As tax filing season nears, the Internal Revenue Service reminds businesses to submit wage statements and certain information returns to the federal government by Jan. 31.

Filing the required forms by deadline and without errors not only helps payers and recipients avoid penalties, it also helps the IRS fight fraud by making it easier to verify income information.

The Jan. 31 deadline applies to:

• Employers filing Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, with the Social Security Administration.
• Payers filing Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, with the IRS.

Jan. 31 is also the deadline to:

• Furnish copies of W-2, Form 1099-NEC and other information returns to the recipients. See each form’s filing instructions for the due dates to furnish copies to recipients.

E-filing

Filing electronically is the fastest, most convenient way to accurately submit forms.

As of last year, W-2s and certain other forms must be filed electronically if submitting 10 or more information returns during a calendar year. For more details, including a list of information returns subject to the new e-filing rules, see E-file information returns.

The IRS also offers free e-filing for the 1099 series using the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS), an online portal where users can prepare copies of forms to furnish, file correction and request automatic extensions.

Requesting extensions

While employers and payers may request a 30-day extension to file W-2s or certain information returns, approvals of extensions are not automatic. To request extra filing time, submit Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns PDF, by Jan. 31 or by the due date of the returns being requested.

Please note that filing a Form 8809 does not extend the deadline for furnishing wage statements to employees or information returns to the payees. Those requests must be faxed to IRS in letter form by Jan. 31. Please see About Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns, for more information.

Potential penalties

If employers and payers haven’t already, start preparing filings now so there is time to double check the accuracy of the forms and file and furnish them by Jan. 31.

Penalties may apply filings are untimely, inaccurate and/or improperly submitted to the federal government on paper. For more information, including a breakdown of potential penalties and interest, visit the Information Return Penalties page at IRS.gov.

Additional resources

Use the IRS’s forms, instructions and publications search tool to look up more information about or instructions for all current IRS forms, including those listed above, or visit the Forms, instruction and publications page on IRS.gov.

Source: IRS-2025-15, Jan. 15, 2025

President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders Monday after his inauguration, including a hiring freeze for federal government workers, particularly at the Internal Revenue Service, and backing out of a global tax deal that had enjoyed support from the Biden administration. 

“I will also issue a temporary hiring freeze to ensure that we are hiring only competent people who are faithful to the American public. and we will pause the hiring of any new IRS agents,” said Trump during a rally and parade at the Capital One Arena in which he signed several executive orders after the inauguration at the nearby U.S. Capitol. “We will also require that federal workers must return to the office in person.”

Trump then began to refer to claims about thousands of armed IRS agents being hired during the Biden administration, although this claim has been disputed by the IRS and its employee union. “We are going to take the 88,000 people that they hired to go after you with guns — by the way, they are allowed to use guns and harass you like they were, and so many other people,” he said.

Trump then alluded to his campaign promise to exempt tip income from taxes.  “Do you remember my little statement about tips? Does anyone remember that little statement? I think we won Nevada because of that statement, but they went out and harassed you over the tips,” he said. “In other words, we are restoring control of our government to the people. We’re going to take those 88,000 — let’s see if they’d like to work on the border because that’s where we want them really. So we are going to have no tax on tips, right? No tax on tips.”

The executive order on the hiring freeze applies more widely than the IRS initially, but then potentially could go on much longer in stopping hiring at the IRS. 

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees, to be applied throughout the executive branch,” it says. “As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.  Except as provided below, this freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of their sources of operational and programmatic funding.”

The order then discusses several exceptions, including military, armed forces, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety jobs. However, there’s also a special exception for the IRS, which could prove problematic during tax season when the IRS usually hires thousands of temporary workers. 

“Within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Director of OPM and the Administrator of the United States DOGE Service (USDS), shall submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition,” says the executive order. “Upon issuance of the OMB plan, this memorandum shall expire for all executive departments and agencies, with the exception of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  This memorandum shall remain in effect for the IRS until the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of OMB and the Administrator of USDS, determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze.”

One area where Trump may be hiring more workers, however, is in the so-called “External Revenue Service” that he announced last week he wants to create for collecting tariffs. He referred to it during his inauguration speech on Monday.

“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families,” he said. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources.”

There does not appear to be any executive order yet on exempting tips from taxation, at least on the first day of the administration. Congress would probably need to agree to such a far-reaching change, perhaps including it within the larger reconciliation bill that’s planned for extending the Trump tax cuts. 

