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 deadline to send Forms 1099-MISC for payments made in 2019 is January 31, 2020, if you are reporting non-employee compensation (NEC) in Box 7. This applies to both paper or electronic filing procedures. As the IRS continues to enforce 1099 compliance by small businesses, the risk of not completing and filing the forms is too great.

LSWG is urging our clients to provide W-2 and 1099 information to us no later than January 15, 2020, so we can keep their reporting on track.

Pointers to help filers prepare:

• Employers should verify employees’–and independent contractors’ information with Form W-9, if applicable. This includes names, addresses, 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.
• 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 can help with your payroll processing and reporting. If you have any questions, please give our office a call at 301.662.9200.