Use Form 941 to report the following amounts.
- Wages you have paid.
- Tips your employees have received.
- Federal income tax you withheld.
- Both the employer’s and the employee’s share of social security and Medicare taxes.
- Additional Medicare Tax withheld from employees.
- Current quarter’s adjustments to social security and Medicare taxes for fractions of cents, sick pay, tips, and group-term life insurance.
Do not use Form 941 to report backup withholding or income tax withholding on nonpayroll payments such as pensions, annuities, and gambling winnings. Report these types of withholding on Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax.
After you file your first Form 941, you must file a return for each quarter, even if you have no taxes to report, unless you filed a final return or one of the exceptions listed next applies.
Form 941
Instructions for Form 941 (HTML)
When To File Form 941
| Your Form 941 is due by the last day of the month that follows the end of the quarter. |
| The Quarter Includes . . . |
Quarter Ends |
Form 941
Is Due |
| 1. January, February, March |
March 31 |
April 30 |
| 2. April, May, June |
June 30 |
July 31 |
| 3. July, August, September |
September 30 |
October 31 |
| 4. October, November, December |
December 31 |
January 31 |
For example, you generally must report wages you pay during the first quarter—which is January through March—by April 30. If you made timely deposits in full payment of your taxes for a quarter, you have 10 more days after the due date to file your Form 941.
2014 News
Social security and Medicare tax for 2014. The social security tax rate is 6.2% each for the employee and employer, unchanged from 2013. The social security wage base limit is $117,000. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employee and employer, unchanged from 2013. There is no wage base limit for Medicare tax. Social security and Medicare taxes apply to the wages of household workers you pay $1,900 or more in cash or an equivalent form of compensation in 2014. Social security and Medicare taxes apply to election workers who are paid $1,600 or more in cash or an equivalent form of compensation in 2014.
COBRA premium assistance credit. Effective for tax periods beginning after December 31, 2013, the credit for COBRA premium assistance payments cannot be claimed on Form 941. Instead, after filing your Form 941, file Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, to claim the COBRA premium assistance credit. Filing a Form 941-X before filing a Form 941 for the quarter may result in errors or delays in processing your Form 941-X. For more information, visit IRS.gov and enter “COBRA” in the search box.
Reminders
Additional Medicare Tax withholding. In addition to withholding Medicare tax at 1.45%, you must withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax from wages you pay to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. You are required to begin withholding Additional Medicare Tax in the pay period in which you pay wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee and continue to withhold it each pay period until the end of the calendar year. Additional Medicare Tax is only imposed on the employee. There is no employer share of Additional Medicare Tax. All wages that are subject to Medicare tax are subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding if paid in excess of the $200,000 withholding threshold. For more information on what wages are subject to Medicare tax, see the chart,
Special Rules for Various Types of Services and Payments, in section 15 of Pub. 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide. For more information on Additional Medicare Tax, visit IRS.gov and enter “Additional Medicare Tax” in the search box.
Work opportunity tax credit for qualified tax-exempt organizations hiring qualified veterans. The work opportunity tax credit is available for eligible unemployed veterans who began work on or after November 22, 2011, and before January 1, 2014. Qualified tax-exempt organizations that hire eligible unemployed veterans can claim the work opportunity tax credit against their payroll tax liability using Form 5884-C, Work Opportunity Credit for Qualified Tax-Exempt Organizations Hiring Qualified Veterans. For more information, visit IRS.gov and enter “work opportunity tax credit” in the search box.
Section 3121(q) Notice and Demand—Tax due on unreported tips. An employer enters the amount of social security and Medicare taxes on unreported tips shown on the Section 3121(q) Notice and Demand on line 5f of the employer’s Form 941 for the calendar quarter corresponding to the “Date of Notice and Demand.”
Aggregate Form 941 filers. Agents must complete Schedule R (Form 941), Allocation Schedule for Aggregate Form 941 Filers, when filing an aggregate Form 941. Aggregate Forms 941 are filed by agents approved by the IRS under section 3504. To request approval to act as an agent for an employer, the agent files Form 2678, Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent, with the IRS.
Correcting a previously filed Form 941. If you discover an error on a previously filed Form 941, make the correction using Form 941-X. Form 941-X is filed separately from Form 941. For more information, see section 13 of Pub. 15 (Circular E) or visit IRS.gov and enter “correcting employment taxes” in the search box.
Employers can choose to file Forms 941 instead of Form 944. Employers that would otherwise be required to file Form 944, Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return, can notify the IRS if they want to file quarterly Forms 941 instead of annual Form 944. See Rev. Proc. 2009-51, 2009-45 I.R.B. 625, available at
www.irs.gov/irb/2009-45_IRB/ar12.html.
Requesting to file Form 944 instead of Forms 941. If you are required to file Form 941 but believe your employment taxes for the calendar year will be $1,000 or less, you may request to file Form 944 instead of Forms 941 by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-4933 between January 1, 2014, and April 1, 2014, or sending a written request postmarked between January 1, 2014, and March 17, 2014. You must receive written notice from the IRS to file Form 944 instead of Forms 941 before you may file this form. For more information on requesting to file Form 944, visit IRS.gov and enter “file employment taxes annually” in the search box.
Federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer. You must use electronic funds transfer to make all federal tax deposits. Generally, electronic funds transfers are made using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). If you do not want to use EFTPS, you can arrange for your tax professional, financial institution, payroll service, or other trusted third party to make electronic deposits on your behalf. Also, you may arrange for your financial institution to initiate a same-day wire payment on your behalf. EFTPS is a free service provided by the Department of Treasury. Services provided by your tax professional, financial institution, payroll service, or other third party may have a fee.