OECD global tax deal

After the inauguration speech at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, with further remarks at Emancipation Hall in the Capitol and at Capital One Arena, Trump headed to the White House where he signed more executive orders in the Oval Office while taking questions from reporters. He discussed some of the executive orders, especially the ones related to his pardoning of the January 6 protesters and the 75-day reprieve for TikTok, but others were only posted to the White House website. One involved the global minimum tax deal that the U.S. has been negotiating with other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Biden administration has been more receptive than the previous Trump administration to advancing the OECD framework for global taxation, especially outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, but Republicans have been mostly opposed to it, so it has not yet been approved by Congress. The executive order seems to revive the Trump administration’s opposition to the OECD framework.

“The OECD Global Tax Deal supported under the prior administration not only allows extraterritorial jurisdiction over American income but also limits our Nation’s ability to enact tax policies that serve the interests of American businesses and workers,” said the executive order.  “Because of the Global Tax Deal and other discriminatory foreign tax practices, American companies may face retaliatory international tax regimes if the United States does not comply with foreign tax policy objectives. This memorandum recaptures our Nation’s sovereignty and economic competitiveness by clarifying that the Global Tax Deal has no force or effect in the United States.”

The executive order then authorizes the new Treasury Secretary to inform the OECD about the move. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing with Scott Bessent, who has been nominated to lead the Treasury.  

“The Secretary of the Treasury and the Permanent Representative of the United States to the OECD shall notify the OECD that any commitments made by the prior administration on behalf of the United States with respect to the Global Tax Deal have no force or effect within the United States absent an act by the Congress adopting the relevant provisions of the Global Tax Deal,” said the executive order. “The Secretary of the Treasury and the United States Trade Representative shall take all additional necessary steps within their authority to otherwise implement the findings of this memorandum.”

The order goes on to say that the Treasury Secretary should also investigate whether any foreign countries aren’t in compliance with any tax treaty with the U.S. or “have any tax rules in place, or are likely to put tax rules in place, that are extraterritorial or disproportionately affect American companies, and develop and present to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, a list of options for protective measures or other actions that the United States should adopt or take in response to such non-compliance or tax rules.”

Source: AccountingToday

As tax filing season nears, the Internal Revenue Service reminds businesses to submit wage statements and certain information returns to the federal government by Jan. 31.

Filing the required forms by deadline and without errors not only helps payers and recipients avoid penalties, it also helps the IRS fight fraud by making it easier to verify income information.

The Jan. 31 deadline applies to:

• Employers filing Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, with the Social Security Administration.
• Payers filing Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, with the IRS.

Jan. 31 is also the deadline to:

• Furnish copies of W-2, Form 1099-NEC and other information returns to the recipients. See each form’s filing instructions for the due dates to furnish copies to recipients.

E-filing

Filing electronically is the fastest, most convenient way to accurately submit forms.

As of last year, W-2s and certain other forms must be filed electronically if submitting 10 or more information returns during a calendar year. For more details, including a list of information returns subject to the new e-filing rules, see E-file information returns.

The IRS also offers free e-filing for the 1099 series using the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS), an online portal where users can prepare copies of forms to furnish, file correction and request automatic extensions.

Requesting extensions

While employers and payers may request a 30-day extension to file W-2s or certain information returns, approvals of extensions are not automatic. To request extra filing time, submit Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns PDF, by Jan. 31 or by the due date of the returns being requested.

Please note that filing a Form 8809 does not extend the deadline for furnishing wage statements to employees or information returns to the payees. Those requests must be faxed to IRS in letter form by Jan. 31. Please see About Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns, for more information.

Potential penalties

If employers and payers haven’t already, start preparing filings now so there is time to double check the accuracy of the forms and file and furnish them by Jan. 31.

Penalties may apply filings are untimely, inaccurate and/or improperly submitted to the federal government on paper. For more information, including a breakdown of potential penalties and interest, visit the Information Return Penalties page at IRS.gov.

Additional resources

Use the IRS’s forms, instructions and publications search tool to look up more information about or instructions for all current IRS forms, including those listed above, or visit the Forms, instruction and publications page on IRS.gov.

The Internal Revenue Service today encouraged taxpayers who paid too little tax in 2024 to make a fourth quarter estimated tax payment on or before Jan. 15, 2025.

