Annual Requirements
Annual FUTA Tax Return

Reconciles prior quarterly deposits of FUTA taxes and pays the balance due.

Forms to use

940 Annual Return for FUTA Tax

How often?

Annual requirement

Due date

January 31st

How to complete form 940

Lines and what to enter

A: Total unemployment paid to the state (do not include training taxes)

B: State and state employer ID number

1: Total wages for employees for the year

2: Wages for any employees exempt from federal UI taxes. Do not include corporate officers.

3: Wages over the $7,000 limit for all employees who paid UI taxes. For example, if Susan was paid $25,000 for the year, the excess wages for federal purposes is (25,000-7000)=18,000.

4: Add lines 2 plus 3

5: Subtract line 4 from line 1

6: Multiply line 5 by .006

7: Total FUTA tax that you deposited during the year (if any).

8: Amount you still owe, line 6 minus line 7.

How to pay

You can either mail the form or file it electronically through a private service.

Mail form 940 to the IRS with any balance due. The balance due should be less than $500 or quarterly deposits should have been made. Make the check payable to the IRS and be sure to put your federal employer ID number on it.

Click here for IRS 940 mailing addresses

File electronically: Visit http://www.irs.gov/efile/lists/0,,id=105872,00.html" for a list of qualified vendors.

Dated form

IRS form 940 is dated and is only available just before its required due date (January 31st).

To pay

Pay electronically

Pay via credit card (with a service fee). There are two approved providers:

  • Link2Gov Corporation at (888) 729-1040. For questions call (888) 658-5465 or visit www.pay1040.com
  • Official Payments Corporation at (800) 272-9829. For questions call (877) 754-4413 or visit www.officialpayments.com.
  • Mail your check with Form 940 to the IRS.

Questions?

Call the IRS information hotline (800) 829-4933. For forms, call (800) 829-3676 or obtain them online at http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/formsPublications.html.

IRS 1095-C Employer-Provided Health Insurance for large employers to Employees

Businesses that employ 50 or more full time employees must provide IRS 1095-C to their employees and the IRS at the same time W-2's are due (January 31st to employees; February 28th to the IRS). This report shows the health care plan that was offered to each employee, the employee's share of cost, and whether the offer included health care coverage for the employee's spouse or dependents.

Forms to use

IRS 1095-C to the employee.

IRS 1095-C plus a 1094-C Transmittal form to the IRS

Due Date

January 31st to employees

February 28th to the IRS

Penalties

There is a $250 penalty for each return not filed. There are additional penalties for large employers that do not offer affordable health insurance to their employees.

Questions?

Call the IRS information hotline at (800) 829-4933.

1099M Statement for Independent Contractors

This form is used to report business you have done with independent contractors (who are not corporations) and medical corporations. Complete Form 1099-Misc:

  • For every individual, sole proprietorship, partnership or medical corporation which you purchased $600 or more for services (not products);
  • If you purchased $5,000 or more of consumer products from a non-corporation that you intend to resell outside a permanent retail establishment;
  • If you paid a non-corporation $10 or more in royalties; or
  • If you paid a landlord $600 or more (and your landlord is not a corporation).
  • If you paid over $600 in interest (to a non-corporation), you must file IRS form 1099-I. To request this form, call the IRS at (800) 829-3676 or go to http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/formsPublications.html

Forms to use

1099-M Annual Information Form for Independent Contractors

1096 Transmittal Form

Preparing 1099s is not user-friendly. The IRS does not have a direct way to input the information online. Instead, it has authorized companies to be 1099 providers. Do a search on the Internet for current providers and prices.

How often?

Annual reporting requirement

Due date

January 31 to the recipient

February 28 to the IRS

To do it yourself

Doing it yourself is possible, but not user-friendly. You have to use official IRS forms and must prepare them using a computer or typewriter (remember those?). Here is how to do it:

Prepare 1 form for each payee.

Lines and what to do

Left side

  • Payer is your company
  • Recipient is the person you paid.
  • Payer's federal identification number is your social security number.
  • Recipients' identification number is their social security (if you paid an individual or sole proprietorship), or their SS-4 number if you paid a partnership.
  • Remember, if you paid a corporation, you do not have complete a 1099-Misc.
  • Leave "Account Number" blank unless you use vendor account numbers.

Right side

Fill in the relevant boxes. Here are the most commonly used.

1: Rent to landlords (if you paid more than $600).

7: Compensation to independent contractors for services (if you paid them more than $600).

9: Check the box if you purchased over $5,000 of products for resale from this (non-corporate) vendor.

How to complete form 1096

1096 is the transmittal form. It must also be prepared on a computer or typewriter. Prepare one form to transmit all the 1099-Misc.

Lines and what to do

Top

  1. Leave blank
  2. Your social security number
  3. Enter the number of 1099s you are enclosing
  4. 0, unless you withheld income tax (line 4 on each 1099-Misc)
  5. Add up boxes, 1,2,3,5,6,7,8, and 10 for all the 1099-Misc's Usually all but 1 and 7 are 0.

Bottom Check box 1099-MISC - 95

How to submit

  1. Mail Copy A of 1099-M (the red page) to the IRS with transmittal Form 1096
  2. Mail or deliver Copy B and Copy 2 to the receipient (the person or company you paid)
  3. Keep copy C for your records
  4. The IRS will automatically send your 1099-M information to the state tax authority.

A few more rules

  • $50 fine for ignoring these rules:
  • Type forms - regular type style
  • Use original forms - no copies
  • Submit entire 8 x 11 page - don't cut it up
  • Don't staple
  • Don't use dollar signs, commas or other symbols, except you should use decimal points to show dollars and cents.

Questions?

For forms call (800) 829-3676. You cannot obtain original forms from the Internet. For information, call (800) 829-4933 or read Publication 937 Business Reporting.