Employers and Business Owners – Start Now to Prepare for January 31 Filing Deadline

If you are responsible for payroll and/or 1099s, we urge you to start planning now to make certain you meet the January 31 filing deadline for wage statements and independent contractor forms.  Serious penalties apply for those who don’t comply.

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015 started a requirement for employers to file their copies of Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statements), and Form W-3 (Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements), with the Social Security Administration by January 31.  Certain Forms 1099-MISC (Miscellaneous Income) filed with the IRS to report non-employee compensation to independent contractors are also due at this time.

According to the IRS, changing the IRS and Social Security Administration’s filing deadline to coincide with the due date for forms issued to recipients enables the IRS to more efficiently verify income that individuals report on their tax returns, which prevents fraud.

If we at LSWG prepare your filings, we urge you to provide W-2 and 1099 information to us no later than January 15, 2019, so we can keep this reporting on track.

Pointers to help filers prepare:

• Employers should verify employees’ information. This includes names, addresses, and Social Security or individual taxpayer identification numbers.
• Employers should also ensure their company’s account information is current and active with the Social Security Administration before January.  If paper Forms W-2 are needed, they should be ordered early.
• Review vendor records for unincorporated service providers to make sure you have accurate tax ID numbers and mailing addresses.
• E-filing is the quickest, most accurate and convenient way to file these forms.

Automatic extensions of time to file Forms W-2 are not available.  Failure to file a correct information return by January 31 will subject you to some pretty serious penalties.  The IRS will only grant extensions for very specific reasons.  Details can be found on the instructions for Form 8809 (Application for Time to File Information Returns).

LSWG’s Client Accounting Services Department is staying on top of these changes—and others that may impact your 1099 filing and payroll processing and reporting.  If you have any questions, please call our office at 301.662.9200.