How long for 1099's
Marc R. Feldesman
I know the law requires that 1099's (of all types) be
post-marked by January 31, 1998. What happens to a
company that doesn't comply with this deadline? If I
make a good faith effort to get a 1099 but the company
doesn't provide it in a timely manner and I don't really
have a reasonable estimate of what might appear on the
form, what is the best strategy to follow (a) with the
company and (b) with the IRS? How long should I wait
before proceeding without the form?
--
Dr. Marc R. Feldesman
felde...@pdx.edu
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work.
I want to achieve it by not dying". (Yeah, when pigs fly)
Edward Zollars
"Marc R. Feldesman" <feld...@ibm.net> wrote:
> I know the law requires that 1099's (of all types) be
> post-marked by January 31, 1998. What happens to a
> company that doesn't comply with this deadline?
Generally not much as long as they file with the IRS by
the due date (which will be the end of February). If
they don't file 1099's at all, they may be subject to
penalties.
> If I
> make a good faith effort to get a 1099 but the company
> doesn't provide it in a timely manner and I don't really
> have a reasonable estimate of what might appear on the
> form, what is the best strategy to follow (a) with the
> company and (b) with the IRS? How long should I wait
> before proceeding without the form?
You actually have a problem here, since officially you
are required to keep "adequate books and records"
(assuming this is a 1099-MISC) for your return. You
would need to reconstruct your information as best you
can (from bank statements and the like) and then file by
the due date of the return.
With the company, about all you can do is keep bugging
them for a 1099. With the IRS, I'm not sure I'd do
anything--calling up the IRS and telling them you have
no clue what your income is probably isn't the smartest
move you could make <grin>. If this was a W-2 the issue
would be different, since withholdings would be reported
on the form (and you'd need the form to claim those
withholdings).
---
Ed Zollars, CPA Phoenix, AZ
ezo...@primenet.com
http://www.getnet.com/~hmtzcpas
Jonathan I. Kamens
"Marc R. Feldesman" <feld...@ibm.net> writes:
> If I make a good faith effort to get a 1099 but the
> company doesn't provide it in a timely manner and I
> don't really have a reasonable estimate of what might
> appear on the form, what is the best strategy to
> follow (a) with the company and (b) with the IRS?
And on a similar topic, what's the procedure for filing
a complaint against a company which sends out W-2 forms
after the deadline? My former employer appears to have
done it this year (of course, I may still get the W-2 in
the mail today or tomorrow, but I doubt it), for the
second year in a row. Last year, I couldn't make a fuss
because it's not a good idea to antagonize the people
paying your salary, but I think someone should make them
understand that they can't ignore the regulations with
impunity, and now that I don't work for them anymore,
I'm willing for that someone to be me :-).
Colin L. Whipple
Marc R. Feldesman wrote:
> I know the law requires that 1099's (of all types) be
> post-marked by January 31, 1998. What happens to a
> company that doesn't comply with this deadline? If I
> make a good faith effort to get a 1099 but the company
> doesn't provide it in a timely manner and I don't really
> have a reasonable estimate of what might appear on the
> form, what is the best strategy to follow (a) with the
> company and (b) with the IRS? How long should I wait
> before proceeding without the form?
Call the company and ask when the form will be sent to
you. I would make the first phone call about 5 days
after the deadline. Since the deadline fell on a
weekend this year, I would call around Friday of this
week.
You really should have a close estimate of what amount
will appear on the form. Even a small business should
be keeping track of cash receipts. If you don't, you
could have significant problems if you are audited.
Colin Whipple, CPA
Rich Carreiro
Marc R. Feldesman <felde...@pdx.edu> wrote:
> I know the law requires that 1099's (of all types) be
> post-marked by January 31, 1998. What happens to a
Minor nit -- because January 31, 1998 was not a business
day, companies have until February 2, 1998 to get those
buggers out the door.
--
Rich Carreiro
rlc...@animato.pn.com
P5-100/RedHat Linux 4.1
Edward Zollars
j...@kamens.brookline.ma.us (Jonathan I. Kamens) wrote:
> And on a similar topic, what's the procedure for filing
> a complaint against a company which sends out W-2 forms
> after the deadline?
The hitch is generally you can't do much until
mid-February. As I recall, only at that point will
the IRS listen to complaints about missing W-2's
and try to take some action to shake them loose.
Marc Feldesman
Colin L. Whipple wrote in message
> You really should have a close estimate of what amount
> will appear on the form. Even a small business should
> be keeping track of cash receipts. If you don't, you
> could have significant problems if you are audited.
