Payroll Articles
IRS Form 941
941 Tax Form Information
IRS Form 941 and 941 Tax Form information can be found below.
Each quarter, all employers who pay wages subject to income tax withholding (including withholding on sick pay and supplemental unemployment benefits) or Social Security and Medicare taxes must file Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, by the last day of the month that follows the end of the quarter. However, the following exceptions apply:
Seasonal employers who no longer file for quarters when they regularly have no tax liability because they have paid no wages. To alert the IRS that you will not have to file a return for one or more quarters during the year, check the "Seasonal employer" box on line 17 of Form 941. The IRS will mail two Forms 941 to the seasonal filer once a year after March 1. The preprinted forms will not include the date that the quarter ended. You must enter the date that the quarter ended when you file the return. Generally, the IRS will not inquire about unfiled returns if at least one taxable return is filed each year. However, you must check the "Seasonal employer" box on every Form 941 you file. Otherwise, the IRS will expect a return to be filed for each quarter.
Household employers reporting Social Security and Medicare taxes and/or withheld income tax. If you are a sole proprietor and file Form 941 for business Employees, you may include taxes for household Employees on your Form 941. Otherwise, report Social Security and Medicare taxes and income tax withholding for household Employees on Schedule H (Form 1040), Household Employment Taxes. See Publication 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide, for more information.
Employers reporting wages for Employees in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico. If your Employees are not subject to U.S. income tax withholding, use Form 941-SS. Employers in Puerto Rico use Form 941-PR.
Agricultural employers reporting Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income taxes. Report these taxes on Form 943, Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees.
Form 941 e-file. The Form 941 e-file program allows a taxpayer to electronically file Form 941 using a personal computer, modem, and commercial tax preparation software. Contact the IRS at 1-866-255-0654 or visit the IRS website at
www.IRS.gov/efile
for more information. See Publication 1855, Technical Specifications Guide for the Electronic Filing of Form 941, Employee's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, for technical specifications.
941TeleFile. You may be able to file Form 941 and pay any balance due by phone. If you received 941TeleFile materials with your Form 941 Package, check page TEL-1 of the 941TeleFile Instructions to see if you qualify for this method of filing. If you have questions related to filing Form 941 using 941TeleFile, call 1-866-255-0654. This phone number is for 941TeleFile information only and is not the number used to file the return.
Electronic filing by reporting agents. Reporting agents filing Forms 941 for groups of taxpayers can file them electronically. See Reporting Agents in section 7 of Publication 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, for more information.
Do not file more than one Form 941 per quarter. Employers with multiple locations or divisions must file only one Form 941 per quarter. Filing more than one return may result in processing delays and may require correspondence between you and the IRS.
Hints on filing.
Do not report more than one calendar quarter on a return. Use the preaddressed form mailed to you. If you do not have the form, get one from the IRS in time to file the return when due. If you use a form that is not preaddressed, show your name andEINon it. Be sure that they are exactly as they appeared on earlier returns. See the Instructions for Form 941 for information on preparing the form.
Final return.
If you go out of business, you must file a final return for the last quarter in which wages are paid. If you continue to pay wages or other compensation for quarters following termination of your business, you must file returns for those quarters. See the Instructions for Form 941 for details on how to file a final return.
Note.
If you are required to file a final Form 941, you are also required to furnish Forms W-2 to your Employees by the due date of your final Form 941. File Forms W-2 and W-3 with the SSA by the last day of the month that follows the due date of your final Form 941. Do not send an original or copy of Form 941 to the SSA.
Filing late Forms 941 for prior years.
If possible, get a copy of Form 941 (and separate instructions) with a revision date showing the year for which your delinquent return is being filed. However, if you are filing an original return for a quarter in a prior year and you are using the current year form, you will have to modify Form 941. (Do not modify post-2004 versions of Form 941 for pre-2005 quarters.) A form for a particular year generally can be used without modification for any quarter within that year. For example, a form with any 2005 revision date (for example, January or October 2005) generally can be used without modification for any quarter of 2005.
In all cases, be sure to correctly fill out the "Date quarter ended" section at the top of the form. If you are modifying a form with preprinted information, change the date. The date is shown with the month and year the quarter ends; for example, JUN05 would be for the quarter ending June 30, 2005. Cross out any inapplicable tax rate(s) shown on the form and write in the rate. You can get tax rates and wage base limits for all years from the IRS.