Business owner fails to pay $2.4 million in payroll taxes

Barry Lee White, a former business owner, has been sentenced to one year and 10 months in federal prison for willfully failing to pay more than $2.4 million in payroll taxes. White, who operated I-Bar Construction, Inc. and T-Line Construction, LLC., withheld over $1.8 million in payroll taxes from his employees between 2015 and 2018 but failed to remit the funds to the IRS.

As the sole operator of the companies, White was responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying payroll taxes, which included Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes. In addition to the employee taxes, he failed to pay more than $600,000 for the employer’s portion of Social Security and federal unemployment taxes.

White pled guilty to the charges on May 7 and was ordered to pay $2,499,473 in restitution. Following his prison term, he will serve three years of supervised release.

This case serves as a reminder of the serious consequences of failing to meet payroll tax obligations.

Each month, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) leadership selects one criminal case adjudicated during the previous month to serve as the Tax Case of the Month. This month’s case was investigated by IRS-CI’s Atlanta Field Office.