Tax Blog

In short…you betcha. Let’s take a look at a real-life example:

According to IRS records, an auction was held at Mangia Bev Italian Restaurant on 7/18/07, where “the property described below has been seized for nonpayment of internal revenue taxes due from Taxpayer”:

“Contents of restaurant, including but not limited to: refrigerators, freezers, fryer, ovens, tables, chairs, patio furniture, patio umbrellas, patio heater, water fountain, metal racks, fryer, warmer, stainless steel sinks, Panasonic televisions, folding tables, skillets, bowls, glassware, plates, flatware, microwave, pictures, prep stations, tools, Radiant Systems Point of Sale computer equipment and much, much more.”

I don’t know who the owners of the Mangia Bev Italian Restaurant were.

If they were anything like independent restaurant owners I’ve known in the past, I’m sure when they started they had high hopes for the future.

They may have dreamed of opening multiple locations and eventually reaping the benefits of being successful business owners in the United States.

Restaurant work is hard work with long hours, late nights and virtually no weekends off.  Most restaurant owners I’ve known are “jacks of all trades” who will do every job in the place, including washing the dishes if the dishwasher doesn’t show up.

After all that hard work, imagine what it would be like to sit and watch the IRS come in shut down your restaurant.

I wonder what happened along the way that lead to this?  Restaurant mismanagement?  Perhaps a divorce?  Sickness in the family?  Who knows?

Either way, eventually something happened that made it difficult for them to pay their bills.

Maybe they started having to juggle payments to food vendors and the owners may have even stopped taking a paycheck.

But, if they ever made the fatal mistake of non filing payroll taxes…it may have led to a very quick and decisive response from the IRS.

When it comes to payroll taxes, the IRS doesn’t mess around.

Regarding unpaid payroll taxes, the IRS makes it very clear:

“Caution:  Once we assert the penalty, we can take collection action against your personal assets. For instance, we can file a federal tax lien or take levy or seizure action..”

Tags: collection, small business

This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 6:21 pm and is filed under IRS Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.