Unpaid Payroll Taxes:
A Time Bomb You Can Defuse
Unpaid payroll taxes and missing payroll tax returns can create the severest of financial pains and result in possible prison time, but most employers are not aware of it until it is too late. It’s a time bomb that will detonate if ignored, leaving its victims devastated from the aftermath. The civil penalties alone can be approximately 50% of the tax due alone and can be assessed personally against the business owner and others. The good news is that the time bomb can be defused if the right actions are taken by the tax professional before it is too late.
Although the small business owner doesn't have malice or evil desires, the IRS doesn't take lightly unpaid payroll taxes and it has great powers and authority to collect. And when the employer is caught by the IRS years later, the damage has already been done. Businesses can be closed. Friendships can be strained. Marriages sometimes end in divorce.
Tax professionals must understand the responsibilities and potential civil and criminal implications for unpaid payroll taxes. The better they understand, the better they can help their clients mitigate risk, and protect their firms from civil penalties. This course will help the CPA or Enrolled Agent evaluate their client's payroll tax problems and advise their client on the best path to resolving the tax debt.
The major topics covered in this class include:
The common statutes guiding the assessment and collection of payroll taxes
"Responsible party" and how it relates to the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty
The steps of the TFRP process
The various civil penalties for unpaid payroll taxes
Seven options to resolve tax debts
How IRS evaluates and investigates employment tax fraud
Who should attend:
CPAs with clients who have small businesses; payroll tax return preparers.
2 CE hours
Prerequisites: None
Program Level: Basic
Advanced Preparation: None
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Your Instructor
Robert Nordlander
CPA
Robert Nordlander, CPA is a nationally recognized speaker on forensic accounting and tax controversy. He is also a podcast host, and author of three books on criminal tax, unpaid payroll taxes, and penalty abatement.
He spent over 20 years as a special agent with IRS-Criminal Investigation chasing tax evaders and money launderers around the globe. Currently, he is the sole shareholder of Nordlander CPA, PLLC, a boutique forensic accounting and tax resolution firm. As a special agent, he investigated tax and white-collar crimes that were profiled in the New York Times, PBS, NBC, and various magazines. As part of his duties, he taught continuing education to other federal employees, including representing the United States in training foreign law enforcement in forensic accounting and anti-money laundering investigations.
He currently is the host of the Fraud Fighter Podcast, which is focused on the forensic accounting and anti-fraud/anti-money laundering industry.
He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, a MBA degree, a CFE certification, and Enrolled Agent. He currently resides in NC, and has an interest in long distance running (albeit slow), good BBQ, and the FIRE movement.
Steven Boon
MBA, EA
C. Steven Boon, MBA, EA, is a former Special Agent with IRS Criminal Investigation, where he spent nearly two decades investigating identity-theft schemes, return-preparer fraud, and complex tax-enforcement cases. His work alongside every major IRS operating division gives him a deep, practical understanding of IRS audits, assessments, and collections.
He is an Enrolled Agent with unrestricted representation rights before the IRS nationwide, holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and received advanced training in criminal investigation and tax enforcement at the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
Steve is also a Continuing Education instructor for tax professionals and the coauthor of the Amazon #1 best-selling new release Erase the Penalty: A Tax Professional’s Guide to Abatement.
Next Webinar:
2/26/2026
1:00 - 3:00 pm EST
Unpaid Payroll Taxes:
A Time Bomb You Can Defuse
