First Quarter Tax Calendar

January 31 — File 2021 Forms W-2 (“Wage and Tax Statement”) with the Social Security Administration and provide copies to employees.

  • File 2021 Forms 1099-NEC (“Nonemployee Compensation”) (paper or electronic) reporting nonemployee compensation payments to the IRS and provide copies to recipients, along with a related Form 1096 (“Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns”) to the IRS.
  • Most employers must file Form 941 (“Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return”) to report Medicare, Social Security and income taxes withheld in the fourth quarter of 2021. 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 who have an estimated annual employment tax liability of $1,000 or less may be eligible to file Form 944 (“Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return”).
  • File Form 940* (“Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment [FUTA] Tax Return”) for 2021. If your undeposited tax is $500 or less, you can either pay it with your return or deposit it. If it’s more than $500, you must deposit it. However, if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time, you have until February 10 to file the return.
  • File Form 943* (“Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees”) to report Social Security, Medicare and withheld income taxes for 2021. 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.
  • File Form 945* (“Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax”) for 2021 to report income tax withheld on all nonpayroll items, including backup withholding and withholding on pensions, annuities, IRAs, etc. 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.

February 28 — File 2021 Form 1099-MISC (“Miscellaneous Income”) reporting certain payments to certain persons and provide copies to recipients, along with a related Form 1096 (“Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns”) to the IRS.

March 15* — 2021 tax returns must be filed or extended for calendar-year partnerships and S corporations. If the return isn’t extended, this is also the last day for those types of entities to make 2021 contributions to pension and profit-sharing plans.

 

*Reminder: Due to the devastating storms that took place on December 10, 2021 in the area, both the IRS & the State of Illinois have made an extension of business tax returns to May 16, 2022, for the following counties: Bond, Cass, Coles, Effingham, Fayette, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, and Shelby.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your trusted Scheffel Boyle team member. We are always here to help!

Possible Tax Refund Delays this Season

Last week, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins gave her annual tax filing season report to Congress on the 2021 tax year.

With 77% of individual taxpayers receiving tax refunds last year alone, tens of millions of taxpayers saw delays in processing their tax returns. According to both the IRS and the Treasury Department, similar or even worse delays are expected to happen this year as well due to staffing shortages stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and budget cuts, along with new tax relief measures.

Since last tax season, the IRS is still dealing with millions of unprocessed tax returns, particularly the ones that arrived on paper. Collins said before Congress, “Paper is the IRS’s Kryptonite, and the agency is still buried in it.”

With many taxpayers still waiting for their refunds from nine months ago, Collins’ report indicates that the IRS still has backlogs of 6 million unprocessed original individual returns (Forms 1040), 2.3 million unprocessed amended individual returns (Forms 1040-X), more than 2 million unprocessed employer’s quarterly tax returns (Forms 941 and 941-X), and about 5 million pieces of taxpayer correspondence.

While electronically filed returns are considered far better than paper returns, there have been millions of them suspended during processing due to discrepancies between the amounts reflected on IRS records and amounts claimed on the returns. Also, when a taxpayer disagreed with an error notice, their response went into the IRS’s paper processing backlog, further delaying the refund.

Collins’ report also stated that the two types of IRS help, “Where’s My Refund?” app and telephone service haven’t provided all the answers. The app doesn’t give information on unprocessed returns, and it doesn’t explain any status delays, the reasons for the delays, where returns stand in the processing pipeline, or what actions taxpayers should take, if any. For their telephone service, only about 11% of the 282 million calls were answered, having an average wait time of at least 23 minutes. From this, most callers could not obtain answers to their tax law questions, get help with account problems, or speak with a customer service representative about a compliance notice.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your trusted Scheffel Boyle team member. We will continue to monitor this as the 2021 filing season progresses. We are always here to help!

Announcing 4 New CPAs at Scheffel Boyle

Scheffel Boyle CPAs is pleased to announce that four accountants throughout their offices have officially earned their CPA designation. Kara Evans, Jett Durr, Paige Phelps, and Noah Feldmeier have all passed the four parts of the AICPA’s administered CPA exam. They are now among over 40 Certified Public Accountants working throughout Scheffel Boyle’s seven offices.

Kara graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) with her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in 2018, then with her Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) in 2019. She joined the Scheffel Boyle team in 2018 and is currently a Senior Accountant in the firm’s Jerseyville office.

Jett graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) with his Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Finance Specialization in 2019. He joined the Scheffel Boyle team in 2020 and is currently a Semi-Senior Accountant in the firm’s Edwardsville office.

