Tax

January 10

Employees – who work for tips. If you received $20 or more in tips during December, report them to your employer. You can use Form 4070, Employee’s Report of Tips to Employer.

January 15

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in December 2013.

Individuals – Make a payment of your estimated tax for 2013 if you did not pay your income tax for the year through withholding (or did not pay in enough tax that way). Use Form 1040-ES. This is the final installment date for 2013 estimated tax. However, you do not have to make this payment if you file your 2013 return (Form 1040) and pay any tax due by January 31, 2014.

Employers – Nonpayroll Withholding. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in December 2013.

Farmers and Fisherman – Pay your estimated tax for 2013 using Form 1040-ES. You have until April 15 to file your 2013 income tax return (Form 1040). If you do not pay your estimated tax by January 15, you must file your 2013 return and pay any tax due by March 3, 2014, to avoid an estimated tax penalty.

January 31

Employers – Give your employees their copies of Form W-2 for 2013 by January 31, 2014. If an employee agreed to receive Form W-2 electronically, post it on a website accessible to the employee and notify the employee of the posting by January 31.

Businesses – Give annual information statements to recipients of 1099 payments made during 2013.

Employers – Federal unemployment tax. File Form 940 for 2013. If your undeposited tax is $500 or less, you can either pay it with your return or deposit it. If it is more than $500, you must deposit it. However, if you already deposited the tax for the year in full and on time, you have until February 11 to file the return.

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. File Form 941 for the fourth quarter of 2013. Deposit any undeposited tax. (If your tax liability is less than $2,500, you can pay it in full with a timely filed return.) If you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time, you have until February 10 to file the return.

Employers – Nonpayroll taxes. File Form 945 to report income tax withheld for 2013 on all nonpayroll items, including backup withholding and withholding on pensions, annuities, IRAs, gambling winnings, and payments of Indian gaming profits to tribal members. Deposit any undeposited tax. (If your tax liability is less than $2,500, you can pay it in full with a timely filed return.) If you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time, you have until February 10 to file the return.

Individuals – who must make estimated tax payments. If you did not pay your last installment of estimated tax by January 15, you may choose (but are not required) to file your income tax return (Form 1040) for 2013. Filing your return and paying any tax due by January 31 prevents any penalty for late payment of last installment.

Payers of Gambling Winnings – If you either paid reportable gambling winnings or withheld income tax from gambling winnings, give the winners their copies of Form W-2G.

Certain Small Employers – File Form 944 to report Social Security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax for 2013. Deposit or pay any undeposited tax under the accuracy of deposit rules. If your tax liability is $2,500 or more from 2013 but less than $2,500 for the fourth quarter, deposit any undeposited tax or pay it in full with a timely filed return.

• By Leon Clinton
• January 3, 2014

Did you know that almost everything you own and use for personal or investment purposes is a capital asset? Capital assets include a home, household furnishings and stocks and bonds held in a personal account.

When you sell a capital asset, the difference between the amount you paid for the asset and its sales price is a capital gain or capital loss. Here are 10 facts you should know about how gains and losses can affect your federal income tax return.

1. Almost everything you own and use for personal purposes, pleasure or investment is a capital asset.

2. When you sell a capital asset, the difference between the amount you sell it for and your basis — which is usually what you paid for it — is a capital gain or a capital loss.

3. You must report all capital gains.

4. You may only deduct capital losses on investment property, not on personal-use property.

5. Capital gains and losses are classified as long-term or short-term. If you hold the property more than one year, your capital gain or loss is long-term. If you hold it one year or less, the gain or loss is short-term.

6. If you have long-term gains in excess of your long-term losses, the difference is normally a net capital gain. Subtract any short-term losses from the net capital gain to calculate the net capital gain you must report.

7. The tax rates that apply to net capital gain are generally lower than the tax rates that apply to other income. For 2013, the maximum capital gains rate is 20 percent; however that rate only applies to taxpayers in the highest tax bracket (39.6%) whose income exceeds $400,000 (single filers) or $450,000 (joint filers). Taxpayers in the middle tax brackets pay a maximum of 15 percent. For taxpayers in the lowest tax brackets (under 15%) the rate may be 0 percent on some or all of the net capital gain. Rates of 25 or 28 percent may apply to special types of net capital gain.

8. If your capital losses exceed your capital gains, you can deduct the excess on your tax return to reduce other income, such as wages, up to an annual limit of $3,000, or $1,500 if you are married filing separately.

9. If your total net capital loss is more than the yearly limit on capital loss deductions, you can carry over the unused part to the next year and treat it as if you incurred it in that next year.

10. A new form (Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets) was introduced in 2011 to calculate capital gains and losses and list all capital gain and loss transactions. Subtotals are then carried over to Schedule D (Form 1040), where gain or loss is calculated.

Give us a call us if you need more information about reporting capital gains and losses.

• By Leon Clinton
• December 27, 2013