The Corporate “Shield”

Ask any shareholder of a closely held corporation whether they may be held liable for the tax obligations of the corporation, and they will likely respond “of course not, that’s why we established the corporation – to benefit from the limited liability protection it provides.”

Some of these shareholders will be surprised

In general, the creditors of a corporation cannot recover the corporation’s debts from its shareholders—the shareholders enjoy the benefit of limited liability protection as a matter of state law. Among the corporate liabilities from which shareholders are usually shielded is the Federal income tax imposed on a corporation’s taxable income.

There are a number of exceptions to this general rule, however – some of which are better known than others – including the ones described below.
Continue Reading Shareholder Liability For Corporate Income Tax?

“It Wasn’t My Fault”

When a business is successful and there are profits to share, the owners of the business get along well enough. As revenues fall off, however, while costs often remain steady or even increase, the owners will sometimes choose to “defer” the payment of so-called “trust fund” taxes in order to satisfy

When a parent hires a child in the family business, makes them an officer in that business, or grants them an equity interest in the business, the parent’s goal in doing so is to help the child. Unfortunately, those same acts may place the child in harm’s way. Similarly, when a child seeks to assist