January tax season is just around the corner, and we are here to help with your year-end payroll preparation.
Business payroll tax is an annual process. Employee payroll tax tables and tax laws are updated annually. Although business payroll taxes are collected from each employee paycheck, deposited to the government monthly or semi-weekly and some business payroll reports are filed quarterly, there are some additional tasks and reports that need to be done at the end of the year.
Payroll reports, their purposes and the respective deadlines at the end of the year are summarized as follows:
| Form | Due /Term | Description |
|---|---|---|
| W-2 (Wage & Tax Statement) |
By Feb 1, 2016 Annual |
Issued to employees to show Gross wage total, Federal income tax withheld, Social Security and Medicare taxes (2/01/16). The Federal income tax withheld is critical because it determines whether an employee gets a refund or needs to pay more tax when filing his or her 1040 return. Employer then files the W-2s and a W-3 summary to the SSA (Social Security Administration, 2/29/16). The deadline is extended to 3/30/16 if the W-2s and W-3 are filed to the SSA electronically. |
| 1099-MISC Forms | By Feb 1, 2016 Annual |
A company is required to issue 1099-MISCs to recipients of more than $600 total payment for the year. The form is not required for Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), tax exempt organizations and few others. The company can request a W-9 (request for Tax ID) from the recipient to determine if a form 1099-MISC is required. |
| 1095-C Form | Deadline to issue the forms to the employees is due by Mar 31, 2016 (Special extension by IRS) | Starting from tax year 2015, a company with more than 50 employees is required to issue and report Form 1095-C (Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, 2/29/16) to the IRS to be in compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The IRS is extending the deadline for issuing and filing 1095s.
|
| Form 940 (FUTA) | By Feb 1, 2016 Annual |
Federal Unemployment tax report, required once a year (2/01/16) to report the FUTA tax payment by the company to the IRS. |
| Form 941 or 944 | Feb 1, 2016
Quarterly payroll report |
Federal income tax withhold, Social Security and Medicare taxes, due in the month after the quarter ends (4/30, 7/31, 10/31 & 1/31). If a company is very small and has been notified by the IRS to file Form 944 then a company only needs to file one Form 944 (2/01/16) instead of four Form 941s. A company files either four Form 941s or a Form 944, but not both. |
| State Forms | Check state schedule | Each State typically requires similar payroll reports for State income tax, Unemployment Insurance and other applicable payroll taxes with similar deadlines. Although some States require W-2 information sooner than that for the IRS. You should check with the State to confirm the deadlines. |
Here is a checklist to get your payroll preparation ready for the January tax season.
- Spend some time to review and ensure the accuracy of payroll records at the end of the year.
- Verify employee data: employee names, addresses and Social Security numbers.
- Verify employee payroll records: proper payroll taxes were withheld, taxes were deposited and the payroll reports reflect the payroll records accurately.
- Collect all necessary information to complete the necessary IRS forms.
- Verify which of these tax forms apply to your business.
So get a head start by gathering all the necessary reporting information, and updating your payroll account information in Paycheck Manager.
About Paycheck Manager
Every Business Needs to Process Payroll!
Every employer, when issuing paychecks, is required to maintain some form of payroll management. To successfully do so, an employer must consider these three tasks:
- Accurate calculation of payroll taxes
- Timely payroll tax payments
- Timely payroll filing and reporting
Paycheck Manager Makes Payroll Processing Easy!
Paycheck Manager is designed to make these tasks simple. With the online paycheck calculator software, you can:
- Calculate paychecks and prepare payroll any time
- Be reminded of pending payroll deposits or reports
- And print payment vouchers and reports.
With Paycheck Manager, you have full control over your payroll!