The IRS will audit 6,000 U.S. companies to determine whether they pay all their required employment taxes to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits. See Bloomberg News
The IRS said the audits will provide data for its first statistical analysis since 1984 of how often companies misclassify workers to duck tax obligations, fail to pay taxes on fringe benefits such as personal use of company cars, and improperly pay taxes for company executives. The audits will begin in February, and the companies will be randomly chosen.
IRS will be looking at employee classificaitons, meaning “Independent Contractor or Employee.” It is simple. Companies owe taxes for an employee–state and federal withholding, FICA, FUTA, Medicare etc. Many companies will carry workers as independent contractors in order to save money and not withhold taxes. Many independent contractors should really be classified as “employees” because they meet the working conditions tests used by IRS to determine a workers status.
If a company is audited and workers are found to be employees instead of independent contractors, past taxes will be owed by the company and the worker.
It is best to get legal counsel as soon as you get notice of an IRS audit.
Bill Lowrance
Tags: employment tax, IRS Audits
