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All good arguments and probably everyone here agrees these things should be done. But most clients? I'm not optimistic.

Ain't it the truth. I'm really going to miss that 2-28 fix-foul-ups time. Sometimes I just give employee copies to the client before 1-31 and keep the red ones myself for error corrections and 2-28 mailing (lots of folks disregard the possibly heavy fines). It's usually all you can do to even get clients' info by 1-31. This may help on ID theft, but I'm pretty sure IRS will appreciate the cash windfall from late filing. I can hear the penalized clients now: "Why didn't you.....?")

I start 1099's and W-2's for my payroll clients on January 2nd (or first business day of the new year). Then e-file them all the last week (time for corrections of any address changes etc., before e-filing). 1099's later in January are for the onesie-twosie folks who still hand-write checks. Then in November or December, I do the prior-year 1099's for the contractor who *always* runs a full year late.... (Yes, I have an email and paper trail asking for the information over and over and warning him of the penalties he will be hit with.) As long as records are electronic, there is no reason to delay these past mid-month. Even for a large company. The key, as Jack noted, is to have COMPETENT people in the accounting department!

Agree. It is 2016. Companies must come up to speed with 21st century technology and business protocols. This will mean that huge numbers of companies will need to hire competent and experienced bookkeepers. When the IRS fines start rolling in, there will be incentives for such a change.

Thank you for the answers. I called the tax practitioner line and since there is no probate and the personal reps will not be court appointed, my mom just needs to sign as surviving spouse on a new POA for her husband. That will make all of our lives much easier. I just want to still have the right to call them and try to get the refund back to her.

Intuit has chosen not to put resources into MAC versions due to the very small number of their clients that use them. Hence the lack of functionality. This should also be a noticeable fact when choosing a new computer. If Intuit barely supports Apple, there must be a major underlying reason. I stand by my recommendations.

If we want the IRS to compare early filed returns to the W2s, then we need the earlier filing date. If payroll is computerized, there's no reason we can't start processing W2s after the final payroll in December.

And there's that one employee who sees their SSN on every check stub for six years and on six W-2s, and never notices it's wrong, and calls me because her tax preparer, who should be ME, caught it in year six, but I digress.

Thank You everyone.

IRS' MeF status page has the information.

From another listserv: On October 24, 2016, the IRS issued a QuickAlert notification to inform the tax industry of the end of year 1040 Modernized Electronic Filing (MeF) production shutdown and cutover to prepare for the start of the Tax Year 2016 Individual Income Tax filing season (2017). Beginning November 30th, 2016, Federal and state Individual Income Tax electronic filing will close and remain unavailable until the start of the tax year 2016 filing season in January 2017. At this time the IRS has not yet announced the Business (return) Modernized e-File production shutdown and cutover schedule. We anticipate the cut-over to impact business returns will begin in late December 2016. For more information on the 1040 shutdown and cut-over continue reading the IRS QuickAlert below, or visit the IRS website.

That seems to be changing with the computers released by both Microsoft and Apple. The Surface PC looks amazing while the latest Mac is disappointing.

"Additional fee for filing prior year tax returns.............. $15.00."

I would never drop my snack but the thought of Form Coconut struck me as the funniest thing I've heard in connection with information returns. I know, the material is unending, but still...

Note: I am extra sensitive to bad information. I hear from employers and others who believe what they have heard, and complain our software does not comply. I then have to be the nit picker who points out the actual rules, which often gets a reply of "so what, X says"... An example is a state where a tax agency has made a request for certain information on a W-2 in box 20, using the word "please", not "required". First problem is the item is not required to be in any particular box, the actual law is the item can appear in "any available" box (yes, that's right, could be in box 1 and still comply). I consider some will believe it is required, and sometimes go along (assuming it is not prohibited) to prevent me from being having to educate all who question the issue. In this case, that is not even an option because what they would "please" like in box 20 will not fit, unless in a 2 or 4 point font, making the request pointless (to make it easier for the employee and preparer to not miss something) I'll take that as a "No." Thanx. P.S. Sorry, but I couldn't resist. And, as a fellow nit-picker surrounded by ingrates, you have my sympathy.

