By Renee Sieradski, EA

Over the past 12 years I would guess I’ve had 150 sessions of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming)with a favorable outcome. Generally the pain I’m experiencing before my session is lessened by having the treatment.

It works well and I get relief by this modality. In the early days, I would struggle and sob through each session and end up curled up in a ball — as I reprocessed early traumatic memories of physical and emotional abuse. I would go to therapy twice a week just to feel like I wasn’t going to split open into a million pieces and be reminded I was going to survive this inner turmoil of emotions.

Now I feel like an EMDR veteran. I can pinpoint exactly what I need to work on and begin the process of naming the distressing event, so when I get to therapy, we start right there. By the end of an hour session, it’s sorted out and I’m bouncing out the door.

But as we know, trauma is the gift that keeps on giving. Even after 12 years and 150 treatments, every once in a while trauma pops up in my subconscious. It reminds me of how miners used to find a small streak of precious metal and once they start digging what was exposed was hiding a deep cavern underneath.

When I strike gold, it requires more than one session of EMDR, and with therapy lasting an one hour, it can leave me in an uncomfortable place; a lump in my throat, nausea in my stomach and general unease knowing I have unfinished business. I want to delve deeper and at the same time I’m afraid.

But at my next session, I can pickup where I left off.  Maybe it is the moment I first felt responsible for caretaking my sister when I was four years old and saw her being neglected. That’s my earliest memory of feeling responsible for others simply because I was more aware of my sisters needs than my mother or father. This has led to a lifetime of feeling responsible for everyone and every environment I find myself in. It’s profound to be able to recall the first moment I came to believe I was responsible for others and how it’s affected my life. What a powerful and amazing gift I have been given with this treatment to heal my soul.

On to Finances….

What Are the Penalties if I Don’t Pay Payroll Taxes?

If you have employees, you absolutely must deduct and withhold various taxes from the paychecks of your employees. Since you are deducting money from the employee’s paycheck, you are handling their funds. This fact is very important to the IRS and it places great emphasis on any failure to forward these employment taxes swiftly to the IRS.

If you fail to pay employment taxes, you may be personally subjected to a 100 percent penalty. Yes, 100 percent! Known as the “trust fund recovery penalty”, the penalty is assessed against the person responsible for paying the taxes, not the entity. The person can be the owner, corporate officer, check signer, bookkeeper or other “responsible person.” In short, a business entity is not going to protect you from the wrath of the IRS.

Cash flow crunches are an inevitable event for practically every business. So, what happens if you make a late payment for employment taxes? Unless you can show a reasonable reason for the delay, the IRS is going to penalize you.

Late payment penalties range in amount depending on the delay. If the delay is less than six days, the penalty is two percent. Delay for six to 15 days and you are looking at five percent. More than 15 days in delay is going to push the penalty to 15 percent. If you delay this long, the IRS will be peppering you with penalty notices telling you where you stand.

Whatever you do, please make sure you deposit employment taxes with the IRS in a timely fashion.
If you are employed by a company that advises you to not pay the payroll taxes and you have a position of authority, you could be thrown under the bus later by the entity as the “responsible party”.

And you would be personally liable for the 100% penalty. So this job may not be one you consider keeping if you are privy to theft by the employer keeping payroll taxes to fund the business.

Take a moment to think about the worst thing you have ever heard done by the IRS. If you fail to pay employment taxes, the actions taken by the IRS will be ten times worse and you will be the one telling horror stories.

Renee Sieradski is a Tax Specialist, visit www.tax-intervention.com or call 602-687-9768.