Year end & tax season
Year End Through Tax Season, in Order
What to handle before the year closes, what comes after it, and the page that covers each step in full. For individuals and business owners in Easley, Greenville and across South Carolina.
Reviewed by LaToya Clark-Thompson, FounderLast updated
Six steps, in calendar order
Filing dates move from year to year, so this page does not list them. South Carolina tax deadlines explains how the calendar works, and the refund advance page shows when applications open.
Catch up the books
Planning and filing both depend on books that are current. If yours have fallen behind, by months or by years, we reconstruct the period from bank and card statements, reconcile it, and keep it current from there.
Ask about this: Catch up the booksReview the year while it can still change
Tax planning looks ahead to decisions that still affect this year’s return: entity structure, retirement contributions, and the timing of income, deductions and larger purchases. Once the year is over, those decisions are already made.
Ask about this: Review the year while it can still changeSettle the final estimated payment
If nothing is withheld from your income, tax is normally paid in instalments through the year. Skipping one does not defer the tax, it adds penalties on top of it. The calculator works out the instalment and where the safe harbours sit for you.
Ask about this: Settle the final estimated paymentGet W-2s and 1099s out
For payroll clients, year-end W-2 and 1099 forms are part of the service, prepared and delivered to your employees and contractors. They have to agree with the payroll filings made during the year, which is why they are handled together.
Ask about this: Get W-2s and 1099s outGather documents, then file
A complete set of documents is the difference between one appointment and three. If you are thinking about a refund advance, the refund advance page explains how it works and shows when applications open.
Ask about this: Gather documents, then fileRead the IRS notice before reacting
Most IRS letters are not audits. We read the notice, tell you what it is asking for, and gather the records and prepare the response or returns it needs. Where a matter requires professional representation, that is handled by the independent licensed CPA we work with, with our office coordinating.
Ask about this: Read the IRS notice before reacting
The year-end checklist
The short version of our year-end tax planning checklist, for business owners and households alike:
- Get the books current enough to project where the year will land
- Decide which year you want income in, then time invoicing and expenses to match
- Place equipment you need in service before December 31, and skip what you don’t need
- Set up or fund a retirement plan, checking the setup deadline for your plan type
- Revisit your entity structure and any election deadlines
- S-Corp owners: confirm a reasonable salary has actually run through payroll
- Recalculate the final estimated payment against the real year
- Collect W-9s and payment totals for every contractor you will issue a 1099 to
- Check W-4 withholding, and finish 401(k) contributions through the last payroll
- Decide on charitable bunching, loss harvesting and any Roth conversion by December 31
Calculators for the year-end numbers
Year-end questions
What has to be done by December 31?
Anything that changes this year’s numbers rather than reports them: 401(k) deferrals through payroll, equipment placed in service, deductible expenses paid by a cash-basis business, charitable gifts, investment sales for loss harvesting, and Roth conversions. The year-end checklist walks through each one.
Which year-end moves can wait until the new year?
IRA contributions for the year can be made up to the April filing deadline, and the final quarterly estimated payment falls in January. W-2s and 1099s are also issued in January. Exact dates shift with weekends and holidays, so check South Carolina tax deadlines for the current calendar.
Is it too late to plan if it is already December?
No. Retirement contributions, equipment purchases, loss harvesting and charitable gifts can all be done in days. What is usually too late in December is setting up some retirement plan types or making an entity election for the current year, which is why the review is worth doing in October or November.
My books are behind. Should I catch them up before year end or wait until tax time?
Before year end. Every planning decision depends on knowing roughly where the year will land, and catch-up work done in November still leaves time to act on what it finds. Done in March, it can only record the year. See catch-up bookkeeping.
What do I need to issue 1099s to contractors?
A W-9 for each contractor and an accurate total of what you paid each of them during the year, kept separate from card and payment-app payments, which are reported differently. Collecting W-9s now avoids chasing them in January. Employee or contractor? covers the classification question first.
Not the question you had? The full tax FAQ covers more ground, and our client reviews say what the work is actually like.
Not sure which of these applies?
Book a consultation and we’ll work through it with you, in the Easley office or virtually. Or send a short note about your situation and we’ll come back to you with a straight answer.
Not sure which option is best for you?
Reach out to Elite Pro-Tax & Financial Services to discuss your tax and financial needs today.