Proposed Trust Fund Assessment: Letter 1153 and Form 2751

If an employer has not paid federal withholding taxes, the IRS may issue a Letter 1153 assessment and Form 2751. Letter 1153 is an IRS Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) assessment against a business or responsible party. If you received a Letter 1153, the IRS has determined that you are responsible for an assessment for unpaid payroll taxes. A Form 2751 is issued along with the Letter 1153 and provides for agreeing to the assessment. To help you learn more about how you should go about the agreement process and how to appeal the proposed assessment in case it isn’t accurate, Christopher G Carmona CPA, APC has put together information on what exactly the Proposed Trust Fund Assessment: Letter 1153 and Form 2751 entail.

Once the IRS Revenue Officer identifies the persons responsible for the employer’s failure to pay the payroll taxes, the agent will propose an assessment against those individuals. The taxpayers will receive IRS the Letter 1153, which will tell them that the IRS believes that they are responsible. Along with the Letter 1553 will be a waiver form, Form 2751, that provides a breakdown of the proposed trust fund liability.

To accept responsibility for the trust fund liability, the taxpayer just needs to sign Form 2751 and return it to the IRS. Suppose the taxpayer does not agree that they should be held responsible, then the Letter 1153 lays out how to file the protest to challenge the proposed assessment. To challenge the assessment, the taxpayer must file their protest within sixty days of the date on the Letter 1153. If the party fails to respond within the time limit, then the case will be considered unaccepted. Regardless of the taxpayer’s response, the revenue officer will complete Trust Fund Recovery Penalty processing and forward the case within thirty days after the required response period.

If you received a Letter 1153 from the IRS and have questions or concerns before signing Form 2751, contact Christopher G Carmona CPA, APC, for a free consultation. I have a leading CPA firm in Diamond Bar, CA. If you’ve received an IRS letter, or other tax correspondence from the IRS, a state agency, or a local agency, it can be difficult to know what to do next. I represent clients who owe IRS penalties, interest, and taxes. I offer my services across Diamond Bar, Los Angeles, Oceanside, Orange County, Riverside County, San Diego County, and the surrounding areas. To learn more about the services I can offer you, please click here. To get in touch with me, please click here.