Fall 2016 issue of Horizons

TIMELY REMINDERS

October 17, 2016 Individuals If you have an automatic six-month extension to file your income tax return for 2015, file Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ and pay any tax, interest, and penalties due. Reminder: The automatic extension does not extend the time to pay, only the time to file. Therefore, any tax due on returns filed after the original due date will likely have penalties and interest assessed. Calendar year C Corporations deposit the fourth installment of estimated income tax for 2016. Reminder: The estimated tax due can be 100% of the estimated current year tax or 100% of the actual prior year tax, whichever is the lesser. However, “large” corporations cannot base estimated tax payments on prior year tax and must calculate quarterly estimates based on estimated current year tax. A corporation is considered a “large” corporation if it had taxable income of at least $1 million in any one of the three immediately preceding tax years. December 31, 2016 Individuals and Cash Basis Businesses Pay amounts intended to be deducted on 2016 returns. An example includes the fourth quarter state estimated tax payment. The payment is due on January 15, 2017, but it would be deductible on the 2016 return if paid on or before December 31. Individuals If you are over 70 ½ in 2016 and have an IRA or qualified retirement plan account, the minimum required distribution needs to be paid on or before December 31. Planning point: If you have more than one IRA, you do not have to take a distribution out of each. As long as the distribution is calculated using the total of all the IRA accounts, the distribution can come out of any of the IRAs or a combination. December 15, 2016 C Corporations

February 17, 2017 Individuals

Individuals and Businesses Tax planning is best done before the end of the year. This will allow for time to make accounting elections or other actions to optimize tax for the year. Planning after the year end limits the amount of options available to achieve the desired result. January 17, 2017 Individuals If you are not paying all of your 2016 estimated income tax through withholding, pay the fourth installment of your 2016 estimated tax using Form 1040- ES and applicable state form(s) if not paid before December 31. There is a new deadline for 1099- MISC forms reporting nonemployee compensation in box 7. Issuers need to file these particular 1099s by January 31, 2017. For other 1099s and 1099-MISC with amounts in boxes other than 7, the filing deadline is February 28, 2017 if paper filing or March 31, 2017 if filing electronically. Reminder: Most 1099s are still due to the recipient on January 31. All Employers The new deadline for filing W-2s with the Social Security Administration is January 31, 2017. Provide your employees their copies of Form W-2 for 2016 on or before January 31. W-2s are still due to employees on January 31. Federal Payroll Tax File Form 941 for the fourth quarter of 2016. Deposit or pay any undeposited Social Security, Medicare, and withheld federal income tax. January 31, 2017 Businesses

If you claimed exemption from income tax withholding in 2016 on the Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, you gave to your employer, you must file a new Form W-4 by this date to continue your exemption for 2017. All Employers Begin withholding income tax from the pay of any employee who claimed exemption from income tax withholding in 2016, but did not provide Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, to continue the exemption in 2017.

March 1, 2017 Farmers and Fishermen

Can avoid estimated tax penalty if Form 1040 is filed on or before March 1, 2017.

March 15, 2017 S Corporations File a 2016 calendar year income tax return (Form 1120S) and pay any tax due. Provide each shareholder with a copy of Schedule K-1(Form 1120S), Shareholder’s Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, Etc. If you want an automatic six-month extension of time to file the return, file Form 7004, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns. Partnerships New deadline : File a 2016 calendar year income tax return (Form 1065) and pay any tax due. Provide each shareholder with a copy of Schedule K-1(Form 1065), Shareholder’s Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, Etc. If you want an automatic six-month extension of time to file the return, file Form 7004, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns.

Federal Unemployment Tax File Form 940 for 2016.

page 52 | horizons Fall 2016