Posts by Jonathan Garcia

Neither he nor his accountant had any clue, clearly. I was honestly hoping there might be some kind of loophole when it comes to bankruptcy or liquidation.
Now we’re dealing with an active liquidation, and since the founder is officially listed as an employee of his own company, we switched him to just one hour of work a week to avoid having to pay his payroll taxes. This means we have to fake outbound invoices just to "offset" the loan he gave the business, because the company isn't bringing in any revenue but still has to pay him until the liquidation wraps up. 🙂

So here's the deal: they're coming after him for all those back taxes and contributions from January 1, 2014, through October 9, 2015. That’s the exact window when his bankruptcy was filed and wrapped up, and he was officially removed from the board. He didn't have a contract with his own company, wasn't working anywhere else, and always stayed on top of filing and de-registering employees. No one ever gave him a heads-up about any issues.
The pre-bankruptcy proceedings actually started back in December 2013, which is when the SEC sent the court the order to initiate the bankruptcy—but unfortunately, it dragged on for nearly two years before it was finally closed out.
Everything was properly wiped from the corporate registry, yet now he's suddenly getting these tax bills in the mail.
When he went to the IRS, they just told him they're simply following whatever Medicare decided—which, by the way, Medicare never even sent him a notice about—and said he should go file an appeal with them instead.
Naturally, when he checked with Medicare, they just told him to take it up with the IRS.

So, when did they finally open and close the bankruptcy proceedings?
If my math is right, if the court process had dragged on for another five years, he would’ve been stuck paying those premiums the whole time?!
Look, I get it—if you're unemployed but still running a business, you should be covering your own payroll taxes. But it makes zero sense to keep doing that once the company hits liquidation or bankruptcy.
I checked with Medicare about it, and they told me to talk to the IRS. Then I went to the IRS, and of course, they told me Medicare was the one in charge.

Thanks for the advice! First, they tried out a settlement agreement, but since that fell through, the SEC stepped in and ordered the bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy was supposed to kick off within 120 days, but we didn't even see a first hearing until six months later. At that hearing, the judge decided to trigger both the start and the end of the proceedings at once, gave us some window to appeal, and then—after a whole year and a half—the final bankruptcy ruling finally dropped.
And now, they’re trying to hit him with back taxes for that entire period.

So here’s the situation: someone I know is facing $20 back taxes because of unpaid payroll contributions (he was a board member at the time and wasn't employed anywhere else).
They’re coming after him for the period from January 1, 2014, all the way until the bankruptcy wrapped up.
The pre-bankruptcy settlement process actually kicked off back in 2013, but since they didn't meet the requirements, the IRS ordered them to move straight into formal bankruptcy—which, unfortunately, didn't officially close out until October 2015.
To make matters even worse, the tax authorities actually tried to dissolve the company in early 2014 since there were zero assets or employees left, but they backed off because the bankruptcy was already underway.
Is it seriously possible that an owner is being penalized just for trying to do things by the book? It feels like he's being stuck with the bill for the entire time the courts dragged their feet on the bankruptcy proceedings!

Jonathan Garcia said:Hey there, I’ve probably missed the answer somewhere already, but I can't seem to track it down.
So, imagine a small business owner who isn't registered for sales tax. If they go over to Italy to pick up some food supplies, how does that work? Do they just buy it as a local vendor, pay the VAT included in the price, and then just write the whole thing off as an expense?

Sorry to bug you guys, but I'm stuck on what to tell him. He needs an answer ASAP.
:confused

Hey there, I’ve probably missed the answer somewhere already, but I can't seem to track it down.
So, imagine a small business owner who isn't registered for sales tax. If they go over to Italy to pick up some food supplies, how does that work? Do they just buy it as a local vendor, pay the VAT included in the price, and then just write the whole thing off as an expense?

Help! I’ve never worked with small business owners before, so I’m trying to figure out what kind of bookkeeping is required for a sole proprietor running a fast food joint. Just a heads-up, the owner already has a full-time job and won't be working at the shop himself.
I’ve been doing some reading, and honestly, everything looks incredibly complicated. It really should be way simpler than managing a full corporation, right? 😵

I just spent an hour on the phone with Medicare, NOAA, and the IRS. Turns out, there’s this law from 2013 they finally started enforcing at Medicare last month. It’s causing a massive headache for businesses right now because they’re getting hit with bills for contribution differences they didn't see coming.

Basically, if you're a founder, you have to make sure you're covered as a board member—that's the only way to stay compliant, unless you already have a job somewhere else.

Hey there! Has anyone dealt with registering a new business lately? I headed in this morning to get a new company and an employee (who also happens to be the founder) set up with Medicare—the pension side went through without a hitch!—but they told me it wouldn't work. Apparently, he has to register as a board member instead, which means paying higher contributions.

The invoice is 😢 we aren't going to book it. Thanks for the tips!

There aren't any special notes here, just something about the warranty period. Honestly, I've never run into anything like this before.

It wasn't charged. The bill is in English and Spanish, and it clearly shows the tax base $667 and a zero amount for the tax

Help! I’ve run into a bit of a situation: we bought some goods from a Canadian company that actually uses our US tax ID. Does this still count as an acquisition, and how should I handle it on the sales tax return? Should it be included in the VAT filing?