and protect you personally.
In payroll tax cases, the first mistake I often see is focusing only on the company's balance due. That is not enough. The trust fund portion has to be identified separately because that is where personal exposure can arise. A proper resolution starts with getting current, confirming every open quarter, and then negotiating the business liability while also addressing any trust fund recovery penalty risk.
Reviewed by
Senior Tax Manager, Alexander Accountants, CPAs
Xintian Wang represents businesses in IRS payroll tax matters at Alexander Accountants, CPAs, negotiating resolutions while protecting owners from personal trust fund recovery penalty exposure.