Filing Electroncially 941 W2 1099

[geverett0730]

I just returned from an all day session on Church Management and Tax Laws for Churches and Ministers. In the session we were told that in 2012 the IRS would be requiring all 941's W-2's & 1099's to be filed electronically. They mentioned that PowerChurch Plus does not do that (alone with several other programs). If this is a requirement will powerchurch be making where we can file the required documents to the IRS electronically?
Thanks

[Jeff]

I have been double checking and spent some time looking for a reference to verify what you are saying will be a requirement. I can not find any references to the IRS making any changes to the reporting requirements. I would ask the people who gave the seminar the source of their information. Something like this would be a big change for the IRS and would have multiple announcements and plenty of lead time to implement these changes.

It appears the bigger problem is not the IRS/SSA requiring electronic filing, but individual states. Some states have requirements that with as few as 10 or 20 W2s you have to file electronically and it looks like Oregon is requiring all employers to file their W2s electronically this year. You will need to check with your state for their requirements.

Here is some information I have been able to verify:

• You are required to pay 941 taxes electronically, but you do not have to file the 941 form electronically.
  
  You have to file W2s and 1099s electronically if you are filing more than 250 W2s or 1099s.
  
  The SSA has a method for small employers to file W2s with them. You enter the W2 information on their site and it will even print out W2s that you can give to your employees. But it doesn't appear that this will file the W2 information with your state.
  
  There are websites that will electronically file your W2s and 1099s for you. Double check what they will do before selecting one; it appears that not all of them will file electronically with your state.

If you have information that contradicts any of the above, I would be interested in a link that verifies the requirement.

I researched adding electronic filling to PowerChurch earlier this year. It will require integration with a third party company to handle the details of filing with all the required states and the IRS/SSA. There is not going to be any changes in time for this filing year (2011) but remains as something we are looking at adding to PowerChurch.