The IRS has officially opened the 2026 tax filing season for processing 2025 individual and business returns. Between quarterly estimates, W-2 and 1099 deadlines, and the annual scramble to reconcile a year of transactions, the next ten weeks will decide whether your filing is calm or chaotic.

Here are the practical changes for the 2026 season, key deadlines, and steps to take this week. For advice on your specific situation, talk to a CPA or enrolled agent.

When does the 2026 tax filing season start?

The IRS announced the first day it will accept and process 2025 individual and business returns on its newsroom page.

Filing early tends to help small business owners for three reasons: refunds arrive sooner, identity thieves have less runway to file a fraudulent return under your EIN or SSN, and your accountant is not yet buried in April work.

If you are a sole proprietor filing a Schedule C, an S-corp shareholder waiting on a K-1, or an LLC member filing a partnership return, the opening date affects you differently. Pass-through entities generally file earlier than the personal return that depends on them.

Key 2026 deadlines for small businesses

Mark these on whatever calendar you actually check. Missing any of them triggers penalties that compound fast.

| Deadline | What's due | Who it applies to | |---|---|---| | January 15, 2026 | Q4 2025 estimated tax payment | Sole props, single-member LLCs, S-corp shareholders, partners | | February 2, 2026 | W-2s to employees; 1099-NEC to contractors and IRS | Any business that paid employees or $600+ to a contractor | | March 16, 2026 | Form 1120-S (S-corp) and Form 1065 (partnership) returns | S-corps and multi-member LLCs / partnerships | | April 15, 2026 | Form 1040 with Schedule C; Form 1120 (C-corp); Q1 2026 estimated tax | Sole props, single-member LLCs, C-corps, anyone paying estimates | | April 15, 2026 | SEP-IRA and solo 401(k) employer contributions for 2025 | Self-employed retirement savers |

The 1099-NEC deadline catches people every year. The statutory deadline for filing Form 1099-NEC is January 31, but because January 31, 2026 is a Saturday, the deadline rolls to Monday, February 2, 2026. If you paid a freelance designer, a bookkeeper, or a subcontractor $600 or more in 2025, you need to file a 1099-NEC with the IRS and send a copy to the contractor by February 2, 2026.

What's new for the 2026 filing season

A few practical changes matter for small business filers this year.

1099-K threshold is finally settling

The reporting threshold for third-party payment platforms (Stripe, PayPal, Venmo for business, Etsy, eBay) has moved multiple times over the past three years.

If you accept card or app payments, expect a 1099-K in the mail or your platform's dashboard, and reconcile it against your bookkeeping before you file. Duplicate reporting is the single most common cause of an IRS notice for online sellers.

Standard mileage rate

The IRS updates the business standard mileage rate every year.

If you drive for work as a contractor going from site to site, a real-estate agent showing properties, or a mobile HVAC tech visiting clients, track miles with a log or an app. The standard rate is usually simpler than actual-expense tracking unless you drive a luxury vehicle or lease.

Section 179 and bonus depreciation

If you bought equipment, vehicles over 6,000 lbs GVWR, or off-the-shelf software in 2025, Section 179 and bonus depreciation can let you deduct the full cost the year you placed it in service, rather than depreciating over five to seven years.

Talk to your accountant before assuming, because the rules interact with your income and can push you into a net operating loss.

How to prepare in the next two weeks

If your books are clean, the return is data entry. If they are not, February becomes a headache. Bookkeeping is the work; filing is the report.

Reconcile every account through December 31

Pull statements for every business checking account, credit card, payment processor (Stripe, Square, PayPal), and loan. Match every transaction in your bookkeeping software to a statement line. If you have a Novo account, you can export a full year of transactions as a CSV directly from the dashboard, then hand it to your bookkeeper or import it into QuickBooks, Xero, or Wave.

Separate personal from business, retroactively if you have to

If you used one account for both personal and business spending in 2025, you have two jobs: tag every business expense in your bookkeeping, and open a dedicated business account before you do it again in 2026. Novo offers free business checking with no minimum balance requirement, so there is no reason to keep mixing.

Gather 1099s you'll receive

You should receive:

• 1099-NEC from any client who paid you $600+ as a contractor
• 1099-K from payment platforms if you crossed the threshold
• 1099-INT from your financial partner if interest was paid (Novo's partner bank, Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., issues these when applicable)
• 1099-MISC for rents, prizes, or other miscellaneous income

Cross-check each against your revenue. If a client's 1099-NEC says $47,000 and your books say $42,000, find the difference now, not during an audit.

Gather deductible expenses

Common categories small businesses under-claim:

• Home office (simplified method: $5 per square foot up to 300 sq ft)
• Health insurance premiums (for self-employed)
• Retirement contributions (SEP-IRA, solo 401(k), SIMPLE IRA)
• Business meals (50% deductible in most cases)
• Professional development, subscriptions, software
• Business use of your phone and internet

Estimated taxes: the deadline most owners miss

If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, the IRS wants quarterly estimated payments.

