Owe 941 Employment / Payroll Tax?

If you're a business owner dealing with a past due payroll tax liability, you or your bank may receive a Financial Records Summons from the IRS.

Trust Fund Investigation

Along with the form 4180 Interview, a bank summons is often part of the IRS' Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) Investigation.  Sometimes the same information the IRS is requesting as part of the summons will be listed on form 9297, Summary of Taxpayer Contact.  The 9297 is used by IRS Revenue Officers to request information / documents and set deadlines to receive them.  If the deadline isn't met, one option the Revenue Officer has is to summons the information.

The IRS is allowed to contact third parties as part of their back tax collection process.  While it is very common for the IRS to contact a taxpayer's bank, it can serve as a clue that the IRS is looking to assess the Trust Fund portion of the employment tax debt to the business owner(s) and/or other Responsible Individuals of the business.  Common documents the Service requests from a business taxpayer's bank are:

• Bank Signature Cards
• Corporate Resolutions
• Bank Statements
• Cancelled Checks issued by taxpayer during each month of the delinquency period
• Loan applications, agreements, and related records, (including corporate financial statements)

IRS Form 6639

The IRS Financial Records Summons is issued to a taxpayer's bank on form 6639.  It provides the list of items requested, and a place and time for appearance before the issuing Revenue Officer.  It will also be signed by the Revenue Officer and the Collections Group Manager.

If the IRS Summons is sent to a taxpayer's bank as part of the TFRP investigation, the bank responds by mailing the requested documents to the IRS.  A bank representative will not need to show up with documents in hand to meet with the Revenue Officer in person.

Review your IRS Summons carefully.  Does it say "In the matter of" then your company name?  And, is it "To:" your company's bank?  If yes, your bank will respond accordingly.  You are not required to respond to a summons sent to your bank, even if it is regarding your tax matter.

What should you do?  If you haven't contacted your Revenue Officer, call her or call a tax resolution professional.  You may want to find out whether the Trust Fund is going to be assessed to you and/or anyone else associated with your business.  Find out how a tax resolution professional can benefit your situation.  Initial consultations are typically free.  At least they are at M&M.

The IRS has professionals working for them, maybe you should too.  

Contact Us to find out how we fix tax problems.