Employment and Payroll Tax Audit & Examination:
The IRS announced its plan to audit the first 6,000 employment tax audits and small business will be their audit target. The IRS will start examining 2,000 companies every year over the next 3 years.
The IRS will utilize its audit findings to target a select group of businesses and aggressively audit their payroll tax and refine estimates to close the tax gap. IRS audit agents are specially trained to audit employment and payroll tax for the audited businesses.
Colleges and Universities Tax Audits:
The IRS will audit 400 Colleges and Universities this year. The IRS is looking for unrelated business income to focus its examination at. The IRS suspects that many universities aren’t paying taxes on income from unrelated activities to their tax-exempt status, for example: stadium advertising, gym memberships, and executive pay.
Contractors with unpaid back taxes:
The IRS is cracking down hard on contractors with unpaid back taxes. The current Obama administration is developing new regulations to prevent federal contractors from receiving any government contracts as long as they owe back tax debt. In 2008, procedures were in place to prevent any contractor from bidding on government contacts if they owed $3,000 or more in tax liens and or tax judgments to the IRS.
The Revenue Service is also eyeing projects that use rehabilitation credit. IRS Agents have spotted developers claiming the 20% income tax credit on the cost of renovating certified historic buildings before they have the necessary documentation from the National Park Service to certify that the subject project is in fact historic in nature. The IRS will crack down on developers who are performing Historic structure renovations.
Employers with unpaid FICA on tips:
The IRS is sending out bills to employers such as restaurants and hotels to collect on unpaid FICA on unreported tips using data they collected from form 4137 which employees use to report tip income that they didn’t disclose to their employers. The IRS is sending letters to these employers instructing them to include their calculated amount on their next scheduled payroll deposit. Employers who comply will avoid any penalties and interest on the back taxes. The IRS is also revising the 4137 form to include the employer’s EIN number.
Mike Habib EA actively represents taxpayers in audits and examination before all administrative levels of the IRS. Don’t compromise on your representation, contact us today.
Get your free audit consultation by calling 877-788-2937.