We aren't talking about a 1099-MISC. We are talking
about a 1099-R involving the inheritance of an annuity
following the death of my wife's father. We don't have
a clue how much of the annuity paid out was principal
(for which taxes have already been paid) and how much
represented accrued interest on the annuity. We got a
letter with the check saying that we would get a 1099-R,
but the company never told us how much of what we
received would be taxable. The company has been
unresponsive so far. We tried to get an estimate
earlier in the year so that we could anticipate the tax
burden and pay estimated taxes. Four phone calls netted
us exactly zero information.
We haven't received the 1099 yet. We already got
today's (2/2) mail. I now realize that they can still
postmark it by midnight tonight and be in compliance
with the law, but I am frankly clueless about the amount
of money involved. It could literally be anywhere from
$10 to a maximum of $9300 (the amount of annuity
proceeds).
Thanks for the information.
Jonathan I. Kamens
ezo...@primenet.com (Edward Zollars) writes:
> The hitch is generally you can't do much until
> mid-February. As I recall, only at that point will
> the IRS listen to complaints about missing W-2's
> and try to take some action to shake them loose.
While I want to get my hands on my W-2, I expect that my
former employer will get their act together and send it
out in the next week or so. Therefore, that is not the
primary motivation behind my desire to file a complaint.
My primary motivation is that they've sent out W-2's
late several times, and it's rude, not to mention
illegal. It seems to me that they won't stop doing it
until they become convinced that it has negative
repercussions, e.g., being fined by the IRS. Now that
I'm no longer working for them, I don't have to worry
about antagonizing them, so I want to cause some of
those negative repercussions to manifest themselves, to
benefit the people who *are* still working for them,
some of whom are my friends.
Are you saying that the IRS won't bother to fine
companies in response to complaints after the fact that
they distributed W-2's late? I find that hard to
believe, given (a) fines are a lucrative source of
income for the IRS, (b) this is an easy, cut-and-dry
fine they don't have to do any work to prove, and (c) if
they don't fine companies that ignore the deadline, more
and more companies will miss the deadline, and then
they'll have to deal with even more complaints.
Edward Zollars
"Marc Feldesman" <felde...@pdx.edu> wrote:
> We haven't received the 1099 yet. We already got
> today's (2/2) mail. I now realize that they can still
> postmark it by midnight tonight and be in compliance
> with the law, but I am frankly clueless about the amount
> of money involved. It could literally be anywhere from
> $10 to a maximum of $9300 (the amount of annuity
> proceeds).
Did your wife's father take any distributions prior to
his death? That is, does 1996's return show a
distribution from this annuity and does it show a
proration of total and taxable distributions? That
might give some clue about what kind of investment
existed.
Otherwise, you'll need to gather what information you
can about this annuity--such as, did he acquire it
recently, or is it one he held for a long time before
taking distributions? If the latter, it's very likely
the vast majority of the distributions will be taxable
earnings rather than a return of basis.
If it was recently acquired, you might dig through the
records you have (like cancelled checks) to see if you
can find the purchase of the annuity.
Edward Zollars
j...@kamens.brookline.ma.us (Jonathan I. Kamens) wrote:
> Are you saying that the IRS won't bother to fine
> companies in response to complaints after the fact that
> they distributed W-2's late?
Basically, I've never seen them do it. The problem is
that it would be difficult to prove and I don't even
recall a fine that the IRS has the ability to impose in
this case.
> I find that hard to
> believe, given (a) fines are a lucrative source of
> income for the IRS, (b) this is an easy, cut-and-dry
> fine they don't have to do any work to prove, and (c) if
> they don't fine companies that ignore the deadline, more
> and more companies will miss the deadline, and then
> they'll have to deal with even more complaints.
There is work for them to do--they would have to prove a
late filing. The evidence exists *outside* their system
(since this is a document that doesn't go directly
through the IRS)--remember that the employer doesn't
need to file with SSA until the end of February (or
actually March 2 this year). There's also the problem
of false complaints--that is, employee who have W-2's
that have been lost in the mail or who are just trying
to stir up trouble with a former employer (and, yes,
that group does exist).
So that means that the practical deadline for sending
out W-2's is mid-February if an employer decided to
abuse the system. Note that most won't for the same
reason you mention--holding on to the W-2's does nothing
to help the employer and will generate a flood of calls
when the deadline passes. In essence, it's the last
thing most employers would *want* to do.