DOJ Tax Enforcement Priority for Employer Trust Fund Taxes (10/10/15)

The IRS and DOJ have been pursuing employment trust fund taxes for some time.  DOJ Tax is making the public aware of increased concerns and efforts in this area, particularly the criminal sanction in Section 7202, here.  See Employers Beware: AAG Ciraolo Emphasizes Employment Taxes as Enforcement Priority (Post & Schell Tax Controvery Posts 10/9/15), here.  For a similar article see Nathan J. Richman, Tax Division Official Gives Insight Into Enforcement Priorities, 2015 TNT 197-7 (10/13/15) [No Link Available].

An excerpt from the P&S Blog entry to whet your appetites:

Acting AAG Ciraolo described the issue of employment and payroll taxes as a “really big area for us right now.” Although employment taxes have been listed as a DOJ Tax Division priority in the past, Acting AAG Ciraolo noted that enforcement in this area has become a “team effort” between DOJ and the civil and criminal sides of IRS. This team effort includes related training of IRS Revenue Officers, Fraud Technical Advisors, and Special Agents, as well as DOJ lawyers. Acting AAG Ciraolo also announced that the Criminal Section of DOJ Tax Division recently updated the section of the DOJ Criminal Tax Manual that pertains to 26 U.S.C. § 7202, a criminal statute which specifically applies to willful failures to collect or pay over employment taxes.

Of course, for most practitioners the trust fund tax issue will be most commonly encountered in the trust fund recovery penalty in Section 6672, here.