Wasn't the idea for this at least in part a reaction to the increasing number of fraudulent returns being filed? There were several states who started moving up deadlines, now the IRS/SSA has joined in.. Change is never easy, but this is probably a good for all concerned. Might reduce the number of rejected efile's, as well as cut down some fraud. Maybe states will not have to turn off/delay tax processing this year because of high fraud concerns. To me, this is a reasonable change, as it just makes sense the employer report, submitted under penalty of perjury, should be in hand before the return (and possible refund) is processed. Yep, I have sent at least two reminders to our customers, and will probably send a couple more before Jan 31 - change is never easy. Penalty? The penalties were increased (according to the W2 instructions). Failure to file correct information returns by the due date. If you fail to file a correct Form W-2 by the due date and cannot show reasonable cause, you may be subject to a penalty as provided under section 6721. The penalty applies if you: Fail to file timely, Fail to include all information required to be shown on Form W-2, Include incorrect information on Form W-2, File on paper forms when you are required to e-file, Report an incorrect TIN, Fail to report a TIN, or Fail to file paper Forms W-2 that are machine readable. The amount of the penalty is based on when you file the correct Form W-2. Penalties are indexed for inflation. The penalty amounts shown below apply for tax years beginning in 2016. The penalty is: $50 per Form W-2 if you correctly file within 30 days of the due date (for example, by February 28 if the due date is January 31); the maximum penalty is $532,000 per year ($186,000 for small businesses, defined in Small businesses). $100 per Form W-2 if you correctly file more than 30 days after the due date but by August 1; the maximum penalty is $1,596,500 per year ($532,000 for small businesses). $260 per Form W-2 if you file after August 1, do not file corrections, or do not file required Forms W-2; the maximum penalty is $3,193,000 per year ($1,064,000 for small businesses). If you do not file corrections and you do not meet any of the exceptions to the penalty, the penalty is $260 per information return. The maximum penalty is $3,193,000 per year ($1,064,000 for small businesses). Exceptions to the penalty. The following are exceptions to the failure to file correct information returns penalty. CAUTION ! CAUTION ! 1. The penalty will not apply to any failure that you can show was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. In general, you must be able to show that your failure was due to an event beyond your control or due to significant mitigating factors. You also must be able to show that you acted in a responsible manner and took steps to avoid the failure. 2. An inconsequential error or omission is not considered a failure to include correct information. An inconsequential error or omission does not prevent or hinder the SSA/IRS from processing the Form W-2, from correlating the information required to be shown on the form with the information shown on the payee's tax return, or from otherwise putting the form to its intended use. Errors and omissions that are never inconsequential are those relating to: A TIN, A payee's surname, and Any money amounts. 3. De minimis rule for corrections. Even though you cannot show reasonable cause, the penalty for failure to file correct Forms W-2 will not apply to a certain number of returns if you: Filed those Forms W-2 on or before the required filing date, Either failed to include all of the information required on the form or included incorrect information, and Filed corrections of these forms by August 1. If you meet all of the de minimis rule conditions, the penalty for filing incorrect information returns (including Form W-2) will not apply to the greater of 10 information returns (including Form W-2) or one-half of 1% of the total number of information returns (including Form W-2) that you are required to file for the calendar year. 4. Forms W-2 with incorrect dollar amounts may fall under a safe harbor for certain de minimis errors. The safe harbor applies if no single amount in error differs from the correct amount by more than $100 and no single amount reported for tax withheld differs from the correct amount by more than $25. If the safe harbor applies, you will not have to correct the Form W-2 and it will be treated as having been filed with all of the correct required information. However, the safe harbor does not apply if the payee elects to have you issue a corrected return. Small businesses. For purposes of the lower maximum penalties shown in Failure to file correct information returns by the due date, you are a small business if your average annual gross receipts for the 3 most recent tax years (or for the period that you were in existence, if shorter) ending before the calendar year in which the Forms W-2 were due are $5 million or less. Intentional disregard of filing requirements. If any failure to timely file a correct Form W-2 is due to intentional disregard of the filing or correct information requirements, the penalty is at least $530 per Form W-2 with no maximum penal

Pub 523 line 7 does not say you get the full 250K exclusion. After you determine your gain, you need to use the worksheet on pages 15 & 16 to see how much is taxable.

Pondering the issue personally, meaning what would I do if there was an option to truncate? I would not. Why? It is likely the one and only time each year the employee gets the opportunity to make sure the employer has the proper SSN. Not all employers give the employee a chance to verify the SSN in their payroll system before Copy A is submitted.

Just one person's thoughts... If you have an application which is important to you, will it run on an Apple product? If not, and you choose an emulator to try to get it to work, you are using the emulator to pretend you are using a Windows box, negating any perceived or real advantage to using Apple, as well as adding an extra complication and failure point. I do not create software for Apple because so few use them. Probably the same for nefarious programmers as well. But, there are those that do... so the virus argument is invalid. For me, it is never about the OS, the OS is simply a means to get to the application I need or want to use.

I will be passing this additional $5 fee on to my clients as a line item. They need to pay for being late. I have too many of them that are behind through their own fault.

From what I've read re the 1099 deadline, if the 1099 is for box 7, nonemployee compensation then it has a 1/31 deadline. If it is for any other box, then the deadline to the IRS is delayed to February 28, 2017 (paper) or March 31, 2017 (electronic).

Yes. Any praise of the Seahawks and I wing my iPad across the room like a frisbee. I must avoid those sites. The warranty has expired.

But those forums make me cry.

the Jan 31 deadline stinks. we don't even do many payrolls, but it's always a cumbersome task to upload to the SS office, and it never fails - the program doesn't like my browser and I have to download firefox. just don't like the task and have never been ready for W2's any moment earlier than they day they are due. So what's the penalty when everyone misses the deadline? And while I'm at it, let me ask this question - how late can you file 1099s??