When And How To File Form 941 For Employer’s Quarterly Return

WHEN AND HOW TO FILE FORM 941 FOR EMPLOYER’S QUARTERLY RETURN
WHEN AND HOW TO FILE FORM 941 FOR EMPLOYER’S QUARTERLY RETURN

If you are an employer or business owner with a team of employees the IRS demands you file Form 941 to report withheld federal income taxes and Social Security or Medicare taxes.

Employer's quarterly return is filed four times a year at the end of April, July, October, and January. Find out more about the 2018 Form 941 due dates and guidelines below.

1. What Is Form 941?

2. Form 941 Instructions

3. Form 941 Due Dates

4. Where to File Form 941?

What Is Form 941?

The law requires all employers to withhold certain taxes from their employees' pay. Form 941 is used to report income taxes, social security tax, Medicare tax withheld from employee’s paychecks and pay the employer's portion of those taxes.

The employer's quarterly federal tax form is used to report:

  • Any wages paid to your staff
  • Any tips reported by your employees
  • Federal income tax you withheld
  • Both yours and the employee's shares of Social Security and Medicare taxes
  • Additional Medicare Tax withheld from your employees
  • Current quarter's adjustments to social security and
  • Medicare taxes for fractions of cents, sick pay, tips, and group-term life insurance
  • Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities

Any backup withholding or income tax withholding on nonpayroll payments are reported via Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax.

Form 941 Instructions

After filing Form 941 for the first time, you must file the return quarterly, even if there are no taxes to report.

Special exceptions apply to particular employers. Seasonal employers don't have to file 941 Form for quarters in which they have paid no wages and have no tax liability.

Employers of household and employees also don't usually need to submit an employer's quarterly return.

Form 941 Due Dates

The deadline for Form 941 is the last day of the month that follows the end of the quarter. In 2018 these dates fall on April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, 2019.

Where to File Form 941?

In most cases Forms 941 without a payment should be filed at the Department of the Treasury in Cincinnati, Ohio for residents of Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia as well as Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Forms 941 with a payment are filed at the IRS at the same address.

Residents of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming file Form 941 at the Department of the Treasury in Ogden, Utah without payments or Hartford, Connecticut if a payment is included.

Employers without a legal residence or place of business in any US state also file Form 941 in Ogden, Utah or Hartford, Connecticut depending on whether or not any payments where included.

Check out any other IRS Forms and Publications you may need this year via our tax deadline schedule for 2018.