Strategic Counsel for Modern Workforce and Payroll Models Including PEOs and CPEOs

Professional Employer Organizations (“PEOs”), Certified Professional Employer Organizations (“CPEOs”), staffing companies, payroll providers, and other third-party workforce arrangements present some of the most technically complex federal employment tax issues facing large employers today. These structures often implicate overlapping rules involving common-law employment, wage reporting, payroll tax liability, worker classification, information reporting, employee benefits, and IRS administrative procedures.

At Fuller Tax Law Group, our experience in this area is unusually deep and highly specialized. Our attorneys have worked directly with Fortune 500 companies, large public and private PEOs, CPEOs, staffing organizations, and payroll service providers on some of the most challenging and nuanced issues involving three-party employment relationships and co-employment structures.

Our experience includes direct engagement with the PEO industry at both governmental and private-practice levels. Our attorneys have helped PEOs achieve numerous multimillion dollar refunds on various employment tax issues.

One of our attorneys authored for years a recurring monthly tax column for PEO Insider, the leading industry publication associated with National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (“NAPEO”) , providing analysis and guidance on emerging federal employment tax and employee benefit developments affecting the PEO industry.

Another attorney served as a senior executive within the IRS National Office and was responsible for key PEO-related matters at the national level, including many of the IRS’ CPEO positions. In that role, this senior IRS executive regularly interfaced with NAPEO leadership, major industry participants, IRS operating divisions, and Treasury personnel regarding evolving employment tax compliance, employee benefit, and administrative issues impacting PEOs and CPEOs.

This combination of private-sector industry involvement and senior IRS leadership experience provides a rare perspective on how the IRS approaches PEO structures, enforcement priorities, administrative guidance, and emerging compliance initiatives.

We advise clients on a broad range of issues involving:

• Professional Employer Organization (PEO) structures
• Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO) compliance and administration
• Co-employment and common-law employer determinations
• Payroll tax reporting and liability allocation
• Information return compliance and penalty defense
• Worker classification and contingent workforce matters
• Section 530 relief and related worker classification safe harbors
• Aggregate filing and reporting arrangements
• Employment tax examinations and Appeals representation
• ACA reporting obligations involving third-party payroll structures
• ERC/ERTC compliance
• Payroll tax refund opportunities
• Wage base, withholding, and successor employer issues
• Service agreements and allocation of tax responsibilities
• Federal employment tax controversies involving large workforce platforms

We also advise businesses to evaluate the benefits of three-party employment relationships and whether a PEO, CPEO, ASO, staffing, or outsourced payroll arrangement appropriately aligns with their operational, compliance, and risk-management objectives.

The federal employment tax rules governing PEOs and CPEOs continue to evolve through IRS guidance, administrative practice, and enforcement initiatives. Businesses operating within these structures require counsel who not only understand the technical rules, but who also understand how those rules are interpreted and administered within the IRS.

Our experience includes work involving:

• IRS National Office policy and technical coordination
• IRS examinations and Appeals proceedings
• Large Business & International (“LB&I”) employment tax initiatives
• Administrative guidance affecting PEO and CPEO operations
• Information reporting and penalty frameworks
• Industry-wide compliance initiatives and audit trends

This perspective allows us to provide practical, business-oriented guidance designed to reduce risk while supporting operational flexibility and scalable workforce management.

Many large employers today operate through increasingly sophisticated workforce arrangements involving staffing companies, outsourced payroll administrators, PEOs, and affiliated service organizations. These structures may offer operational advantages, but they can also create nuances in federal tax and reporting compliance.

Fuller Tax Law Group assists clients in navigating these relationships with a disciplined focus on compliance, audit readiness, strategic risk management, and practical implementation. Our approach combines technical precision, real-world industry knowledge, and direct experience with the IRS systems and personnel that shape enforcement in this area.