IRS Resolution

Payroll Tax Resolution

Get ahead of the IRS on your payroll tax debt. Tell us what is delinquent and what has been filed, and we will read your account, separate the trust fund exposure, and tell you what resolution looks like from here.

Schedule a payroll tax resolution consultation

Revenue-officer representation

Entity & personal exposure handled together

CPA licensed to represent you before the IRS

TL;DR

Payroll tax debt moves faster and carries more enforcement risk than almost any other IRS liability.
The IRS assigns dedicated revenue officers to delinquent employment tax cases. They are not the automated notices you can wait out.
Resolution options exist, but they narrow as the balance grows and the periods multiply.

Most IRS notices can wait. The letters escalate slowly and there is usually time to respond. Payroll tax debt is different. When a business falls behind on Form 941 deposits, the IRS does not send one notice and wait. It assigns a revenue officer, a field agent who can show up at the business, issue summonses, and begin enforced collection without the usual warning sequence.

The reason is simple. Payroll taxes include money withheld from employees that was never the business's to spend. The IRS treats it as taken from employees and the Treasury at once, and it enforces accordingly.

Ways to Resolve Payroll Tax Debt

Four main pathways, each with its own qualifying conditions and trade-offs:

Installment Agreement

A monthly payment plan for an operating business that can stay current going forward. Available across a range of balances and durations.

Offer in Compromise

Settles for less than owed when full payment would create real hardship. More complex when trust fund liability is in the mix, but available.

Penalty Abatement

First-time or reasonable-cause relief on the penalties that often make up the bulk of the balance. Frequently combined with another resolution path.

Partial Pay or Currently Not Collectible

Reduced payments with the remaining balance expiring at the ten-year collection window, or a hardship pause on active collection. Interest still accrues.

How We Resolve Payroll Tax Debt

Read the account

We pull IRS transcripts, identify every period with a balance or penalty, and separate the trust fund portion from the employer share.

Get current

We bring all filings and current deposits up to date. The IRS will not meaningfully engage on the past until the business is current on the present.

Represent and resolve

We deal with the assigned revenue officer directly, build a plan that addresses entity balance and personal assessments together, and negotiate the agreement, abatement, or offer.

Why Businesses Trust Dimov Tax

Direct CPA representation in front of the IRS, not advice from the sidelines.

$1.5B+

in tax savings identified for clients

63%

of clients come back year after year

70+

tax and financial services under one roof

15+

years of senior experience per engagement

What Impacts the Cost of Payroll Tax Resolution

Resolution work is priced by scope, not a flat rate. The main factors are the total balance and how many periods are delinquent, whether personal trust fund assessments are in play, whether the business is still operating and able to stay current, and which pathway fits: installment, abatement, or an offer.

We scope the work to the case in front of us and quote it directly. If a revenue officer is already assigned, the conversation needs to happen today. Earlier almost always means better terms.

Find out where your case stands before the next IRS letter. Whether a revenue officer is assigned or you are just behind, we will tell you quickly what the realistic options are. Confidential, no obligation.

How Payroll Tax Debt Compounds

A single missed deposit rarely stays a single missed deposit. The late-deposit penalty starts at 2 percent, reaches 10 percent after fifteen days, and jumps to 15 percent once the IRS issues a notice and the deposit still is not made. Failure to file Form 941 adds another 5 percent a month, up to 25 percent, with interest running on top. None of these components reduce each other. They stack.

A business that misses three quarters of deposits and filings can face a balance 30 to 40 percent larger than the original tax owed, before the IRS has taken any collection action at all.

30–40%

balance growth in three quarters of missed deposits and filings — before any IRS action

Personal

trust fund portion can be assessed against owners, officers, and bookkeepers (IRC §6672)

Revenue officer

field agent assigned to 941 delinquencies, with summons and levy authority

Sources: IRS Failure to Deposit Penalty; Internal Revenue Code §6672

Who Payroll Tax Resolution Is For

A good fit if you:

Have a revenue officer already assigned
Are behind on 941 deposits or filings but have not yet heard from one
Are current as a business but face a personal trust fund assessment
Have multiple delinquent quarters and a growing balance
Need both the business debt and personal exposure handled together

If a revenue officer is already assigned, the conversation needs to happen today. Earlier almost always means better terms. We coordinate with trust fund recovery defense and ongoing payroll compliance in the same engagement.

Schedule a Resolution Consultation

Talk to Dimov Tax about what is delinquent, what has been filed, and any personal exposure that may exist. Payroll tax cases move on the IRS's timeline, not the taxpayer's. By the time most businesses call, the window for the best outcomes has already started closing.

Confidential, no obligation. A CPA can stand in front of the IRS on your behalf, not just advise from the sidelines.

Reviewed by George Dimov, CPA

Founder of Dimov Tax

15+ years advising businesses on payroll tax, multi-state compliance, and IRS resolution.