Resources

The full index of current federal forms, instructions and publications.

The main individual return, with its schedules and instructions.

Collect one from every contractor before you pay them. Chasing W-9s in January is what turns 1099 season into a scramble.

How an employee sets federal withholding. Worth revisiting after a marriage, a birth, or a second job.

A new business needs an Employer Identification Number before it can run payroll or open most bank accounts. The online application issues one immediately.

Check whether your withholding is on track for the year. Better to find a shortfall in July than in April.

See your balance, payment history and notices in one place. Useful when a letter arrives and you want the record behind it.

Pay a balance or an estimated payment straight from a bank account, with no fee.

Federal refund status, updated once a day.

A transcript is the IRS’s own record of your return, your account activity and the W-2s and 1099s filed under your number. Lenders ask for them, and they are the fastest way to reconstruct a year you no longer have paperwork for.

The paper route to the same records, and how a third party is authorised to receive them.

An independent organisation inside the IRS that helps when a problem is causing real hardship or the normal channels have stalled. Free.

The Franchise Tax Board’s index of California forms, by year and by type.

Your California balance, estimated payments and notices. It also shows which payments the state has actually applied.

Web Pay, payment plans and estimated payments. Payment is due by the deadline even when you file an extension — an extension moves the filing date, not the payment date.

State refund status.

Sales and use tax returns, schedules and guidance.

Register for a seller’s permit, file a return, or make a payment. Anyone selling tangible goods in California generally needs a permit before the first sale.