Business Tax Debt and Personal Liability Trust Fund Penalty Defense (Presented by Tax Rep)

Eric L. Green
Eric L. Green | Green & Sklarz LLC

Eric L. Green practice focuses on civil and criminal taxpayer representation before the IRS, the DOJ Tax Division, and state departments of revenue. Eric is a nationally renowned tax expert who has lectured to more than 70,000 practitioners, is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a past Chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Tax Section, and the host of the weekly Tax Rep Network podcast.

Live Video-Broadcast: October 12, 2026

1 hour CLE

Tuition: $395.00
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Program Summary

 

The business owes the tax — the IRS collects it from the person

Business tax debt usually stays with the business. Trust fund taxes are the exception. When an employer fails to collect, account for and pay over the taxes withheld from employees, the IRS gets aggressive about identifying the responsible individuals and pursuing them personally for the missing trust funds.

The exposure turns on two findings. Determine that an owner, officer or manager was responsible for collecting, accounting for, or paying over trust fund taxes, and personal liability attaches. Find that the person acted willfully, and the defense narrows. Miss the response to a proposed assessment, and the client arrives with a bad assessment already on the books.

Attorney Eric Green walks through the standard for liability and how to build the factual record on responsibility, authority, knowledge, and willfulness that defends a client from being deemed responsible. Attendees leave with the process for challenging a proposed trust fund assessment and the steps for reopening a bad one with the IRS when the client gets to you too late.

Key topics to be discussed:

  • How the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Works
    The standard the IRS applies to impose personal liability for unpaid trust fund taxes, and who may be liable when the business cannot pay.
  • The Responsible Person Question
    Which owners, officers, and managers the IRS treats as responsible for collecting, accounting for, or paying over trust fund taxes.
  • The Willfulness Element
    How the IRS approaches willfulness in TFRP cases and where the facts on authority and knowledge cut against a finding.
  • Building the Defense Record
    How to build the case that defends a taxpayer from being deemed responsible before the IRS moves to assessment.
  • Challenging a Proposed Assessment
    The process for contesting a proposed trust fund assessment from the initial investigation through administrative appeal.
  • Reopening a Bad Assessment
    How to reopen a bad trust fund assessment with the IRS when the client arrives after the assessment is already in place.

This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.

Date / Time: October 12, 2026 

  • 12:00 pm – 1:10 pm Eastern
  • 11:00 am – 12:10 pm Central
  • 10:00 am – 11:10 am Mountain
  • 9:00 am – 10:10 am Pacific

Closed-captioning available

Speakers

Speaker_Eric L. GreenEric L. Green, Esq., Managing Partner & Co-Founder | Green & Sklarz LLC

Eric L. Green is the managing partner and co-founder of Green & Sklarz LLC, a boutique tax firm with offices in Connecticut and New York, and the founder of Tax Rep LLC and the Tax Rep Network — the country’s leading training and coaching program for tax representation practitioners. His practice focuses on civil and criminal taxpayer representation before the IRS, the DOJ Tax Division, and state departments of revenue. Eric is a nationally renowned tax expert who has lectured to more than 70,000 practitioners, is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a past Chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Tax Section, and the host of the weekly Tax Rep Network podcast. He holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Hofstra University, a J.D. (Honors) from New England School of Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. Prior to practicing law, he was a senior tax consultant at KPMG and Deloitte & Touche.

  • Education & Credentials

Eric holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting with a minor in International Business from Hofstra University, a Juris Doctor with honors from New England School of Law, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts and is a member of the U.S. Tax Court Bar. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel — a peer-nominated honor reserved for those at the top of the tax law profession — and holds the Certified Tax Representation Consultant (CTRC) designation through the program he co-developed with Becker Professional Education.

  • Recognition & Leadership

Eric has been recognized by Connecticut Super Lawyers in the field of Tax and was the 2010 Nolan Fellow of the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and a past Chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Tax Section and the ABA’s Closely Held Businesses Tax Committee. His Tax Rep Network has trained over 500,000 tax, accounting, and legal professionals annually and is the profession’s most widely used IRS representation training platform. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, and Consumer Reports Financial News.