Miss a quarter and you pay an underpayment penalty even if you settle up in April.

The 2026 quarterly deadlines:

• Q1: April 15, 2026
• Q2: June 15, 2026
• Q3: September 15, 2026
• Q4: January 15, 2027

A rough rule for solopreneurs: set aside 25–30% of every deposit for federal taxes, plus whatever your state requires. If you have a Novo account, you can use the Novo Reserves budgeting feature to earmark a portion of your balance for taxes within your checking account.

A simple quarterly estimated tax worksheet

Copy this into a spreadsheet and update it every quarter.

QUARTERLY ESTIMATED TAX WORKSHEET — [YEAR / QUARTER]

1. Gross business revenue this quarter:        $________
2. Deductible business expenses this quarter:  $________
3. Net business income (line 1 - line 2):     $________
4. Self-employment tax (line 3 × 15.3%):      $________
5. Deductible half of SE tax (line 4 × 50%):  $________
6. Adjusted net income (line 3 - line 5):     $________
7. Estimated federal income tax on line 6
   (use your marginal bracket):                $________
8. State income tax estimate:                  $________
9. TOTAL QUARTERLY PAYMENT (4 + 7 + 8):        $________

Payment due date: __________
Paid on: __________  Confirmation #: __________

Drop that template into a fresh Google Sheet or Excel workbook and add formulas for lines 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9. Keep the file on a private drive rather than pasting figures into a public AI chatbot — your revenue and tax bracket are exactly the kind of data you don't want sitting in someone else's training set. If you want an AI assistant to help build the formulas, describe the structure in the abstract and leave your real numbers out.

What to do if you can't file on time

File an extension. Form 4868 gives individuals until October 15, 2026 to file. Form 7004 does the same for most business returns. An extension is free and automatic, but it extends the time to file, not the time to pay. If you owe, pay your best estimate by April 15 to avoid penalties and interest on the balance.

The failure-to-file penalty is significantly worse than the failure-to-pay penalty, so if you are torn, file something.

Where the IRS is investing this filing season

The IRS has expanded its online self-service tools, including the Individual Online Account, Business Tax Account, and Direct File pilot.

For small business owners, the Business Tax Account is worth setting up. You can view balances, make payments, and access tax records without waiting on hold.

Common small business tax filing mistakes

Three that cost owners the most money every year:

Misclassifying a worker as a contractor. If you control when, where, and how someone works, the IRS considers them an employee regardless of what your contract says. Back payroll taxes plus penalties can wipe out a year of profit.

Deducting personal expenses as business. The line between "business dinner" and "dinner" is real. If audited, you need a receipt, the business purpose, and who was there. Keep the documentation with the transaction, not in a shoebox.

Ignoring state and local filings. Federal is only one layer. Most states have their own income tax return, sales tax filings if you sell taxable goods, and franchise or annual reports for LLCs and corporations. California's $800 minimum franchise tax catches new LLC owners every year.

Bookkeeping habits that make next year easier

The owners who breeze through filing season built these habits during the previous twelve months:

1. One business checking account, one business credit card. Every business transaction goes through them. No exceptions.
2. Weekly bookkeeping, not annual bookkeeping. Fifteen minutes every Friday beats forty hours in March.
3. Receipts photographed the day of purchase. Most bookkeeping apps let you attach an image to a transaction. Do it once and forget it.
4. A separate savings bucket for taxes. Earmark 25–30% of every deposit. If it is not sitting in your operating balance, you cannot accidentally spend it.
5. A CPA relationship, even if you file yourself. A one-hour consult in November can save five figures.

Novo customers can set up multiple Reserves within a single Novo checking account to earmark money for taxes, payroll, and equipment. Combined with integrations for QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, and Shopify, the bookkeeping-to-filing handoff can be shorter. If your workflow leans on a specific stack, our roundup of the best accounting software for small business walks through how the major options compare.

The short version

The 2026 filing season is open. Your immediate to-do list: reconcile December, send out 1099-NECs by February 2, pay your Q4 2025 estimate by January 15, and get on a CPA's calendar before mid-February if you plan to work with one. Everything else follows from those four things.

For the authoritative deadlines, forms, and payment portals, go directly to IRS.gov/newsroom. For help keeping your business banking, bookkeeping, and tax reserves in one place, open a Novo account.

Disclosures

Novo Platform Inc. ("Novo") is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services provided by Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC. Eligibility subject to final Novo determination.

Novo Reserves is not a separate account. Novo Reserves is a budgeting feature within the Novo checking account. All funds within Reserves remain a part of the overall balance of the Novo checking account.

Novo Platform Inc. ("Novo") strives to provide accurate information but cannot guarantee that this content is correct, complete, or up-to-date. This page is for informational purposes only and is not financial or legal advice nor an endorsement of any third-party products or services. All products and services are presented without warranty. Novo Platform Inc. does not provide any financial or legal advice, and you should consult your own financial, legal, or tax advisors.