Visually Exploring the Tax Calendar

While each new year brings changes to every industry, one thing remains: taxes. This is certainly not the most glamorous aspect of business financing but keeping up with taxes and deadlines is crucial for a smooth tax season. When it comes to Startups, C-Corps, Partnerships and S-Corps there are some important tax calendar deadlines to keep in mind in order to make your startup’s 2023 taxes less stressful. 

By January 31st, forms pertaining to employment and contracting, such as forms W-2 and W-3, should be completed as well as paper filings for forms 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC and 1099-K. Forms concerning real estate and other property transactions as well as 1099-DIV and reporting dividends are due at the end of February. If you live or have a company incorporated in the state of Delaware you also need to be aware of another looming deadline specific to this state.The Delaware Franchise Annual Report and Tax due is due on March 1st and is calculated by shares issued and assets at the year end.

The month of March holds many other important tax dates. If you are looking for an extension for S-Corp or Partnership the date to file for it is March 15. Filing by this date is important in order to avoid any penalties that would accumulate per-partner and per monthly basis. Another notable March date is the 31 which is the e-Filing deadline for most payout information returns including 1097, 1098 and 1099s. 

April is highlighted by the famous Tax Day on the 18th and if you need an extension they need to be requested on this date as well. The April 18th tax date is typically the main date an average person remembers and is also the date they assume signals no longer needing to pay attention to tax deadlines but for Startups it’s only the beginning of the current year’s taxes timetable.

Moving on into May the 31st brings an important deadline for companies with 10% or more foreign ownership: BE-12. For Delaware the due date for limited liability corporations(LLC) franchise annual fee is June 1st. By mid June the Quarter 2 estimated tax payments are also due.  

With the seasons changing into fall Quarter 3 estimated tax payments are due on September 15th, with extended returns from forms 1040 and 1120 due October 16th. Although this is the federal due date, Cleer Tax recommends these extended returns be done by September 22nd. Finally, the last big deadline for 2023 comes on December 16th for Quarter 4 estimated tax payments. If all of these tax dates are followed you will have made it through the year without any penalties and are ready to start the 2024 tax season. 

When operating a start-up, or any business operation, it is important to develop a functioning tax calendar in order to stay out of trouble with the IRS. This overview can allow you to focus on your business strategy more and to hopefully stress less about taxes. When you have a solid plan in place, hitting all the tax dates can feel like milestones instead of dread.