  • Professional Involvement

Eric is the founder and principal instructor of Tax Rep LLC and the Tax Rep Network, through which he delivers the weekly Tax Rep Network podcast, webinars, live conferences, and the Annual IRS Representation Conference. He is a frequent lecturer for the ABA Tax Section, the AICPA, the NATP, the NAEA, and numerous state CPA and enrolled agent societies. He co-developed the Certified Tax Representation Consultant (CTRC) certification with Becker Professional Education and previously served as adjunct faculty at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he taught taxpayer representation in the low-income taxpayer clinic. He is also a co-author of a casebook for clinical programs assisting low income taxpayers with federal income tax controversies.

  • Experience

Before founding Green & Sklarz LLC, Eric served as a senior tax consultant at KPMG and Deloitte & Touche — experience that gives him an unusually grounded understanding of how large-scale accounting practice and IRS representation intersect. At Green & Sklarz, he has built a national reputation for negotiating favorable settlements in thousands of civil cases and for convincing government agents to resolve criminal investigations civilly. He founded Tax Rep LLC and the Tax Rep Network to extend that expertise — and his practical teaching approach — to practitioners across the country who want to build or grow their own tax representation practices. His career represents the rare combination of elite technical expertise, prolific national education, and entrepreneurial platform-building that has made him one of the most recognizable names in American tax representation.

Agenda

SESSION 1 – When Business Tax Debt Becomes Personal: Defending Owners, Officers and Responsible Persons in IRS Collection and TFRP Actions | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

When a business fails to collect, account and pay over the patrol taxes the IRS can get very aggressive about identifying responsible individuals and pursuing them to recover the missing “trust funds” collected by the employer. In this program Attorney eric Green will review the standard for liability, how to build a case to defend a taxpayer from being deemed responsible, and how to reopen bad assessments if the client gets to you too late.

Credits

Alaska

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Our programs are CLE-eligible through Alaska’s recognition of multi-jurisdictional reciprocity.
Alabama

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Arkansas

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Arizona

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

California

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Colorado

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Connecticut

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

District of Columbia

No MCLE Required
1 CLE Hour(s)

Delaware

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Florida

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Georgia

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Hawaii

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Iowa

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Idaho

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Illinois

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Indiana

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Kansas

Pending CLE Approval
1 Substantive

Kentucky

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Louisiana

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Massachusetts

No MCLE Required
1 CLE Hour(s)

Maryland

No MCLE Required
1 CLE Hour(s)

Maine

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Michigan

No MCLE Required
1 CLE Hour(s)

Minnesota

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Missouri

Approved for CLE Credits
1.2 General

Mississippi

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Montana

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

North Carolina

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

North Dakota

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Our programs are CLE-eligible through North Dakota’s recognition of multi-jurisdictional reciprocity. Section 1, Policy 1.14
Nebraska

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

myLawCLE reports attendance to Nebraska on each attorney’s behalf for all programs. Please do not self-report.
New Hampshire

Approved for CLE Credits
60 General minutes

As of July 1, 2014, the NHMCLE Board no longer provides pre- or post-approval of courses. Attendees must self-determine whether a program is eligible for credit, and self-report their attendance online at www.nhbar.org, based on qualification provisions of Rule 53.
New Jersey

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Our programs are CLE-eligible through New Jersey’s recognition of multi-jurisdictional reciprocity, except for the courses required under BCLE Reg. 201:2
New Mexico

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Nevada

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

New York

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Our programs are CLE-eligible through New York’s Approved Jurisdiction Group “B”.
Ohio

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Oklahoma

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Oregon

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Pennsylvania

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Rhode Island

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

South Carolina

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

South Dakota

No MCLE Required
1 CLE Hour(s)

Tennessee

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Texas

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Utah

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

Virginia

Not Eligible
1 General Hours

Vermont

Approved for CLE Credits
1 General

Washington

Approved via Attorney Submission
1 Law & Legal Hours

Receive CLE credit in Washington via attorney submission.
Wisconsin

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

West Virginia

Pending CLE Approval
1.2 General

Wyoming

Pending CLE Approval
1 General

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