A small business with no employees and no sales tax still has 7 to 10 recurring filings per year, each with its own deadline and its own penalty. Add payroll, sales tax, or multi-state and the list grows fast. Here\'s the full year, month by month.
Calendar-year, US small business. Skip months don\'t mean nothing happens — they mean nothing federal happens. State and local deadlines vary and may land in any month. Add yours to this list.
Some filings are date-fixed (Jan 31 W-2s, May 1 Florida annual report). Others depend on your entity, your state, your payroll, your revenue. The shortest reliable list: set one reminder per category, label it specifically, and let it repeat each cycle.
Things to handle before December 31 that lose their value or become more expensive after. Set one reminder for "year-end review" on December 1 to give yourself 30 days.
The point of writing this down is so you can stop holding it in your head. Pick the items that apply to your business, set a reminder for each one labeled specifically, and let the calendar take over. The deadlines by entity type page gives the federal dates. The annual report by state page gives the state dates. Return to the business filing reminders guide for the broader setup.
Set one reminder per filing. Each fires on its own schedule.
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At minimum: federal income tax return (annual), four quarterly estimated tax payments, state income or franchise tax, state annual or biennial report, and any local business license renewal. If you have employees: quarterly Form 941, annual Form 940, W-2s, and state unemployment filings. If you pay contractors: 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC.
Monthly filings are usually sales tax (depending on state and revenue) and payroll deposits. Quarterly filings include estimated income tax and Form 941 payroll tax. Annual filings include income tax returns, W-2s, 1099s, state annual reports, and business license renewals. The cadence depends on your entity, payroll, and revenue.
January 31. Both 1099-NEC and W-2 must be sent to recipients and filed with the IRS or SSA by January 31, 2027 for tax year 2026. 1099-MISC has a slightly later filing deadline (Feb 28 paper, March 31 electronic) but recipient copies are still due January 31.
In most states, yes. Once you're registered for sales tax, you owe a zero return for any period with no taxable sales. Skipping a "no sales" return can still trigger a late-filing penalty (often $50 minimum) and eventually a revoked sales tax permit. Track it like any other recurring filing.
Form 941 (quarterly federal payroll tax) is due the last day of the month after each quarter ends. April 30, 2026 for Q1. July 31, 2026 for Q2. October 31, 2026 for Q3. January 31, 2027 for Q4. Payroll tax deposits themselves follow a separate semi-weekly or monthly schedule depending on your liability.
Local. Each city or county sets its own renewal date and fee. Some are tied to your business's license issue date, some to a fixed calendar date (often January 31, April 1, or July 1). Check directly with your city or county business license office. Local renewals are commonly missed because nobody else reminds you.
You still need federal income tax (annual), four quarterly estimated payments, state annual or biennial report, state income or franchise tax, and any local business license. That's typically 7 to 10 reminders per year, all on different dates. Each one is small. Missing any one triggers a penalty.
Free reminder, no account. One per deadline, repeats each cycle. The mental load goes away the day you set them all.
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