Paige graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) with her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in 2017, then with her Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) in 2018. She joined the Scheffel Boyle team in 2019 and is currently a Senior Accountant in the firm’s Edwardsville office.

Noah graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) with his Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in 2017, then with his Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) in 2018. He joined the Scheffel Boyle team in 2017 and is currently a Supervisor in the firm’s Columbia office.

Scheffel Boyle CPAs Named “Best Accountant” by The Telegraph

We are pleased to announce that The Telegraph’s “Best of the Best” has named Scheffel Boyle CPAs as “Best Accountant” in Madison County and the Riverbend! As always, we would not be here without our clients and surrounding communities. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us!

You can find the article here: https://www.thetelegraph.com/…/Best-of-the-Best-of…

Announcing 2021 Promotions

We are pleased to announce the recent promotion of 27 professionals throughout our 7 offices! On behalf of our firm, we would like to wish all those who were promoted the best of luck in their new roles.

Supervisor: Tyler Jackson, Nick Hoff, Katelin Feldmann, Brad Spotanski, Andrew Patterson, Justin Goode, Michael Kanallakan, Travis Wellen, Taylor Jarvis & Noah Feldmeier

Senior: Alex Hoffman, Sydney Boschert, Jordan Vonder Haar, Paige Phelps, Kara Evans, Chloe Brock, Alex Stoff & Lauren Nettles

Semi-Senior: Jessica Lake, Julia Carroll, Megan Messer, Jett Durr, Zeke Cassidy, Evan Tyson, Emma Gregowicz, Jason Dempsey Jr. & Taylor Townsend

Announcing 3 New Principals

Congratulations to our 3 recently promoted principals!

HIGHLAND – Scheffel Boyle CPAs is pleased to announce the promotion of Michael D. Ulrich, CPA to Principal. Michael joined the company in 2010. He is a senior leader on the Agribusiness Team, and also specializes in accounting and tax services for construction and privately held businesses.

Michael graduated with both his B.S. and M.S.A. from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and earned his CPA designation in 2010. He is active in the St. Louis Agribusiness Club, Equipment Dealers Association, SIBA, and AGC, as well as in his local community of Highland, Illinois.

 

ALTON – Scheffel Boyle CPAs is pleased to announce the promotion of Robyn M. Klingler, CPA to Principal. Robyn joined the firm’s Alton office in 2003. She is a valuable member of our A&A Quality Control Team and specializes in audit and assurance practices, particularly for governmental clients, school districts, and for-profit entities. Robyn is also responsible for providing in-house training and continuing education for our team.

Robyn graduated with her B.S. from the University of Illinois and earned her CPA designation in 1998. She is a recipient of the Carrollton High School Alumnus Award and a well-respected member of her local community of Carrollton, Illinois.

 

EDWARDSVILLE – Scheffel Boyle CPAs is pleased to announce the promotion of Michael T. Brokering, CPA, CVA to Principal. Michael joined the firm’s Edwardsville office in October 2012. He is a senior leader on the Business Valuation Team, and also specializes in accounting and tax services for employee benefit plans, governmental and nonprofit agencies, and a variety of privately held businesses.

Michael graduated with his B.S. from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and earned his CPA designation in 1999 and his Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation in 2007. He is active in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce and various other local organizations.

Two Important IRS Letters to be Sent this Month

If you were eligible for the third stimulus check or the advanced child tax credit payments in 2021, you need to be on the lookout for two letters from the IRS. They will be arriving by the end of January 2022.

 

2021 Economic Impact Payment (Third Stimulus Check)

People who received the third stimulus check will receive Letter 6475 from the IRS.

This will help them determine what the taxpayer received and if they qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns.

“Letter 6475 only applies to the third round of Economic Impact Payments that was issued starting in March 2021 and continued through December 2021,” the IRS said on its website.

 

Advance Child Tax Credit Payment

Families who received advance child tax credit payments in 2021 will receive Letter 6419 from the IRS.

This letter will tell eligible families how much of the credit they have received so far and the number of qualifying children that was used to calculate that amount. From this, the taxpayer will be able to determine out how much of a tax credit to claim on their tax returns this year.

Monthly payments that were sent to millions of families with eligible children from July to December only accounted for half of the credit. Now, those who got the money need to show what they received to make sure they get any remaining credit on their 2021 tax return if applicable.

If taxpayers don’t receive the letter, they can also go to the IRS CTC Update Portal to see how much they’ve received.

As of right now, the monthly advance child tax credit payments are not set to continue in 2022.

If you receive these letters, please hold on to them and provide them to your tax preparer with your other 2021 tax documents.

 

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your trusted Scheffel Boyle team member. We are always here to help!