Hi. I'm Kim Lawson, and I work for the IRS.

Do you know the reasons why some businesses outsource their payroll duties?

A well-qualified payroll provider can help ensure forms are filed and deposits are made on time.

Due to factors such as a wish to devote more time to their businesses, small-business owners and self-employed individuals sometimes hire an outside provider to handle payroll duties.

By using a payroll provider, small-business owners and self-employed individuals can devote more time to their businesses instead of spending it on payroll duties.

Here are some quick tips for a business that uses a payroll provider to handle payroll duties.

The most important thing to remember is that you, as the business owner, are ultimately responsible for filing and paying taxes timely, even if you are using a payroll provider to handle these duties.

This includes withholding the proper amount of federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare taxes for both the employer and employee portions and making the necessary deposits.

We recommend that a payroll provider use EFTPS, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, which allows small-business owners and self-employed individuals to monitor payments made on their behalf to the IRS and make sure such payments are occurring properly.

Another tip -- make sure that your business address is the address of record on file with the IRS.

Do not allow your payroll provider to use its address for your tax returns and notices.

That way, you, the business owner, will still receive any tax-related correspondence.

A wide range of information is available at www.IRS.gov.

Simply do a search using the words "outsourcing payroll."