Full-service payroll software figures each paycheck, withholds and pays payroll taxes, and files the forms; Gusto, for example, says it files W-2s and reports new hires for you. But the IRS says you, the employer, are still ultimately responsible for federal payroll tax deposits and payments, even when a payroll company does the work. You also still decide if your helper is really an employee, get an EIN, collect Form W-4, complete Form I-9 and check that deposits were made. For 2026 wages, W-2s are due to employees and the Social Security Administration by February 1, 2027.

Give each receipt its own spreadsheet row with the date, who you paid, the amount, how you paid, a category and the business purpose, then check each month's totals against your bank and card statements. The IRS lets you use any recordkeeping system that clearly shows your income and expenses. In most cases, keep records for 3 years from when you file; some, like employment tax records, need to be kept longer. Digital copies can replace paper if your system makes accurate, complete, easy-to-read copies you can find and print, and you test it before you throw out the originals.

Record a short voice memo right after the job, turn it into a text transcript, and ask an AI assistant to make line items with a description, quantity, unit, rate and amount, using only the numbers you said. Before you send it, check every quantity, rate and total yourself, and add an invoice number, a due date and the ways you accept payment. Save a copy with your business records, because the IRS lists invoices among the documents that show your business income.

Yes, for payments made after December 31, 2025, you generally file Form 1099-NEC for a non-employee when you pay them $2,000 or more during the year for services in your trade or business; the old $600 threshold still applies to payments made in 2025 and earlier. The law (Public Law 119-21, section 70433) adjusts the $2,000 for inflation for calendar years after 2026. Forms 1099-NEC for 2026 payments are due to the worker and to the IRS by February 1, 2027, because January 31, 2027 is a Sunday. Payments you make by credit card, debit card or through a payment app are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment company, not on your 1099-NEC.

You use both, because the IRS did change the 2026 business standard mileage rate mid-year: it is 72.5 cents per mile for business driving from January 1 through June 30, 2026, and 76 cents per mile for driving on or after July 1, 2026. The change came in IRS Announcement 2026-11, which modified Notice 2026-10 because of higher fuel prices. Multiply your business miles from each period by that period's rate and add the two results. The charity rate stays at 14 cents per mile, and the medical and military moving rate rose from 20.5 to 23.5 cents.

Yes, an Employer Identification Number (EIN) is free when you apply directly with the IRS; the IRS says you never have to pay a fee for one, so a website that charges you is not the IRS's application. You need an EIN if you have employees, and that includes a sole proprietor hiring a first employee. Most U.S. businesses can apply online at IRS.gov/EIN and get the number right away; the tool is open Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. (next day), Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 6 p.m. to midnight, Eastern Time. The IRS issues only 1 EIN per responsible party per day.

Don't trust the voice. The FTC says a scammer can clone a loved one's voice from a short audio clip, so hang up and call the person back at a number you know is theirs. The FCC and the FBI suggest picking a family safe word ahead of time, and the FCC says a caller who can't remember it may be a scammer. Call screening on an iPhone or Pixel can also make an unknown caller say who they are before your phone rings.

Freezing your credit is free by federal law, but you have to do it separately at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The FTC says a freeze makes it harder for someone to open new accounts in your name, doesn't affect your credit score, and lasts until you lift it. When you apply for credit, you can lift it for free. The FTC says a bureau must lift a freeze within one hour if you ask online or by phone, or within three business days if you ask by mail.

Medicare Plan Finder, at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, is Medicare's official tool for comparing Medicare health and drug plans in your area side by side. You can log in to see a summary of your current coverage and use your saved drugs and pharmacies, or skip logging in by choosing the coverage year and entering your ZIP code. Add your prescriptions, pharmacies and doctors to get cost estimates and see which plans include them, then check each plan's 1-to-5-star quality rating. Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage runs October 15 to December 7, 2026, and free help is available from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) or 1-800-MEDICARE.

A medical alert system is a service you pay for: the person wears a button on a necklace or bracelet and presses it to get help. Some smartwatches, like Apple Watch and Google Pixel Watch, can call emergency services, and can call on their own after a hard fall if the wearer doesn't respond. A watch needs a cellular connection or a nearby phone, and neither option catches every fall. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) says Medicare won't pay for emergency medical alert systems.

Contact the company you used to pay right away, tell them it was a scam, and ask them to reverse the payment. That might be your card company, bank, payment app, wire company, gift card company, or crypto exchange. If you shared your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov, and if you shared a password, change it and turn on two-factor authentication. Then report the scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and, for internet crime, to the FBI at ic3.gov, and ignore anyone who offers to get your money back for a fee.

Use a free checker. At haveibeenpwned.com, type your email address to see which known data breaches included it, and use its Pwned Passwords tool to check a password without sending the full password. If you save passwords with Google, run Password Checkup at passwords.google.com; on an iPhone with iOS 18 or later, open the Passwords app and tap Security. Change any password flagged as leaked everywhere you used it, then turn on a passkey or two-step verification.

One common source is data brokers, including people-search sites, which the FTC says build reports from public records, social media, and other data brokers and sell them to anyone willing to pay. There are three ways out. If you live in California, the state's free DROP platform sends one deletion request to over 600 registered data brokers, and brokers have had to process those requests since August 1, 2026. Anyone can also opt out site by site for free, or pay a removal service to do the opt-outs for them.

During Medicare Open Enrollment, October 15 to December 7, 2026, you can switch between Original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage Plan, join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage Plan, and, if you have Original Medicare, join, switch, or drop a Part D drug plan. The plan must get your request by December 7, and your new coverage starts January 1, 2027. If you're happy with your coverage, you don't have to do anything, because it continues automatically. Medigap follows separate rules, and if you're in a Medicare Advantage Plan you get one more chance to make one change from January 1 to March 31, 2027.

Medicare won't call, text, or email you out of the blue to ask for your Medicare Number, bank details, or a payment, and it never calls to sell you anything. Medicare or a plan calls only in limited cases, such as a plan you already belong to, a 1-800-MEDICARE representative returning your call, or a follow-up on a fraud report you made. Three fakes to watch for are a caller saying you need a "new" Medicare card, offers of "free" braces or equipment, and "free" genetic tests in exchange for your Medicare Number. When in doubt, hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) yourself.

Treat it as a scam until you check it yourself. USPS says it only texts people who asked for tracking with a tracking number, and those texts won't contain a link, while UPS and FedEx say they don't ask for payment or personal information out of the blue. Don't tap the link: type usps.com, ups.com, or fedex.com into your browser and enter your tracking number there. Then forward the text to 7726 (SPAM) and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Go to OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688), the official opt-out run for the credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion. You can opt out online for five years, or permanently by mailing a signed form. Then register your home and cell numbers for free at DoNotCall.gov or 1-888-382-1222. The registry stops sales calls from companies that follow the law, but it won't stop scam calls.