There are quite a few Payroll changes coming in 2017 – and you need to know about two major ones right away. The first is a fairly major change to the due date for employers to file:
- W-2’s and their accompanying W-3 forms, and
- 1099’s and their accompanying 1096 forms
In previous years, the deadline has been January 31
st for mailing the employee/vendor copy, and then the employer had until the end of March (if you were filing electronically) to file their copies with the Federal Government.
The new due date for the employer to get their copies to the Federal Government is now January 31st – regardless of whether you’re filing electronically or not. The IRS has been proposing this change for years, and it actually does make sense. Many employees file their tax returns before the Federal Government can cross check the employee figures with the employer figures. Apparently, the historical two-month delay between the two due dates has resulted in tax fraud and identity theft.