Business owners: Make sure your employment taxes are actually paid. You can’t just rely on the word of an employee or accountant that it’s done. Take this case in which IRS slapped penalties on a firm for failing to pay such taxes. A manager was responsible for paying the company’s payroll tax, but he didn’t do it… and he didn’t tell the owner about the multiple IRS delinquency notices he received. A CPA also mistakenly told the firm that the employment taxes were paid on time. The business was ultimately responsible for paying the overdue employment taxes plus the stiff delinquency penalties assessed by the Service (Deaton Oil Co., 8th Cir.).