IRS Penalties, Interest and 'Love Letters'

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. 18 Personal If you pay quarterly estimated income tax payments, it's time to make the fourth-quarter payment for 2004 via Form 1040-ES. 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, 2005. 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. Form 941 (for payroll tax) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f940.pdf Form 1099-MISC If you paid any independent contractors at least $600 in 2004, you must send each one a 1099 by January 31. 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/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 2005. 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/f1040sse.pdf Form 4562 (to deduct equipment and other depreciable property) 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/f1065.pdf Form 8736 To get an automatic 3-month extension of time to file Form 1065, file Form 8736 on or before April 15. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf Corporate -- Form 1120-W http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f941.pdf Form 940 federal unemployment tax deposit is due today, if your first quarter liability exceeds $100. 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://taxes.yahoo.com/stateforms.html http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/link/forms.html IRS Website for Small Business & the Self-Employed