As a business owner, if there is one thing you need to make sure you always do punctually, it is paying your taxes. If you entrust this task to one of your employees, take it upon yourself to check that they have done it. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not be interested in excuses. They will not be interested in hearing about how you have had difficulty finding a decent accountant. They will hold you, the owner, responsible.
One of the IRS tactics to ensure they get the taxes you owe them is to place a Federal tax lien on your property. If you registered your business as a sole proprietor, they could put the lien on your personal property. If you have a corporation or limited liability company, they will put it on the business’s assets.
Either way, a lien is a warning shot from the IRS. If you do not pay up, they could move to seize your property. Until you pay or agree to a payment plan, the lien will limit what you can do with your assets as the IRS now considers they partly or wholly belong to them.
If you are not up to date with taxes because you are struggling for funds, the lien will not help your situation. It will be visible to any lender you to borrow funds from. Even bankruptcy may not help you escape the problem, as the tax debt may be exempt from being erased.
Seek legal help if the IRS has issued a lien against your business. Ignoring it could land you in even more serious problems.