Filing taxes on time helps to avoid penalties, even if you are an employee, freelancer, or business owner. And its maintain the financial discipline and transparency under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To file the taxes, you need to understand the tax deadlines for accurate filing and better year-end planning. In this article, we will understand the tax deadlines and the schedule of Quarterly tax payments with IRS compliance. This informative guide gives you a planned checklist of year end date. So walk through this article, resolve your queries, and learn about the accurate tax filing date.
Understand the Tax Deadline and Its Importance
The deadline for the federal income tax return is normally April 15 of each year. This date marks the last day for taxpayers to submit their tax returns and settle the tax amount with the Internal Revenue Service. When April 15 is a weekend or a public holiday, people are allowed to file their taxes on the next working day. It is very crucial to grasp when the tax deadlines is because failing to meet it may cause the issuance of penalty charges and interest on the unpaid amounts. Making a timely filing keeps taxpayers within the FICA, saves them from acquiring unnecessary charges, and enables them to have proper financial records. The act of filing the tax return before the deadline can significantly lessen the penalties, although there is no full payment of the taxes.
In addition to that, tax deadlines are one of the mechanisms through which governments can collect their revenue promptly and thus be able to offer various public services like education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Compliance with tax deadlines is a good example of financial discipline, legal obedience, and social responsibility.
Important Quarterly Tax Payment Dates
One of the methods that self-employed individuals and business entities, which do not have their taxes automatically withheld, like those of the self-employed or freelancers, can make their tax payments is through Quarterly tax installments. They basically help to spread the tax load over the year.
The four quarterly deadlines are:
- April 15 – for income earned from January to March
- June 15 – for income earned from April to May
- September 15 – for income earned from June to August
- January 15 (next year) – for income earned from September to December
Paying quarterly on time helps to avoid a situation where a penalty for underpayment of tax according to IRS Code Section 6654 is due, and, besides, it keeps your financial records in good order. If your payment date falls on a weekend or a holiday, the date of the payment is transferred to the next working day. The business owner hired employees who were also required to file IRS Form 941. The Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return is filed each quarter to report income tax withholding and both the employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes.
Year-End Important Dates and Deadlines
It is good for you when you keep your tax related thing in good condition, so you can easily perform all tax obligations. Every taxpayer waits for December 31, which is the last day for filing taxes. Any income, expenses, or deductions that you want to be considered for the year have to be done by this date. When you miss the deadline, you should pay an extra charge or lose your deductions.
Year-End Tax Dates
December 31
Tax-deductible contributions may still be made (for example, investments, donations, etc.) that will be counted for the present year.
January 15 (next year)
This is the date by which self-employed individuals/freelancers must make their fourth-quarter estimated tax payment.
January 31 (next year)
Besides Form W-2, employers are also required to provide employees and contractors with Form 1099.
April 15 (next year)
The last day to file your yearly income tax return or obtain a filing extension is April 15.
Preparing for the Year-End Tax Deadline Steps
Step 1: Review Your Income & Expenses
In the case you need to review all your receipts, such as invoices and bank statements that relate to your business and your personal income.
Step 2: Maximize Deductions
You need to decrease the taxable income to make some deductible purchases or payments, for example, philanthropic giving, making deposits into a retirement fund, and other similar actions, before December 31, if one has the intention of doing so.
Step 3: Reconcile Your Accounts
Now compare your bookkeeping records with your bank statements and ensure that both sets of records are accurate.
Step 4: Submit Outstanding Payments
If you take money and it is owed in the form of bills, taxes, or employee bonuses, you must pay this money before the deadline.
Step 5: Organize Tax Documents
Now collect all needed tax documents like W-2, 1099, receipts, along with the proof of investment holdings, and you can store them together in a very productive way of filing.
Step 6: File or Plan Ahead
When a taxpayer is not capable of filing their tax return, they can ask for a filing extension before April 15 to be relieved from the obligation of fines.
Conclusion
After understanding this informative guide, we know that paying taxes is really beneficial and provides various features for taxpayers. We discuss the importance of tax deadlines, quarterly payment dates, and year-end dates that help you remember your tax deadlines. In which we provide you with proper information on how to prepare for the year-end tax deadline.