Updated July 27, 2015
Unfiled Unemployment Tax Chicago Illinois
So you’ve been in business for a while, and you haven’t filed and/or paid your Illinois Department of Employment Security taxes, better known as unemployment. What do you do?
Many business clients do not pay a lot of attention to their unemployment taxes. Given the fact that this is a relatively inexpensive tax, and that it is a business liability only, they will not pay as much attention to it.
Generally what happens is that the Illinois Department of Employment Security will create returns for the quarters that remain unfiled. They will estimate the tax rather high, charging you penalties and interest on the already incorrect amount. From this balance they will begin the collection process.
If too many quarters remain unfiled, or if there are other problems in payments, you may be referred into the audit division.
If everything has been handled properly, an unemployment audit is normally not a difficult issue to handle. They will check to see if you have any employees that are being treated as independent contractors. Just because you sign an agreement with an individual, and send them a 1099 does not mean that that aren’t in actuality employees under the law who should have taxes withheld. One of the main reason for the audit is to make sure that you are withholding properly.
If they find enough issues in your payroll tax accounting and reporting they will refer the case up to the Illinois Department of Revenue. Once the state is done, they will generally refer it up to The Internal Revenue Service. Now that all of the taxation agencies communicate over a similar computer network, audit referrals are incredibly common.
I have seen business customers that got shut down at the Federal Level because of a simplistic problem that began with an Unemployment Audit. to taxes properly from the start.
You do have options, when you have unfiled payroll taxes or owe back payroll tax deposits. Continuing to ignore the problem will not solve it. Stop the harassing letters and telephone calls. Stop the liens and levies. Stop the unscheduled visits from Revenue Officers.
If you are having problems with your Unfiled Unemployment Tax Chicago Illinois or have issues with your accounting in general, we would love to help. I enjoy hearing from my readers, and can be contacted at
Chris@AccountingSolutionsltd.com
Additional Accounting Articles and information on my firm can be found at
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
Chris Amundson is the President of Accounting Solutions Ltd., a full service public accounting firm of Certified Public Accountants and Enrolled Agents handling the bookkeeping, accounting, tax preparation, and audit representation needs of Businesses, Estates, Trusts, and Upper Income Individuals.