Small Business Filing Deadline Approaching Fast Form W-2s and 1099-MISCs are Due Jan. 31
Small Business Filing Deadline Approaching Fast
Form W-2s and 1099-MISCs are Due Jan. 31
If you own your own business or have a side business in addition to your regular job, you may need to send out several IRS forms by Jan. 31 this year.
The deadline is for forms you issue to employees and others who were paid as part of your business activities throughout the year. These W-2 and 1099-MISC forms will have to be postmarked or sent electronically to both the IRS and the person you did business with on or before Jan. 31, otherwise you may face fines for each late form.
Most businesses understand that a W-2 is required for each of your employees. But did you know that you also may need to issue a 1099-MISC to each contractor or vendor you’ve done business with during the year?
General rule
The general rule is to issue a 1099-MISC to each individual contractor or vendor you paid at least $600 over the course of the calendar year. This form requirement doesn’t usually apply to your expenditures on hobbies or personal items, just business activities. In most cases you do not have to issue 1099-MISCs to corporations – just other individuals and partnerships. Here is an example.
Andrea has a side business as a model on nights and weekends in addition to her career as a medical device analyst. Over the course of 2016, she paid $600 to a hair and makeup stylist at Hair Art Inc., $800 to a freelance photographer for headshots and a promotional portfolio, and $2,000 in fees to Viva Talent LLC, a local modeling agency.
Andrea doesn’t need to issue a 1099-MISC to the stylist, because he works for a corporation, but she will have to send one to the photographer, who is an independent contractor. She needs to send one to the modeling agency as well, because it operates as a limited liability company (LLC) and files its taxes as a partnership rather than as a corporation.
Hint: Andrea can make her filing activities easier by issuing Form W9 to each vendor to get their tax information. These forms should be kept on file.
Other examples of business activities that may require you to issue a 1099-MISC include:
- Rents paid to a landlord for office space.
- Expenses paid to a contractor to turn a room in your house into a home office.
- Payments made to an attorney.
Fraud and fines
In the past, while most forms were filed by the end of January, you had until as late as March 31 to get the government their copies. The unified Jan. 31 deadline for these forms was changed as part of the IRS’s larger effort to crack down on refund fraud. Fraudsters have been filing bogus returns early in the year in an effort to snag a refund check before W-2s and 1099s arrive that contradict their returns.
Unfortunately, the fines on the self-employed and small business owners for missing the Jan. 31 deadline can be steep. Form W-2s and 1099s filed up to 30 days late are fined $50 each; $100 each for more than 30 days late; and $260 each for those filed after Aug. 1 or not filed at all.
The deadline is approaching fast, so don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions.
There’s Still Time to Fund Your IRA
There’s Still Time to Fund Your IRA
Looking for a last minute way to reduce last year’s taxable income? Consider funding a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA. Here is what you need to know
Remember that you have until you file your tax return to make a contribution to a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA for the 2016 tax year. The annual maximum contribution amount is $5,500 or $6,500 if you are age 50 or over.
However, if you or your spouse are an active participant in an employer’s qualified retirement plan, you may not be able to contribute the maximum amount. It depends on whether your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds certain income thresholds. The limits for both Traditional and Roth IRAs are:
2016
Note: Married IRA limits depend on whether either you, your spouse or both of you participate in a qualified employer provided retirement plan. If married filing separate and either spouse participates in an employer’s qualified plan, the income phaseout to contribute is $0 – $10,000.
How does the phase out work?
If your income is below the “full contribution” amount noted above, you can contribute up to the maximum annual contribution. If your income is above the “phase out complete” amount, you cannot make tax-advantaged contributions separate from your employer plan.
If your income falls between these ranges, this is how you calculate the reduced amount you can contribute:
- Subtract your income from the higher (phase out complete) amount to get your contribution income potential.
- Next calculate the phase-out range.
- Divide your contribution income potential by the phase-out range.
- Take the result times your maximum annual contribution amount.
Example: Roth IRA contribution limit for a single person, age 40 with MAGI of $122,000; $10,000 contribution income potential (132,000-122,000); divided by phase-out range of $15,000 ($132,000 – 117,000); 10,000/15,000= .666 x $5,500 = $3,663 2016 ROTH IRA contribution limit. Rounding rules apply.
If it’s too late for you to make a 2016 contribution, it’s not too late to plan for 2017. Here are the limits for 2017.
2017
A final thought
If your income is too high to take advantage of these IRAs you can always make non-deductible contributions to a retirement account. While the contributions are taxed, tax on the earnings is deferred until they are withdrawn.
Reminder. 4th Quarter Estimated Taxes are Now Due – Now is the time to make your estimated tax payment
Reminder. 4th Quarter Estimated Taxes are Now Due – Now is the time to make your estimated tax payment
Plan now to make your 4th quarter estimated tax payment
If you have not already done so, now is the time to review your tax situation and make an estimated quarterly tax payment using Form 1040-ES. The fourth quarter due date is now here.
Normal due date: Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Remember you are required to withhold at least 90% of your current tax obligation or 100%* of last year’s federal tax obligation. A quick look at last year’s tax return and a projection of this year’s obligation can help determine if a payment might be necessary. Here are some other things to consider:
Underpayment penalty. If you do not have proper tax withholdings during the year, you could be subject to an underpayment penalty. The penalty can occur if you do not have proper withholdings throughout the year. While a quick payment at the end of the year may not help avoid the underpayment penalty, it can help reduce the amount of the penalty.
W-2 withholdings have special treatment. A W-2 withholding payment can be made at any time during the year and be treated as if it was made throughout the year. If you do not have enough to pay the estimated quarterly payment now, you may wish to change your W-2 withholdings to address this problem in the future.
Self-employed. Remember to account for the need to pay your Social Security and Medicare taxes as well. Creating and funding a savings account for this purpose can help avoid the cash flow hit each quarter to pay your estimated taxes.
* If your income is over $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separate), you must pay 110% of last year’s tax obligation to be safe from an underpayment penalty.