So many people who are not tax preparers, accountants, financial planners, bookkeepers, etc. assume that tax season ends when April 15th comes around and once they file their personal returns then it’s over and done with. Unfortunately that’s not the case for those with a business because not only are there nonstop deadlines to make sure all of the forms are done, there’s always a number of tax inquiries that may be sent which need to be addressed accordingly in a timely manner or re-addressed because the reviewer is never satisfied with the answer or there’s missing information. Therefore, it seems things never end – there are only dips in activity.
In January 2020, these are the current tax deadlines for the following reports:
January 10th – employees are to have reported all cash tips of more than $20 during December to their employer for Form 4070
January 15th – individuals need to make their 4th quarter estimated tax payment
January 31st – individuals are to have received their W2 forms for 2019
January 31st – individuals are to have received their 1099 forms for 2019
January 31st – Form 941 Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return 4th Quarter
January 31st – Form 940 Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Act
January 31st – the Texas Workforce Commission Form C-3 Employer’s Quarterly Report
Now yes this is one of the busiest months of the year because the penalties for late processing can be, and these are 7 deadlines that will not necessarily be met by all business owners. Therefore, it’s vital to not only confirm your information but also understand that as the authorized signatory, you are the one responsible for its proper transmission.
As reported on the IRS web site, “Employers who do not comply with the employment tax laws may be subject to criminal and civil sanctions for willfully failing to pay unemployment taxes.” If payroll tax deposits do not match up to what forms have been filed, then a request for an explanation has been triggered. From there, this request stays open until correspondence has been received and if satisfied, the request therefore is closed by the reporting agency. However, it’s not always that simple.
There was a situation for which I worked with a client for nearly 7 years over a $12,000 discrepancy caused by a previous bookkeeper, for which was eventually closed in favor of the client. What caused the issue to drag on for so long were numerous IRS notices submitting for an additional 60 days for additional time to provide a complete response. This is not always the case it may take so long to resolve, but again it’s something you just can’t ignore.
Dwayne J. Briscoe