If you are using a payroll service, payroll company, or payroll agent, you should be careful because the IRS has taken the position that a business is on the hook for unemployment taxes if the payroll agent goes bankrupt. Among the steps the IRS has recommended are the following:
1. Make sure the agent has posted a fiduciary bond;
2. Insist that all IRS correspondence regarding your company’s payroll taxes come to you, not to your payroll agent; and
3. Make sure that your payroll agent deposits your taxes electronically so that it will be easy for you to check your bank statements to make sure the payments were made.
