| While the middle of January may seem a bit early to | | | | Copy A of the 1099-MISC form is intended for the IRS. |
| beginthinking about taxes, 1099-MISC filing deadlines | | | | Youare required to file it by February 28, 2005 if you |
| are loomingfor businesses. Generally speaking, IRS | | | | aresending the form by mail. If you prefer to |
| 1099-MISC is theform used to report miscellaneous | | | | fileelectronically, you have until March 31, 2005 to file |
| income that you paid topersons during 2004 in the | | | | theform. |
| course of your trade or business. | | | | Revealing a particular flair for red tape, the IRS |
| Does This Apply To My Business? | | | | requiresyou to file an additional form if you are filing |
| The 1099-MISC forms must be issued to any person | | | | Copy A ofthe 1099-MISC by mail. In such a situation, |
| that youhave paid at least $600 in rents, services or | | | | you must file an |
| other incomepayments. Typically, you should issue the | | | | "Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information |
| form to anyindependent contractor that you paid $600 | | | | Returns"form. This summary is better known as Form |
| to during 2004. | | | | 1096 and youshould have already received a copy of |
| For example, if you paid a designer $1,500 to build | | | | it in the mail fromthe IRS. |
| andmaintain a website in 2004 for your business, a | | | | Where To Find These Forms |
| 1099-MISCfiling would be required. As with practically | | | | To the surprise of many people, the IRS has an |
| any IRSfiling, there are additional situations that require | | | | excellentwebsite containing information and tax forms. |
| a 1099filing [ex: any fishing boat proceeds], so make | | | | Unfortunately,the site is fairly useless when it comes to |
| sure youcover your bases by looking at the relevant | | | | obtaining taxforms that you can actually file. You |
| instructions. | | | | cannot download anduse any 1099 form from the |
| Generally, you are not required to report payments to | | | | website. If you try to printforms from the site and use |
| acorporation. | | | | them, you run into two problems. |
| When and What Must Be Filed? | | | | First, the IRS computers will not be able to read the |
| The 1099-MISC form is a multi-layered carbon form, so | | | | formsand will reject them. Second, it is doubtful that |
| makesure the information you provide appears clearly | | | | you willbe printing on multi-layered carbon paper, which |
| on all ofthe copies. Once you have filled out the form, | | | | means youwill have no Copy B of the 1099. Obviously, |
| you mustprovide Copy B to the person that you are | | | | either situationcan attract unwanted attention from the |
| reporting to the | | | | IRS. |
| IRS by January 31, 2005. Using our previous example, | | | | You can order forms from the IRS by calling |
| youwould mail Copy B to your website designer | | | | 1-800-tax-formor ordering them off of the IRS website |
| before the end of | | | | [do not download]. |
| January. | | | | |