What End-of-Year Forms Do Small Businesses Need To File?

With the year nearly over, it is important to be prepared for the forms you need to gather, file, and send to your employees and contractors for the coming tax season. While most forms have to do with taxes, some are meant to assess whether you’ll need to pay penalties to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In all cases, failure to file these forms in a timely manner can lead to penalties for filing late.

There are some key dates that you need to remember to ensure that all of your end-of-year forms are filed correctly, on time, and without any fines. Here, find a list of common federal tax filings and dates for employers.

End-of-Year Tax Filing

By January 31

Form W-2

Employers must file a Form W-2 for each employee who (i) they have paid $600 or more in wages, (ii) they have withheld income, social security, or Medicare tax from, or (iii) they would have withheld income tax from if the employee had claimed no more than one withholding allowance or had not claimed exemption from withholding on Form W-4. Employers must also furnish a copy of Form W-2 to employees by this date.

Failure to file and furnish Forms W-2 on time will cost you; the IRS can assess a penalty of $50 per Form W-2 (if you file the correct form within 30 days of the due date). Depending on how late you file and furnish Forms W-2, the penalty can be as much as $280 per form. If you’re a Justworks customer, we take care of this for you.

Form W-3

Form W-3 is the Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements and is used to file Copy A portions of Forms W-2 to the Social Security Administration (SSA). If you're a Justworks customer, we submit this for you.

Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC

Form 1099-MISC

Employers must file a Form 1099-MISC for each person or entity an employer has made payments of at least $10 in royalties, $600 in rents, medical and health care payments, or certain miscellaneous forms of payment. Employers must also furnish a copy to contractors by January 31. We take care of this for Justworks customers.

Form 1099-NEC

Employers must file a Form 1099-NEC for each person or entity an employer has paid during the year at least $600 in non-employee compensation including fees, commissions, or other forms of compensation for services performed for your trade or business by an individual who is not your employee. Employers must also furnish a copy to contractors by January 31. We take care of this for Justworks customers.

For the full list, download our eBook for the latest edition of The Justworks Guide to End of Year.

Form 1096

If your company filed 1099s, you’ll need to file Form 1096, which is the transmittal form used to summarize information on Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC. Again, if you’re a Justworks customer, we will be taking care of this for you!

Forms 940 and 941

IRS Form 940 is used to report annual Federal Unemployment Tax, or FUTA. FUTA provides funding to state unemployment agencies, which provide unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs.

Employers use Form 941 as a quarterly tax return to report income taxes, social security tax, or Medicare tax withheld from employees’ paychecks. It’s also used to pay the employer’s portion of social security or Medicare tax. As such, the fourth quarter’s Form 941 is due on January 31 as well. We take care of this for Justworks customers.

Forms 1095-C and 1094-C

If your business is an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), you need to distribute Form 1095-C to each of your full-time employees by January 31. ALEs are employers with at least 50 full-time equivalent employees. You will also need to generate a Form 1094-C, which is an aggregated filing of your company’s Form 1095-Cs. Form 1094-C acts a “cover sheet” for the 1095-C forms. It provides information on things like the employer, number of employees, and contact person. Both of these forms will be taken by Justworks, as well as filed with the IRS if you are a customer.

Justworks Can Help

We understand that end of year tax returns can get confusing. Download our eBook for even more forms, due dates, and tips to stay on track this season.

Justworks PEO is our Professional Employer Organization (PEO) product. Through our PEO we can even file certain forms for our customers. How convenient is that? We also help businesses with payroll, compliance support, and other HR needs. Learn more about Justworks here.