So, whose money is it anyway?
You’re running a business. The cash comes in. It goes into the drawer, or you get checks or credit cards.
You’re looking at the money. And it looks good, and you love having it!
Some important things you should know, though. It’s not all yours.
As a matter of fact — if you take it all — you could find yourself in a really interesting place. You could find yourself in a place you really don’t want to be.
You might find your landlord is now the Government. That’s right.
You see, some of that money may belong to your local, state, or the Federal Government. Because some of that money might be taxes, or some of that money might be employee withholding funds that are taxes.
That’s right. We’re here to talk about funds that aren’t yours.
Because when money comes in, it’s not all yours.
Some money just isn’t all the yours.
Sometimes money just isn’t what it seems to be.
It’s all about the money, money, money — isn’t it?
Or Money, Money, Money, as ABBA would say.
So, what are we talking about? We’re talking about trust funds. That’s right.
You’ve probably seen it. Sales tax, right?
When sales tax comes in, whose money is it? Well, the state will tell you it’s theirs.
That money comes in… whatever it is in your state… 4%, 7%. In some states, it’s even higher. It’s not your money.
And if you take it, you put it in your pocket. Well, you’re taking money that the Government considers to be theirs. And there’s some bad things that can happen.
What other kind of money isn’t yours? Well, employee withholding taxes. Funds like 401k. Taxes that come out from the employee side of payroll. Those funds aren’t yours. They belong to the employees. Those funds have to be turned over.
If you don’t turn them over, you’re in a bad place. And there are lots of examples. Where can we see it? Let’s take a look.
College of New Rochelle. That’s right. Where the money didn’t go into the official’s pocket. But we see where somebody went to jail. They put the money into the College of New Rochelle. But the official went to jail anyway.
So, what do we learn from that? It doesn’t matter where the money goes. You can put it into the business.
But you’re still going to jail. Because the Government wants their money. Who else wants their money? Well, most government authorities… they don’t like when you take their money.
Withholding taxes don’t belong to you. So, when you look at funds that aren’t yours — funds that are held in trust, you really need to be careful about what you’re doing.
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