News

Fairfield County Tax Penalties

Winnsboro, SC— December 13th, 2023 — At the December 11th Fairfield County Council meeting, Fairfield County Council was informed about $1,184,417.11 in IRS penalties paid and an additional $214,133.96 of anticipated penalties. The penalties are a result of the late filing, incorrect filing, or failure to file required annual healthcare forms and quarterly IRS forms from tax years 2017 – 2022. The subsequent forms have been submitted in calendar year 2023. In a statement from the former Fairfield County Finance Director, an appeal was filed for one of the tax years which resulted in no penalties for that year. She also stated she never received additional statements from the IRS. Appeals were not filed for all years, and staff will currently look to see if appeals can be made for the other years. In response to the healthcare forms, the late filing was due to a lack of credentials by the human resource staff which resulted in the former finance director submitting the information after the deadline. The Human Resources Director is currently seeking the proper credentials to submit the forms in a timely fashion in the future, reducing the need to rely on another department to submit the form. 

In the future, all copies of submission confirmations of yearly and quarterly reports, including submitted errors or requests for additional information, along with any signed certified mail receipts will be saved and included in the financial and human resource files. The County will request that IRS use two contacts for all required IRS forms: one going to the department responsible for the submission and the second to County Administration.