It’s Federal Income Tax Time, here in America. The due date for filing your income taxes, and the dreaded Form 1040 is, as usual, April 15th. (No extra days to file taxes in 2023. Those pesky Washington D.C. holidays have moved on to other days..)
But, before you can file your income taxes, you’ll need all the forms and information you need to file. For most taxpayers, the main document you need is a Form W2 from your employer. The W2 form reports not only your wages, but also the amounts that were withheld from your paycheck during the year. If you worked for more than one employer, you would need to get a W2 from each one.
If you don’t have a traditional employer, or if you do paid work on the side, you’ll need to collect Form 1099-MISC from all of your clients that paid you more than $600 during 2023. Unfortunately, for people like freelance writers, that means you may have to track down some former clients, especially if you moved and didn’t notify them of your new address. Unlike regular employee types. There are usually no withholdings to report on a 1099 form. Many clients will want to email the forms. That is fine. This isn’t about originals, it’s about the numbers they report matching the numbers you report.
W2 and 1099 Deadlines
If you are wondering when the deadline is to get your W2 form or 1099 form, the answer is a little tricky. For Form W2, the employer is required to “furnish” you a copy by January 31, 2024. But, before you get up in arms, if you don’t have it on the 31st, the employer is considered to have met the furnish requirement if the form is properly addressed and mailed by the 31st so you might just need to wait for the post office to get it to your door.
For a 1099 Form, the deadline is the same. Your clients, and former clients, are required to furnish your forms (mail them) by January 31st. There is an exception if your money is reported in boxes 8 or 14, but that isn’t common for most small business owners and freelancers.
What If I Don’t Get a W2 or Form 1099?
Just because you don’t get a W2 Form or a 1099-MISC Form doesn’t mean that you do not have to report the income. If you didn’t get a W2 from your employer, call HR. They probably have a process in place, especially if it is a larger company. They have no duty to turn it around in 24 hours, or anything like that. Don’t wait until the last minute. By mid-February you should be asking for any missing forms.
If you did not get a 1099 Form for your small business, you don’t actually have to get it. As long as you report all of your income, it doesn’t have to match up with the 1099 forms that you have in your file. However, it can trigger all sorts of red alerts if you claim less income than gets reported on the 1099 forms. Don’t forget, the IRS gets a copy of all 1099-MISC forms with your Social Security number, or EIN, on them, and your clients and employers are certain to send those in. That is how they get to deduct what they pay you as a business expense.
What if your client was not an American company? (There may be different rules for non-American employers. I do not know them. You’ll need to find that information elsewhere. Start with the IRS website.)
Check out this in-depth look at WalletHub and this Acorns investing review.
For a client that is not an American company, they are not going to fill out and submit a form that the American Internal Revenue Service requires. You are still supposed to report the income even if you don’t get a form. Just don’t bother waiting for it because it isn’t coming.
Other Tax Forms
You’ll need plenty of other tax forms as well to justify business expenses, IRA contributions, and more.
Author
By Brian Nelson – Brian is a former Certified Financial Planner and financial advisor with decades of financial experience. He writes for the Finance Gourmet and other financial publications. The material provided on this website is for informational use only and is not intended as tax advice. ArcticLlama, LLC, FinanceNelson.com, and Brian Nelson assume no liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on the material provided. Please note that material may not be updated regularly and that some of the information may not be current. Consult with your own tax professional when making decisions regarding your tax situation.
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