If the recent college admissions scandal has you scratching your head wondering, “how did they get away with it for so long, and how was it uncovered,” wonder no more. There’s no doubt that forensic accountants played a role, and what they did to uncover the payoffs might save your own business one day.

At face value, it seems the IRS has a very low barrier to personally penalize a member of business management when payroll taxes withheld from employee paychecks (called trust fund money) aren’t submitted to the IRS. Time after time, the IRS seems to win these cases. What it really comes down to is whether the stakeholder knowingly and recklessly disregarded the risk of non-payment. It’s why a Seinfeld icon and soup mogul was recently on the hook for back taxes (read that story here) and why tax practitioners rarely seem optimistic when the IRS claims a trust fund penalty is due. However, a recent case shows there is light at the end of the tunnel and that light is called “reasonable belief.”