Key points to payroll filing accuracy

A key to managing your payroll efficiently and avoiding unnecessary IRS penalties is strictly adhering to deadlines and ensuring your documents are filed accurately. In a recent article published by INTUIT, “The Top 10 Payroll Mistakes…and What to Look Out For”, #3 was listed as Missing Tax Deposit and Filing Deadlines. According to Intuit, if you are not focused on your deadlines, one of them will bite you sooner or later.  And in this case, a “bite” means a hefty penalty for late payment or reporting. There are considerable penalties for missing the deadlines for depositing your payroll taxes and filing the required reports. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) statistics, approximately 33 percent of employers make payroll mistakes that end up costing them billions of dollars in fines each year.

Tax amendments and penalties can incur when you missed a filing deadline, therefore, it is imperative to act fast when you discover a deadline has been missed. Payroll Administration can be a very complex process and keeping up with the ever changing laws and regulations as it relates to payroll can be a headache on its own. However, as a payroll administrator, you must simply know the deadlines.  In a seven-part series for small business owners looking to avoid making payroll mistakes, Shalleen Mayes offer the six tips below to help avoid the mistake of missing payroll tax deadlines (2013):

• Get organized.  The IRS has a tool calendar Calendar Connector to help you remember federal tax deadlines
• Register for EFTPS when you start your business at www.eftps.gov
• Initiate your tax payments through EFTPS well ahead of the due date
• Indicate the proper tax period when paying taxes. If you select the wrong tax period, the government may apply your payment to the wrong quarter
• Double-check mailing addresses for other tax payments, and opt for a return receipt to you know your payment has safely arrived.
• Consider using a payroll tax filing service so you don’t have to worry about deadlines.

Looking for peace of mind? If you are simply unable to keep up with the many payroll deadlines – federal, state, county, and municipal tax deposits and tax filing deadlines throughout the year.  It may be a good time to consider outsourcing this piece of the pie to a company that specializes in payroll administration and one that will take on the full responsibility of ensuring accuracy and timeliness in your filings. This will ensure that you can focus your time and energy on growing your business; and not worrying about a missed payroll deadline.

LUXA offers payroll solutions and outsourcing support for small business owners in the immediate Tulsa and surrounding business community. 

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