Tax

February 10

Employers – Federal unemployment tax. File Form 940 for 2013. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. File Form 941 for the fourth quarter of 2013. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time.

Farm Employers – File Form 943 to report Social Security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax for 2013. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.

Certain Small Employers – File Form 944 to report Social Security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax for 2013. This tax due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.

Employers – Nonpayroll taxes. File Form 945 to report income tax withheld for 2013 on all nonpayroll items. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.

Employees – who work for tips. If you received $20 or more in tips during January, report them to your employer. You can use Form 4070.

February 18

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in January.

Employers – Nonpayroll withholding. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in January.

Individuals – If you claimed exemption from income tax withholding last year on the Form W-4 you gave your employer, you must file a new Form W-4 by this date to continue your exemption for another year.

February 19

Employers – Begin withholding income tax from the pay of any employee who claimed exemption from withholding in 2013, but did not give you a new Form W-4 to continue the exemption this year.

February 28

Businesses – File information returns (Form 1099) for certain payments you made during 2013. There are different forms for different types of payments. Use a separate Form 1096 to summarize and transmit the forms for each type of payment. See the 2013 Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G for information on what payments are covered, how much the payment must be before a return is required, what form to use, and extensions of time to file.

If you file Forms 1098, 1099, or W-2G electronically (not by magnetic media), your due date for filing them with the IRS will be extended to March 31. The due date for giving the recipient these forms is still January 31.

Payers of Gambling Winnings – File Form 1096, Annual Summary and transmittal of U.S. Information Returns, along with Copy A of all the Forms W-2G you issued for 2013. If you file Forms W-2G electronically (not by magnetic tape), your due date for filing them with the IRS will be extended to March 31. The due date for giving the recipient these forms remains January 31.

Employers – File Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, along with Copy A of all the Forms W-2 you issued for 2013.

If you file Forms W-2 electronically (not by magnetic media), your due date for filing them with the SSA will be extended to March 31. The due date for giving the recipient these forms is still January 31.

Employers – with employees who work for tips. File Form 8027, Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips. Use Form 8027-T, Transmittal of Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips, to summarize and transmit Forms 8027 if you have more than one establishment. If you file Forms 8027 electronically (not by magnetic tape), your due date for filing them with the IRS will be extended to March 31.

• By Leon Clinton
• February 4, 2014

Low and moderate-income workers still have time to make qualifying retirement contributions and get the saver’s credit on their 2013 tax return.

Also known as the retirement savings contributions credit, the saver’s credit is available in addition to any other tax savings that apply and helps offset part of the first $2,000 workers voluntarily contribute to IRAs and to 401(k) plans and similar workplace retirement programs.

The saver’s credit supplements other tax benefits available to people who set money aside for retirement. Taxpayers have until April 15, 2014, to set up a new individual retirement arrangement or add money to an existing IRA for 2013.

Most workers may deduct their contributions to a traditional IRA. Though Roth IRA contributions are not deductible, qualifying withdrawals, usually after retirement, are tax-free. Normally, contributions to 401(k) and similar workplace plans are not taxed until withdrawn.

Note: Elective deferrals (contributions) must have been made by the end of the year to a 401(k) plan or similar workplace program, such as a 403(b) plan for employees of public schools and certain tax-exempt organizations, a governmental 457 plan for state or local government employees, and the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees.

The saver’s credit can be claimed by:

• Married couples filing jointly with incomes up to $60,000 in 2014;
• Heads of Household with incomes up to $45,000 in 2014; and
• Married individuals filing separately and singles with incomes up to $30,000 in 2014.

The saver’s credit can increase a taxpayer’s refund or reduce the tax owed. The maximum saver’s credit is $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples and is based on filing status, adjusted gross income, tax liability and amount contributed to qualifying retirement programs.

Other special rules that apply to the saver’s credit include the following:

• Eligible taxpayers must be at least 18 years of age.
• Anyone claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return cannot take the credit.
• A student cannot take the credit. A person enrolled as a full-time student during any part of 5 calendar months during the year is considered a student.

In tax-year 2011, the most recent year for which complete figures are available, saver’s credits totaling just over $1.1 billion were claimed on nearly 6.4 million individual income tax returns. Saver’s credits claimed on these returns averaged $215 for joint filers, $166 for heads of household and $128 for single filers.

Please call us if you have any questions about the saver’s credit. We’re here to assist you.

• By Leon Clinton
• January 15, 2014

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) used for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes is:

• 56 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 23.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

The business, medical, and moving expense rates decrease one-half cent from the 2013 rates. The charitable rate remains unchanged from 2013 and is based on statute.

The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, whereas the rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs.

As always, taxpayers have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates; however, a taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. In addition, the business standard mileage rate cannot be used for more than four vehicles used simultaneously.

Let us know if you have any questions about standard mileage rates and which driving activities you should keep track of as tax year 2014 begins.

• By Leon Clinton
• January 10, 2014