| Meaningful, well-organized financial records ensure that your business operations will run more efficiently on a daily basis. | Financial Records |
Payroll Liabilities |
If you have a deposit requirement, do not send tax payments with your tax return directly to the IRS. If you use the Federal Tax Deposit (FTD) coupon method, your deposit must go to your authorized bank. |
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If you are a corporate officer of an S corporation performing services for the corporation, you must pay yourself a reasonable salary.
What is considered reasonable? The IRS has not defined reasonable compensation in the code or regulations. However various courts have ruled on this issue based on the facts and circumstances of each case. Some of the factors the courts look at to determine reasonable compensation include training and experience, duties and responsibilities, time and effort devoted to the business, dividend history, payments to non-shareholder employees, timing and manner of paying bonuses to key people, what comparable businesses pay for similar services, compensation agreements, and the use of a formula to determine reasonable compensation. S corporations should not attempt to avoid paying payroll taxes by having their officers treat their compensation as cash distributions, payments of personal expenses, and/or loans rather than as wages. The IRS could reclassify these amounts as compensation to the shareholder/employee resulting in additional taxes and penalties for the S corporation. Share:
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