Death and Taxes

Since it is rare that conversations about death hold great benefits for maintaining a healthy business, I will skip this portion of the title's implied topic and dive straight into everyone's favorite... taxes! Not to worry. I have no intention of droning about the specifics of certain forms or the pro's and con's of doing your own taxes versus hiring a professional to assist you. I bring up this topic as more of a public service message.

Since EGP offers a vast array of business forms and products designed to help companies with the necessities of doing business, it is only natural that we have begun the process of updating our inventory with the tax forms needed in the coming months. In an attempt to ensure my well-rounded knowledge of this product, I began a little research. After reviewing the many available tax forms on our store site I hopped over to the IRS website. After a few clicks it became apparent to me that they offer a large number of forms in a digital download format which caused me to ask the obvious question... why would our customers purchase these forms from us if the government will share them for free? With a few additional clicks of my trusted research assistant (aka: computer mouse) I discovered the answer to my question.

A good portion of the forms offered on the IRS site are labeled as "information only" forms. What does this mean to you and your tax filing preparation? The download version of these forms is available to you, but as a sort of practice test copy. Should you accidentally use one of these "information only" forms to file your taxes, not only will it halt the filing process you could end up with a new best friend compliments of the IRS. Quite a few of the tax forms necessary to the filing process must be purchased (not downloaded) for a simple and practical reason. They are printed on special paper, and in some cases with special ink, to create a "machine readable" form. Additionally there are strict specifications of each form making it highly unlikely that you would be able to print your own at home and meet the government requirements.

The message of today's tax related post? In the stress of tax season beware the temptation of free forms - they may cost you in time and fines later in the process! As with most things government related, the standard option is usually the safest one. Skirting the system may only lead to friendships you can't shake! If you decide to use some of the no cost tax forms, PLEASE be sure to read the fine print and be certain they are not "information only" forms.

PS - Here is a short list of several information only forms:

Form W-2 (series, excepting Form W-2G)

Form W-3 (series, excepting Form W-3(C)PR)

Form 1096

Form 1098 (series)

Form 1099 (series)

Form 5498 (series)

Form 5500 (series)

Form 8109-B