Income taxes are pay-as-you-go, meaning taxpayers must pay most of their tax throughout the year in which their income is earned or received. Usually this is done by withholding tax from paychecks or by making quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS (or by a combination of both).

However, taxpayers who pay quarterly sometimes overlook this step, and missing a quarterly payment can result in unexpected penalties and fees when they file their returns in 2025.

Who needs to make a payment?

Taxpayers who earn or receive income that is not subject to tax withholding, such as self-employed people or independent contractors, should pay their taxes quarterly to the IRS.

Taxpayers who owed on their most recent return may find they owe again when they file the following year and should consider making an estimated quarterly payment to avoid a potential tax bill or penalty.

Taxpayers in this situation normally include:

• Those who itemized in the past but are now taking the standard deduction.
• Two wage-earner households.
• Employees with non-wage sources of income such as dividends.
• Those with complex tax situations.
• Those who failed to increase their tax withholding.

What gets taxed?

The IRS reminds people that most income is taxable. This includes unemployment income, refund interest and income from the gig economy and digital assets, such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs.) When estimating quarterly tax payments, taxpayers should include all forms of earned income, including from part-time work, side jobs or the sale of goods.

Also, various financial transactions, especially late in the year, can have an unexpected tax impact. Examples include year-end and holiday bonuses, stock dividends, capital gain distributions from mutual funds, and stocks, bonds, virtual currency, real estate or other property sold at a profit.

How to make an estimated tax payment

The best way to make a payment is through IRS Online Account. There taxpayers can see their payment history, any pending payments and other useful tax information. Taxpayers can make an estimated tax payment by using IRS Direct Pay, debit or credit card or digital wallet, or the Treasury Department’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).

For information on other payment options, visit Make a payment on IRS.gov. If paying by check, taxpayers should be sure to make the check payable to the “United States Treasury.”

Act now to avoid a penalty

Either payment method – withholding or estimated tax payments – or a combination of the two, can help avoid a surprise tax bill at tax time and the underpayment of estimated tax by individuals penalty that often applies.

If a taxpayer fails to make required quarterly estimated tax payments earlier in the year, making a payment soon to cover these missed payments will usually lessen and may even eliminate any possible penalty.

Use the IRS’ Tax Withholding Estimator tool

The Tax Withholding Estimator, available on IRS.gov, can help people determine if they need to make an estimated tax payment. It also helps taxpayers calculate the correct amount of tax to withhold throughout the year based on their complete set of tax facts and circumstances.

Alternatively, taxpayers can use the worksheet included with estimated tax form 1040-ES, or review Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax PDF, to figure estimated taxes.

Planning ahead

It’s never too early to get ready for the tax-filing season. For more tips and resources, check out Get ready and Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax pages on IRS.gov.

Source: IRS-2025-02, Jan. 7, 2025

The Internal Revenue Service today reminded disaster-area taxpayers who received extensions to file their 2023 returns that, depending upon their location, their returns are due by Feb. 3 or May 1, 2025.

Currently:

• Taxpayers in the entire states of Louisiana and Vermont, all of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and parts of Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington state have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file their 2023 returns.
• Taxpayers in the entire states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and parts of Alaska, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia will have until May 1, 2025, to file their 2023 returns. For these taxpayers, May 1 will also be the deadline for filing their 2024 returns and paying any tax due.

Eligible taxpayers are individuals and businesses affected by various disasters that occurred during the late spring through the end of 2024. For extension filers, payments on the 2023 tax year returns are not eligible for the additional time because they were originally due last spring before any of these disasters occurred.

The IRS normally provides relief, including postponing various tax filing and payment deadlines, for any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As long as their address of record is in a disaster-area locality, individual and business taxpayers automatically get the extra time, without having to ask for it. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.

In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area should contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes workers who assisted with relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.

Special relief for terrorist attacks in Israel

Taxpayers who live or have a business in Israel, Gaza or the West Bank, and certain other taxpayers affected by the terrorist attacks in the State of Israel have until Sept. 30, 2025, to file and pay. This includes all 2023 and 2024 returns.

As part of continuing efforts to help taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service today announced plans to issue automatic payments later this month to eligible people who did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns.

