Instructions For Form 943-X (Page 6 of 9) in pdf

You may correct federal income tax withholding errors

Here is how you would enter the numbers on Form 943-X.

for prior years if the amounts shown on Form 943 do not

agree with the amounts you actually withheld, that is, an

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

CAUTION

(corrected amount)

(from line 8, Form 943)

(difference)

administrative error. See section 9 of Pub. 51 (Circular A) for

-9,600.00

-6,900.00

-2,700.00

more information about administrative errors.

Example — Failure to withhold income tax when

Report “-2,700.00” as your correction in column 4.

required: You were required to withhold $400 of federal

income tax from an employee bonus that was paid in December

In this example, you are claiming a credit for $2,700 in

of 2009 but you withheld nothing. You discovered the error on

overreported tax for your 2008 Form 943. Always enter the

March 15, 2010. You cannot file Form 943-X to correct your

same amount in column 4 (including any minus sign) that you

2009 Form 943 because the error involves a previous year and

enter in column 3.

the amount previously reported for the employee represents the

Be sure to explain the reasons for this correction on line 19.

actual amount withheld from the employee during 2009.

Example — Administrative error reporting income tax:

Only use line 9 to correct adjustments for fractions of

You had three employees. In 2009, you withheld $1,000 of

cents, third-party sick pay, or group-term life insurance

federal income tax from employee A, $2,000 from employee B,

previously reported. File a separate Form 943-X for

CAUTION

and $6,000 from employee C. The total amount of federal

each year being corrected.

income tax you withheld was $9,000. You mistakenly reported

10–12. Special Additions to Wages for Federal

$6,000 on line 6 of your 2009 Form 943. You discovered the

error on February 17, 2010. This is an example of an

Income Tax, Social Security Tax, and Medicare

administrative error that may be corrected in a later calendar

Tax

year because the amount actually withheld from employees’

Section 3509 provides special rates for the employee share of

wages differs from the amount reported on Form 943. Use

social security and Medicare taxes and income tax withholding

Form 943-X to correct the error. Enter $9,000 in column 1 and

when workers are reclassified as employees in certain

$6,000 in column 2. Subtract the amount in column 2 from the

circumstances. The applicable rate depends on whether you

amount in column 1.

filed required information returns. An employer cannot recover

any tax paid under this provision from the employees. The full

Column 1 (corrected amount)

9,000.00

employer share of social security and Medicare tax is due for all

Column 2 (from line 6 of Form 943)

- 6,000.00

reclassifications.

Column 3 (difference)

3,000.00

Note. Section 3509 rates are not available if you intentionally

Report the 3,000.00 as a tax correction in column 4.

disregarded the requirements to withhold taxes from the

employee, or if you withheld income tax but did not withhold

Be sure to explain the reasons for this correction on line 19.

social security and Medicare tax. Section 3509 rates are also

not available for certain statutory employees.

9. Tax Adjustments

Do not enter an amount on line 9 unless you need to correct

On lines 10, 11, and 12 enter only corrections to wages

any adjustments reported on line 8 of a previously filed Form

resulting from reclassifying certain workers as employees when

943. Amounts reported on line 9 reflect corrections of amounts

section 3509 rates are used to calculate the taxes.

misstated on line 8 of Form 943. See Example — Adjustment

Unlike other lines on Form 943-X, enter in column 1 only the

for third-party sick pay underreported below.

corrected wages for workers being reclassified, not the amount

Enter the corrected amount for tax adjustments in column 1.

paid to ALL employees. Enter previously reported wages to

Enter the originally reported or previously corrected amount

reclassified employees (if any) in column 2. To get the amount

from line 8 of Form 943 in column 2. In column 3, enter the

for column 4, use the applicable section 3509 rates. The tax

difference between columns 1 and 2.

correction in column 4 will be a positive number if you increased

the amount of wages you previously reported. See the

line 9 (column 1)

instructions for line 18 for more information.

-line 9 (column 2)

If you misreported the taxes from worker reclassification

line 9 (column 3)

If the amount in column 2 is larger than the

TIP

on line 8 on a pre-2009 Form 943, you may adjust the

amount in column 1, use a minus sign in

column 3.

taxes using lines 10 through 12 of Form 943-X. Be sure

to complete all of the columns and provide a detailed

You may need to report negative numbers in any

explanation on line 19.

TIP

column. Make sure that the difference you enter in

column 3 accurately represents the change to

13. Subtotal

adjustments originally reported or previously corrected on line 8

Combine the amounts on lines 6 through 12 of column 4.

of Form 943.

Example: You entered “-500” in column 4 of line 6,

Copy the amount in column 3 to column 4. Include any

“-100.00” in column 4 of line 7, and “1,400.00” in column 4 of

minus sign shown in column 3.

line 9. Combine these amounts and enter “800.00” in column 4

On line 19, describe what you misreported on Form 943. Tell

of line 13.

us if your adjustment is for fractions of cents, third-party sick

pay, or group-term life insurance.

Line 6

-500.00

Example — Adjustment for third-party sick pay

Line 7

-100.00

underreported: You reported $6,900 (shown as “-6,900.00”)

Line 9

+1,400.00

as a third-party sick pay adjustment (reduction to tax) on line 8

Line 13

800.00

of your 2009 Form 943. Your third-party sick pay adjustment

should have been $9,600 (shown as “-9,600.00”) because your

14. Advance Earned Income Credit (EIC)

third-party sick pay payer withheld that amount of social

Payments Made to Employees

security and Medicare taxes from your employees. You

If you are correcting the advance earned income credit (EIC)

discovered the error in April of 2010. To correct the error, figure

payments made to your employees that you reported on line 10

the difference on Form 943-X as shown.

of Form 943, enter the total corrected amount for ALL

employees in column 1. In column 2, enter the amount you

Column 1 (corrected amount)

-9,600.00

originally reported or as previously corrected. In column 3, enter

Column 2 (from line 8 of Form 943)

- (6,900.00)

the difference between columns 1 and 2.

Column 3 (difference)

-2,700.00

-6-

Instructions For Form 943-X Page 6

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