If the business is still operating, the first thing that must be done when you owe payroll taxes is to start making timely federal tax deposits. An employer taxpayer, cannot change the past, but can change their future by getting current with their payroll taxes. The IRS will not negotiate with taxpayers who are not current with their federal tax deposits because they will continue to incur new tax liabilities, which will be viewed as “pyramiding” by the IRS. The IRS refers to this as pyramiding because with the penalties and interest, the older tax years have larger balances due (base of the pyramid), while the taxpayer continues to incur new tax liabilities (on the top of the pyramid). If the employer taxpayer, does not voluntarily stop incurring new tax liabilities, the IRS can force the business to be shut down.
