26 U.S.C. § 7501(a); Plett v. United States, 185 F.3d 216, 218 (4th Cir. 1999). "If an employer withholds trust fund taxes but fails to remit them to the government, [26 U.S.C. § 6672] imposes personal liability for the amount of taxes owed upon 'those officers or employees (1) responsible for collecting, accounting for, and remitting payroll taxes, and (2) who willfully fail to do so.'"Newbill v. United States, 441 Fed. App'x 184, 187 (4th Cir. 2011) (quoting Plett, 185 F.3d at 218)). The Court will address each prong of the § 6672 liability analysis in turn.

If a responsible person thereafter knowingly permits payments of corporate funds to be made to other creditors, a finding of willfulness is appropriate as a matter of law. Id. See also Newbill v. United States, 441 Fed.Appx. 184, 189 (4th Cir. 2011). Samuel Crews "made all business decisions on what creditors were paid and when," and "signed all checks.

The district court's rulings on these issues were affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. See Newbill v. United States, 441 F. App'x 184, 189 (4th Cir. 2011) (agreeing with the district court "that Newbill was responsible for the payment of NCI's trust fund taxes," and "that Newbill willfully failed to pay NCI's trust fund taxes").

Payroll withholding taxes are commonly called "'trust fund taxes' because the employer holds the withheld taxes in trust for the United States." Newbill v. United States, 441 Fed. App'x 184, 187 (4th Cir. 2011). II. DISCUSSION