The IRS announced the special step after reviewing internal data showing many eligible taxpayers who filed a return but did not claim the credit. The Recovery Rebate Credit is a refundable credit for individuals who did not receive one or more Economic Impact Payments (EIP), also known as stimulus payments.

No action is needed for eligible taxpayers to receive these payments, which will go out automatically in December and should arrive in most cases by late January 2025. The payments will be automatically direct deposited or sent by paper check; eligible taxpayers will also receive a separate letter notifying them of the payment.

“The IRS continues to work hard to make improvements and help taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “These payments are an example of our commitment to go the extra mile for taxpayers. Looking at our internal data, we realized that one million taxpayers overlooked claiming this complex credit when they were actually eligible. To minimize headaches and get this money to eligible taxpayers, we’re making these payments automatic, meaning these people will not be required to go through the extensive process of filing an amended return to receive it.”

The payments vary depending on several factors, but the maximum payment is $1,400 per individual. The estimated amount of payments going out will be about $2.4 billion.

The IRS also reminded taxpayers who haven’t filed 2021 tax returns they might be eligible as well, but they face an April 15, 2025, deadline to file their returns to claim the credit and any other refund they might be owed.

Most eligible taxpayers already claimed the credit

Most taxpayers eligible for EIPs have already received their EIP or Recovery Rebate Credit.

These December payments for the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit are only going to taxpayers where IRS data demonstrates a taxpayer qualifies for the credit. Qualified taxpayers are those who filed a 2021 tax return, but where the data field for the Recovery Rebate Credit was left blank or was filled out as $0 when the taxpayer was actually eligible for the credit.

How automatic payments work

Taxpayers who qualify but did not claim any portion of the credit on their 2021 tax return should receive these payments by late January 2025. The payment will be sent to the bank account listed on the taxpayer’s 2023 tax return or to the address of record.

An IRS letter will be sent to the taxpayer receiving these 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit payments. If the taxpayer closed their bank account since filing their 2023 tax return, taxpayers do not need to take any action. The bank will return the payment to the IRS and the refund will be reissued to the address of record.

For questions regarding eligibility and how the payment was calculated, see 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit Questions and Answers.

Taxpayers who didn’t file a 2021 tax return may be eligible to claim the credit if they file a return

The IRS reminds taxpayers who have not yet filed their 2021 tax returns that they may be eligible for a refund if they file and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit by the April 15, 2025, deadline.

Eligible taxpayers who did not file must file a tax return to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit, even if their income from a job, business or other source was minimal or non-existent.

Additional information about automatic payments; filing 2021 tax returns

To calculate the amount of Recovery Rebate Credit, taxpayers may access their IRS Online Account to determine the amount they received in Economic Impact Payment(s). See FAQ G2 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit — Topic G: Finding the Third Economic Impact Payment Amount to Calculate the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit and 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit — Topic A: General Information.

Any Recovery Rebate Credit received does not count as income when determining eligibility for federal benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

As the 2025 tax filing season approaches, the IRS is committed to helping taxpayers understand and claim the credits and deductions for which they are eligible including Coronavirus tax relief. Many taxpayers are unaware of tax credits and deductions for which they are eligible or face other barriers keeping them from claiming them. The IRS will be reminding taxpayers about these credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, during the 2025 filing season.

Source: IRS-2024-314, Dec. 20, 2024

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations to update the rules for certain tax professionals who can practice before the IRS; these rules are contained in Treasury Department Circular 230.

The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility generally has responsibility for matters related to practitioner conduct, and exclusive responsibility for discipline, including disciplinary proceedings and sanctions. The proposed regulations, if finalized, would amend Circular 230 in various ways to account for changes in the law and the evolving nature of tax practice.

Among other changes, the proposed regulations would remove or update the parts of Circular 230 related to registered tax return preparers and tax return preparation, as well as contingent fees to reflect changes in the law since the prior amendments to Circular 230 in 2011 and 2014. The proposed regulations would also revise or eliminate other provisions that are out of date.

Additionally, the proposed regulations would incorporate new provisions that better align Circular 230 with the current practice environment, such as requiring that practitioners maintain technological competency as part of their practice before the IRS. The proposed regulations would also clarify some provisions, such as confirming that OPR retains jurisdiction over practitioners who have been suspended or disbarred from practice.

Finally, the proposed regulations would provide rules related to appraisers, including the standards for disqualification.

Source: IRS-2024-315, Dec. 20, 2024