This is regarding payroll tax withholding for my business using form 941 each quarter to report the amounts withheld.
I’m trying to straighten out a payroll issue with the IRS from when I was doing my own payroll. The IRS claims I owe them some money for taxes in 2019 Q3 but they haven’t provided any detail as to how they came up with that number. I know it is wrong but I can’t prove that it’s wrong unless I can get some detail behind it. As you probably know, the IRS is severely under-staffed and is not taking calls and takes months to respond to letters.
I need to request a transcript of my data for the quarter that they claim I owe them money for and I haven’t figured out how to do that. I see a way for individual taxpayers to do that but I don’t see a way to do it for a business. How do I request a transcript of tax withholding transactions for a business?
You can request it from the IRS similar to a 1040. Enter the type of return and year in boxes 6 and 7 of the following link. There is an option for 941.
When they say you owe, they are disputing that either the payment was not made on the amount due listed on the return or that the calculations were wrong to get to that total. The Self Employment tax was calculated wrong or payments made throughout the quarter weren't added incorrectly.
You will get to compare the payments made, payments due, to your bank statements to see if you actually made the payment.
Thanks, but I’m not sure that’s going to give me what I need. It sounds like that will only give me a copy of the 941 I submitted and what I need is a complete list of transactions for the quarter. They claim that I owe them money and that could be that:
1. The 941 is incorrect
2. Some of the deposits for the quarter were not properly recorded
I know what I submitted on the 941 and it should match the deposits so I need to see both.
You can order a transcript of your business return by calling the IRS hotline 1-800-908-9946.
Keep in mind that a transcript isn't a photocopy of your return. If you need a copy of your original return, complete and mail Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return, along with the applicable fee.
For additional information please see: Transcript Types and Ways to Order Them