How To Keep The IRS Off Your Back And Out Of Your Life In 2006Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010 Sorry to crash your party, but as we bring in the New Year, it's also time to bring in a New Tax Season. As a small business owner or self-employed person, one of the easiest ways to keep Uncle Sam off your back and out of your life is to file your forms, payments and other paperwork on time. Over the next four months there are several key dates that you dare not forget! Here they are -- all in one place, along with links to the IRS website PDF file for that particular form, where appropriate. NOTE: This article only addresses federal tax deadlines. Be sure to contact your state's tax department for their due dates. Also, the calendar is adjusted for Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, because if a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, then the due date is moved to the next business day. JANUARY: Tuesday, Jan. 17 Personal Business You use Form 8109 (found in the little yellow coupon
Business Here's an overview of the 4 most common federal payroll-related forms due today: 1. Form W-2 (for your employees) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw2.pdf If you mail the W-2's, the postmark must be on or before January 31, 2006. You may also be a recipient of a W-2 (if you work as an employee for someone else), so don't give your employer a hard time unless the W-2 is postmarked, or delivered in person, later than January 31. 2. Form 941 (for payroll tax) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f941.pdf 4. Form 1099-MISC Tip: if the independent contractor is a corporation, you usually don't have to issue a 1099. The main purpose of the 1099 is to track payments to Sole Proprietors, i.e. unincorporated self-employed people. FEBRUARY: Wednesday, Feb. 15 Tuesday, February 28 Form W-3 is sent to the Social Security Administration, along with Copy A of any Forms W-2 you issued. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw3.pdf Form 1096 is sent to the IRS, along with Copy A of any Forms 1099-MISC you issued. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1096_04.pdf MARCH: Business Wednesday, March 15 Form 1120 -- the annual corporate income tax return for regular "C" corporations. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1120.pdf Form 1120S -- the annual corporate income tax return for "S" corporations. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1120s.pdf Form 7004 -- if you can't file Form 1120 or 1120S by today, here's a tip: just file Form 7004 by Form 2553 -- if you want your corporation to be treated like an "S" corporation for the first time, today is the deadline for telling the IRS that you want to be an "S" corp beginning with calendar year 2006. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2553.pdf Also, If you have employees, you must make the federal payroll tax payment for February 2006 by today (assuming you are on the monthly deposit schedule). APRIL: Monday, April 17 Form 1040 And if you are a Sole Proprietor, don't forget that you must file several business-related tax forms with your Form 1040. The most commonly used tax forms for the self-employed person include: Schedule C (to report your business income and expenses) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf Schedule SE (for self-employment tax) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sse.pdf Form 4562 (to deduct equipment and other depreciable property) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4562.pdf Form 8829 (to deduct a home office) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8829.pdf Need more time to prepare your personal tax return? Go no further than Form 4868, which grants an automatic no-questions-asked 4-month extension to file the return. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4868.pdf NOTE: this is only an extension of time to file the return, not an extension to pay any tax due. So if you think you might owe, it may be wise to estimate what you owe and send in a payment with Form 4868; otherwise you may have to pay extra in late payment penalties and interest. Form 1065 Form 8736 As if April 17 wasn't already painful enough, it's also the deadline for the first quarter estimated tax payment for Year 2006: Personal -- Form 1040-ES. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf Corporate -- Form 1120-W And if you're an employer, yup, it's time for yet another monthly federal payroll tax deposit -- for March 2006. MAY: Monday, May 1 Form 940 federal unemployment tax deposit is due today, if your first quarter liability exceeds $500. Had enough? OK, OK. I'll stop here. That should get you through the first four months of the year. For more tax resources, here's a few more links: Looking for a federal tax form? Looking for a state tax form? IRS Website for Small Business & the Self-Employed http://www.irs.gov/smallbiz Like it? Share it!More by this author |