941 Tax Liability

I am the an officer (president) of a corporation and employee, but not a shareholder or owner. I am not listed on the Federal Form 1120-S when filed with the IRS. If I sign the 941's and 940's as president, am I liable for payment of such taxes even though I am not an owner of the corporation? Should I have the owner sign the 940 & 941's to eliminate my personal liability? And if he does sign them, am I still liable as the president? If I sign the employee paychecks, does that automatically make me liable for the 940 & 941 taxes?

Please advise. Thanks!

As an officer of the corporation you have personal liability. I suggest you talk to the IRS or a corporate tax attorney.

Liability for tax

Merely signing the tax returns or your status as an officer does not make you personally liable for the tax. Signing the returns could make you liable for the tax or for various penalties and punishments if you do not believe the data is correct.

However, there are other ways a corporate president could become liable for debts of the corporation, including tax, and that is why I agree that your safest course in avoiding personal liability would be to get advice from a corporate attorney.

In the case of trust fund taxes, taxes withheld from another to be remitted to the government, the IRS is merciless in collecting them. Although they are becoming more reasonable, they will attempt to collect back taxes from anyone they can; the board of directors, all officers, the controller or treasurer, the store manager, anyone who could sign checks, etc.. To determine if you could be held liable, ask your self if you could be reasonable expected to have paid the tax or directed the tax to be paid. If the answer is yes (even remotely), you can be held liable. As president of the company, I expect you can be held fully liable for the taxes. I suggest you 1) HAVE THE COMPANY PAY THE TAXES (as president it is unlikely you can avoid personal liability by any other means), and 2) see an attorney skilled in these matters. (Attorneys who have worked with the IRS on similar cases are far more effective then those who have not.)

Also, the IRS is more lenient on collecting the non-trust fund portion of the tax. For example, you or your attorney can ask that they waive the matching portion of the tax as part of the settlement. (Don?t count of them doing this.)

These taxes can?t be discharged even in bankruptcy. Do everything and anything you can to have the taxes paid (by someone else) before you are ask for the money.