I regret that had to send a few small business clients an ultimatum this morning over what appears to be an unwillingness to address new tougher IRS tax filing requirements. This follows after I notified clients of the new filing requirement a few months ago, offered to handle the flings, but they declined. While the business tax return isn’t due until later n the year, these businesses may already be liable for a tax penalty that continue to grow month after month as long as they remain noncompliant.
I sent a version of this message:
“…I mentioned the approaching January 31, 2017 deadline for calendar year-end tax filing and the tax penalty for failing to meet that deadline. Your response on xxxxx said “xxxxxxx”. I took that to mean that you had another plan to handle the January 2017 tax filing. But at this point, I see no indication that the year-end tax filings requirements are met. If this is the case, xxxx is exposed to another potential tax penalty. More concerning is that under professional conduct rules for Certified Public Accountants, I may not remain associated with a business client who has an ongoing tax compliance problem that continues without cause.
May I request that you confirm that the year-end tax filing requirements are complete or, if it was not complete, then how you intend to complete that work? I remain committed to helping xxxx in any manner but we must address these legal compliance issues and the internal control issues if I am to remain affiliated in an official capacity.”
The bottom line is that there are some things we can’t afford to ignore in small business management. Year-end IRS filings are certainly among those requirements.
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