SEE-2 - Business Tax Preparation (44% of the exam) - Section 2.5

Advise a business on recordkeeping, worker classification, estimated tax and employment tax obligations, and the penalties for noncompliance.

Advise a business on substantiation and recordkeeping requirements, the distinction between an employee and an independent contractor under the common-law control test, and the consequences of misclassification. Identify corporate estimated tax obligations, the employment tax deposit rules for Forms 941 and 940, and the trust fund recovery penalty that holds responsible persons personally liable for unremitted payroll taxes.

Worker classificationForm 941Estimated taxTrust fund recovery penaltyRecordkeeping

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleBusiness Tax Preparationmedium

A company withholds income tax and the employee share of social security and Medicare tax from wages but fails to pay those amounts over to the government. The IRS seeks to collect the unpaid trust fund taxes personally from individuals connected to the business. Which person and amount does the trust fund recovery penalty reach?

AOnly the company's outside payroll service provider, for the full amount of all unpaid employment taxes including the employer's own share.
BAny responsible person who wilfully failed to collect or pay over the tax, for 100 percent of the withheld income tax and the employee share of social security and Medicare tax. Correct
CAny shareholder who owns stock in the company, for 50 percent of the unpaid trust fund taxes regardless of involvement in payroll decisions.
DThe company itself only, for the employer share of social security and Medicare tax that it failed to deposit during the period.

The trust fund recovery penalty makes a responsible person who wilfully fails to pay over withheld taxes personally liable for 100 percent of the trust fund amount. Withheld income tax and the employee share of social security and Medicare tax are held in trust for the government. When a responsible person who has the authority and duty to remit them wilfully fails to do so, that person becomes personally liable for the full trust fund portion, separate from the company's own liability and from the employer matching share.

Why A is wrong: A payroll provider that merely processes payments is generally not a responsible person, and the penalty reaches only the trust fund portion, so this answer both targets the wrong party and the wrong amount.

Why B is correct: Under the trust fund recovery penalty a person with the duty and authority to pay the taxes who wilfully fails to do so is personally liable for 100 percent of the trust fund amount, which is the withheld income tax and the employee share of FICA.

Why C is wrong: Mere stock ownership does not create liability, and the penalty is not capped at 50 percent; the trap is assuming ownership equals responsibility, but the test is control over paying the taxes.

Why D is wrong: The penalty is designed to reach individuals personally, and it applies to the trust fund taxes withheld from employees, not the employer's own matching share, so this both misidentifies the target and the tax.

See more SEE-2 practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Business Tax Preparation

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the SEE-2 bank for this domain.

Under the failure-to-deposit penalty, limited to a percentage of the late deposit that escalates with the length of the delay.
Why it is wrong: The deposit penalty is tempting because deposits were missed, but it is an entity-level addition to tax and does not reach an individual officer personally for the full trust fund amount, which is what the IRS is collecting here.
30,000 dollars, because the penalty reaches only the employee share of Social Security and Medicare and never the withheld federal income tax.
Why it is wrong: The trust fund taxes include both withheld income tax and the employee FICA share, not just FICA; limiting the penalty to half the amount wrongly excludes the withheld income tax, so 30,000 dollars is too low.
Whether the parties signed a written contract describing the worker as an independent contractor and whether the worker holds a business licence.
Why it is wrong: A label in a contract and a business licence are tempting because firms often rely on them, but the IRS looks through the paperwork to the actual right to control the work, so neither is decisive of the worker's status.

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