if your boss owes the IRS 400,000 in back taxes, should you stay employed on the job?

The IRS came demanding monies twice on the job, then finally froze the payroll account. Your employer paid all the employees in cash.

Public Comments

1. The handwriting is pretty much on the wall there. C-Ya! Most of the time when the IRS does this to a business it's because the business has not been paying their payroll taxes. Those taxes include the money withheld from your pay that is supposed to be paid to the government on YOUR behalf. The IRS takes a VERY dim view of employers who pocket public trust fund monies! Twice in my working lifetime I've arrived at work to find the doors chained shut and an IRS seizure notice pasted on the door. If you see the precursors to that type of action, it's time to cut and run NOW.
2. I would look for another job ASAP. You might not get paid one day and you won't be very happy. The IRS has power to do what many other government agencies cannot, including freeze and seize assets. If they do that your company may not be able to pay you.
3. If your boss owes IRS $400,000 in back taxes, it means he is stealing from his employees by using their withheld taxes to finance his failing business. This is a big dollar case at the top of the food chain for IRS collection employees and a warning that it is time to abandon ship. The penalties and interest that accumulate on unpaid payroll taxes are even higher than credit card finance charges. An employer who lets that much run up and thinks he can pay it off and is probably not going to be able to pull out of the hole. I recommend looking for a new job immediately because this guy is not going to be able to keep the doors open much longer. If the business files a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy so that it (to use the standard jargon) can reorganize and become profitable, it most likely means that it will just run the bill up more before its final collapse. You will be better off being elsewhere.