Free Forms & Publications by US Mail

Did you know you can order most forms & publications by mail from the IRS for FREE?  Every year I order forms for our businesses and for my clients as well.  I know most of us are tech savvy enough to e-file our 1099's through our bookkeeping software but sometimes it is a great idea to have a backup system... Case in point, this year I went to e-file a client's 1099 and 1096 forms through his Quickbooks software and we ran into a strange glitch that wouldn't let us complete the process.  The forms were due to be postmarked by the next day!  Eek!  Since I had the paper copies, I was able to fill them out by hand and keep him in compliance by sending his vendors their copies of the forms, postmarked on time! 

I usually try to order these forms as soon as they are available (towards the end of the year) so I can have them in hand by early January.  Hint: Don't forget which tax year you are working on - one year I ordered the current year forms instead of the previous year and had to wait on another order to be mailed to check that task off my to-do list.

Follow this link for business forms (Information Returns and Employer Returns) such as 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, 1096 (always order these with your 1099 forms!).  Remember to order at least one set of instructions with each type of form.

Follow this link for personal and general forms. 

P.S. I also keep extra stamps and envelopes on hand during tax season for use in these situations!

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