Editor’s note: This article contains original tax filing and payment deadlines for 2020. Many deadlines have been extended due to the coronavirus’ impact on small businesses and employees. For the most updated information on tax deadlines during COVID-19, please visit TurboTax.
Running a business is stressful enough, so we’ve created the 2020 Small Business Tax Calendar to help you stay on top of important IRS due dates throughout the year and keep ahead of the federal government.
These are the important due dates you need to know for taxes from the 2019 calendar year. The dates are grouped by the type of tax collected to make things easier as filing deadlines approach.
This is the deadline to send out Form W-2 to your employees, and to file the documents with the IRS. Make sure you understand the difference between employees and independent contractors from the IRS’s point of view.
You’ll need to submit copies of employee W-2s to the IRS. To determine which form to send, reference this 1099 vs. W-2 calculator.
This is also the deadline to issue 1099s to all independent contractors who received payments in 2019.
Deadline for businesses to file information returns with the IRS that report on 1099s issued for 2019. Companies use IRS Form 1096 (Annual Summary and Transmittal of US Information Returns) for this filing.
The deadline for filing 1099s electronically is April 1st. If you don’t file electronically, the deadline is February 29th (see above).
The type of tax return that your company must file depends on the business structure you choose when you start your business.
Here are the most common forms of business structure:
Work with a CPA or an attorney and consider the pros and cons of each business structure. Once you know your business structure, you can use these dates for tax filing and reporting purposes. Each due date applies to corporate structures, not pass-through structures, unless otherwise noted.
This is the tax return deadline for S-Corps (using Form 1102-S) and for partnerships (using Form 1065). You can file for a 6-month extension on either return, but your tax liability is still due on March 15th.
This is the due date for corporate tax returns, using Form 1120.
If you must make 2020 estimated tax payments for your business, payment for the 1st quarter of 2020 is due on April 15, 2020. (More on estimated tax payments below.)
If you must make 2020 estimated tax payments for your business, payment for the 2nd quarter of 2020 is due on June 15, 2020.
If you must make 2020 estimated tax payments for your business, payment for the 3rd quarter of 2020 is due on September 15, 2020.
If you received a 6-month extension to file a tax return for an S-Corp or a partnership, the return is due on September 15.
If you were granted an extension of time to file a corporate tax return, your tax return is due on this date.
If you must make 2019 estimated tax payments for your business, payment for the 4th quarter of 2019 is due on this date.
Self-employed individuals and most businesses must make quarterly tax payments. These payments ensure that the individual or business pays a large percentage of their estimated tax liability during the year, rather than in one payment when the tax return is filed.
We’ve covered business estimated tax payments, and you’ll see personal estimated tax payment dates below.
Almost everyone is required to file a personal tax return using Form 1040, and this includes business owners who run a pass-through business structure. The income produced by your corporation, partnership, or other business entity may generate income that is posted to your personal tax return.
If you make estimated tax payments on your individual business earnings, the deadline for 4th quarter estimated tax payments for 2019 is January 15, 2020.
Individuals must file the 2019 income tax return and pay any remaining tax liability by this date. You can request more time to file your tax return by completing IRS Form 4868, but your tax liability is still due by April 15th.
If you must make 2020 estimated tax payments for your personal taxes, payment for the 1st quarter of 2020 is due on April 15, 2020.
If you must make 2020 estimated tax payments for your personal taxes, payment for the 2nd quarter of 2020 is due on June 15th, 2020.
If you must make 2019 estimated tax payments for your personal taxes, payment for the 3rd quarter of 2020 is due on September 15, 2020.
If you were granted an extension of time by filing Form 4868, your tax return is due on this date.
If you need these dates for your business or personal taxes, post the dates to your calendar, and set up a reminder so that you’re alerted when the date arrives. This system will keep you on track and help you avoid tax fees and penalties.
As you think about tax planning, consider these common taxpayer misconceptions, and make sure that you understand how each of these issues impacts your personal or business tax return.
If you buy an asset and sell it for more than you paid for it, you have a realized gain. If, for example, you buy 100 shares of IBM common stock at $10,000 and sell the shares for $15,000, your realized gain is $5,000.
A recognized gain, on the other hand, means that you owe taxes on the gain. Not every realized gain is recognized for tax purposes, and there are dozens of examples. In some cases, you can offset a realized gain with a realized loss and not owe taxes on the gain. This can impact both business and personal tax returns.
Your marginal tax rate is not the tax you pay on all of your income. Instead, the marginal tax rate is the tax you pay on your next dollar of income. The IRS Tax Tables provide different tax rates for different levels of income.
For 2019, taxpayers pay a 22% tax rate on income from $39,475 to $78,950, and a 24% rate on income from $84,200 to $168,400. Assume, for example, that your salary is $82,500. If you earned $10 more in 2019, you would pay 24% on those next $10, and your marginal tax rate would be 24%. Note that you would still pay 22% on the rest of your income below that cutoff.
The same principle as the above example applies across every tax bracket with the taxable amount increasing as you climb from bracket to bracket. The Tax Foundation provides a full updated tax bracket.
Some individual taxpayers must calculate their tax liability twice because of AMT. The alternative minimum tax was put in place to assess taxes on certain transactions that would otherwise not be taxed.
A good example is income earned on certain municipal bonds. Assume that you calculate your taxes and come up with a $15,000 tax liability, and the tax law requires you to calculate AMT. The AMT calculation will add municipal bond income into your tax calculation — income that is tax-exempt outside AMT. If the AMT tax calculation generates a higher tax liability, you’ll pay taxes on the larger amount.
Invest the time that’s necessary to calculate your taxes, make payments, and file the returns on time. Proper planning can help you avoid interest costs and penalties down the road. Ask a CPA to help you with this process. And download a free spreadsheet with all the dates you need to know to manage your taxes on time.
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