BUSINESS MILEAGE RATE FOR 2024

The standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service is 67 cents per mile for 2024, an increase of 1.5 cents from the 2023 rate.

The business mileage rate is used by taxpayers claiming a mileage deduction for a vehicle they own or lease. Businesses also use this rate to reimburse their employees for business miles driven on the employee’s car.

JANUARY 31ST IMPORTANT TAX FILING DEADLINE FOR EMPLOYERS

If your business paid employees or independent contractors in 2023, there are several important tax documents that should be filed by 1/31/24:

  • Form RT-6 – Florida Reemployment Tax (also called Florida/state unemployment tax or SUTA) Florida employers must file an RT-6 form with the Florida Department of Revenue every quarter to pay state reemployment tax on the wages paid to employees during the prior quarter. Forms are due to the Department of Revenue by the end of the month following each calendar quarter. The first report for a calendar year is due April 30th and the last report for that year is due January 31st of the following year.

    The RT-6 form due January 31, 2024 is for your company’s payroll for the last quarter of 2023. Your business may owe very little or even no tax with this report because reemployment tax is collected only on the first $7,000 of wages paid to each employee during a calendar year. If you did not hire new employees in the last quarter of 2023, you may have already paid all the reemployment tax your business owes for 2023.

    Even if your business owes no reemployment tax, you still must file the RT-6 form. A Florida RT-6 form is required every quarter, even if there is no tax due.
     
  • Form 941 – Federal Payroll Tax Employers must file a 941 form with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) every quarter to report employee wages for the prior quarter and to report the amounts withheld from employee wages for federal income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax. Forms are due to the IRS by the end of the month following each calendar quarter. The first report for a calendar year is due April 30th and the last report for that year is due January 31st of the following year.

    Even though the forms have to be filed quarterly, businesses are required to send the actual payroll taxes collected from employees to the IRS more frequently. The IRS has rules that determine your depositing schedule – either monthly or semiweekly, depending on how much your prior year’s tax liability was. While the last 941 of 2023 is due to the IRS by January 31, 2024, the payroll taxes were due periodically throughout 2023.
     
  • Form 940 – Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)  Employers pay both state and federal unemployment tax. Like the reemployment tax in Florida, the federal unemployment tax is charged only on the first $7,000 of wages your business pays to an employee during a calendar year. And because employers get credit for the amount of state reemployment tax paid during the year, your business may end up owing little to no federal unemployment tax each year.

    The due date for filing Form 940 is January 31st but if you deposited all your FUTA tax when it was due during 2023, the deadline for the 940 is extended to February 12, 2024. The IRS encourages businesses to file their 940 electronically.
     
  • Form W-2 – Wages Paid to Employees  Each January, employers must prepare a Form W-2 for each employee the business paid wages to during the prior year. The W-2 shows the total wages paid to the employee as well as the amount of income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax withheld from the employee’s paycheck.

    The W-2 has several pages, all with the same information.Employers file Copy A of the W-2 with the Social Security Administration and give Copies B and C of the W-2 to the employee by January 31st so they can use it to file their taxes. Keep copy D for your records.
     
  • Form 1099-NEC – Amounts Paid to Non-Employees  Businesses must prepare a Form 1099-NEC for each independent contractor (individuals, not companies) paid at least $600 for work in 2023. [In most circumstances, a business does not issue a 1099 to corporations or limited liability companies (LLCs) that are treated as a C or S corporation for federal tax purposes.]

    Businesses file Copy A of each 1099 with the IRS and give copy B to the independent contractor by January 31st so they can use it to file their taxes. Keep Copy C for your records.

New electronic filing requirement for W-2s and 1099s this year:  If your business issues 10 or more W-2s and/or 1099s (added together), they must be sent electronically to the government. You cannot send in paper copies. File W-2 forms with the SSA through the SSA website. File 1099 forms with the IRS through the IRS website.

Special note on filing paper W-2 and 1099 forms:  If your business issues fewer than 10 W-2s and/or 1099s (added together) and you choose to file paper copies of these forms with the government, DO NOT print Copy A of these forms from the IRS website and mail them in. The SSA and the IRS will only accept official versions of these forms that are printed in red and you may be penalized if you do not mail the official version of the form. The forms in red ink are available from the IRS, your local accountant or tax professional, accounting software systems like Quickbooks, and office supply stores.

This is a very oversimplified explanation of general tax filings for businesses. For details or for specific questions about your business, please consult your local tax professional or accountant.