| 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.
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 If you pay quarterly estimated income tax
payments, it's time to make the fourth-quarter payment for 2005 via Form 1040-ES.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf
Business If you have employees, you must make the federal
payroll tax payment for December 2005 by today (assuming you are on the monthly deposit
schedule).
You use Form 8109 (found in the little yellow coupon book)
or the IRS Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).
Tuesday, Jan. 31
Business 4th quarter and year-end 2005 payroll tax returns
are due by January 31, 2006.
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
3. Form 940 (for unemployment tax)
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f940.pdf
4. Form 1099-MISC If you paid any independent contractors
at least $600 in 2005, you must send each one a 1099 by January 31.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1099msc.pdf
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 If you have employees, you must make the
federal payroll tax payment for January 2006 by today (assuming you are on the monthly
deposit schedule).
Tuesday, February 28 If you prepared any W-2's or 1099's
(mentioned above), today is the deadline for sending a copy of those forms to the IRS.
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 Today is a big day if your business is
a corporation.
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 March 15 and you are granted an automatic,
no-questions-asked 6-month extension of time to file the return (i.e. until Sept. 15,
2006) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f7004.pdf
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 Ah, yes, the most famous tax deadline of
all.
Form 1040 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
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 If your business is a Partnership or Limited
Liability Company (LLC), today is also your lucky day to file the annual business income
tax return -- via Form 1065. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1065.pdf
Form 8736 To get an automatic 3-month extension of time to
file Form 1065, file Form 8736 on or before April 17.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8736.pdf
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
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1120w.pdf
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 941 is due for the 1st quarter 2006.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f941.pdf
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?
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html
Looking for a state tax form?
http://taxes.yahoo.com/stateforms.html http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/link/forms.html
IRS Website for Small Business & the Self-Employed
http://www.irs.gov/smallbiz |
