Operation Choke Point is putting the squeeze on some small business owners you might not have thought much about:
An Internal Revenue Service appeals officer told [medical marijuana dispensary] Allgreens LLC that not being able to get a bank account is no excuse for not paying employee withholding taxes electronically, as required by federal tax law. The dispensary has tried to get a bank account for at least two years.
That Allgreens “cannot secure a bank account due to current banking laws is not considered reasonable cause to abate the penalty,” an IRS hearing officer ruled in denying the dispensary’s request to waive the 10 percent penalty.
The dispensary is one of many to face the fine, assessed even though the company pays its taxes in cash and on time at the Denver downtown IRS office twice each month.
The IRS requires all businesses to pay the quarterly tax by bank wire, which is impossible for hundreds of medical and recreational marijuana shops nationwide that are unable to obtain banking services.
The IRS cannot be held responsible for greedy business owners who refuse to pay their taxes in the strictly mandated fashion.
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