Tax Season’s Almost Here!

With only two short weeks left in the year, it’s time to play Pick that Stressor! Would you rather focus on your un-finished Christmas shopping, the holiday parties ruining your New Year’s Resolution diet prep, or the upcoming tax filing season today?

*Waits patiently with an obnoxiously goofy grin.*

We hope you said tax season, because that’s what we’re the best at handling!

To take on your 2015 tax filing stress in the new year, you’ll need these three key pieces of knowledge:

Know Your Deadlines
Conveniently, 1099s, W-2s, and the Affordable Care Act forms all have the same due dates each year. Knowing this will make it easier to stay ahead of the game, so long as you can make it past the Pit of Procrastination!

• February 1, 2016 – The date by which copies of these information returns will need to be sent to your recipients (normally it’s the last day of January, but that’s a Sunday in 2016).
• February 29, 2016 – The date by which these information returns will need to be sent to the IRS if you’re paper filing.
• March 31, 2016 – The date by which these information returns will need to be sent to the IRS if you’re e-filing.

Know What You Need
The first step to filing your information returns is gathering your information. Each form requires different financial information be reported to the IRS. And just like you wouldn’t go headfirst against the Tables of Tension without a helmet, you shouldn’t start filing until you’ve armed yourself with the proper information.

• 1099s – For most 1099 forms, you’ll need the name, EIN, and address of the payer; the name, SSN/TIN, and address of the payee; and amounts paid to the payee (at least $10 in royalties and/or at least $600 in rents, services, etc.) along with taxes withheld during the tax year.
• W-2s – To prepare for W-2s, you’ll need the employer’s EIN and contact information, the employee’s SSN and contact information, and detailed information related to any salary or wages paid to the employee along with taxes withheld throughout the year.
• 1095s – For the ACA Forms, the information you need is the name, EIN, and contact information of the filer; the name, SSN/DOB, and contact information for the recipient/employee; and information about the healthcare coverage offered and received by the employee/recipient broken down by month.

If even your best attempts to beat your tax stress game have left you in the Chasm of Confusion, know that you’ve got a life-line: ExpressIRSForms. Think of it as ExpressTaxFilings 2.0. We’ll guide you through your forms in our user-friendly program with help text and error checks — just like you’re used to with ETF. And if you hit a snag, you can give us a call. We’ll be happy to help you to the finish line!

So now that you’ve beaten the category of Tax Filing Season Stress, you’re on your way to knocking out the rest of that year-end stress and taking home the grand prize of surviving another year!

(And, like we said before, we’re here to help: give us a call — or send us a live chat — Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, or send us an email 24/7 at support@expressirsforms.com!)