What is Reported on Form 941

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  Employers use Form 941 to report all wages and tips paid to employees. The federal income tax withheld from employees is reported on the 941, as well as Medicare and Social Security taxes. Form 941 must also include payments for Advanced Earned Income Tax credits, as well as COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) premium assistance.
  
  

Employers Exempt from Filing Form 941

• Three types of employers do not have to file Form 941: 1) seasonal employers (only for quarters in which they paid no wages), 2) employers of household workers and 3) employers of farm workers. If an employer does not fall into any of these three classifications, he must file Form 941, even if no wages were paid during the quarter.
  
  

Due Dates for Form 941

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  Form 941 must be filed by the last day of the month following the end of each quarter. For example, for the first quarter of the month (January, February and March), Form 941 must be filed by April 30.
  
  

Required Information on Form 941

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  An employer must include the full business name, address and Employer Identification Number (EIN) on Form 941. If you do not have an EIN for your business, you may apply online at www.irs.gov.
  
  

Taxes and Tax Deposits

• Form 941 Question 10 asks for the total taxes reported. Question 11 requires the total of all tax deposits the employer paid for the quarter. This includes all overpayments applied from a previous quarter or any overpayment applied from the current quarter. You can easily get the total for Question 11 on the next page, where you must provide the breakdown per month in the quarter of your tax deposits.
  
  

Balance Due and Overpayments

• Question 14 is the Balance Due line. If the amount in Line 10 (total taxes after adjustment) exceeds the amount in Line 13 (total deposits and COBRA credit), enter the difference on Line 14. If Line 14 is under $1, you do not have to pay.
  
  If Line 10 is more than Line 13, you must pay that amount to the US Treasury. If Line 13 is more than Line 10, record the difference in Line 15. You can choose to have the overpayment credited to your next return or you can receive a check for the overpayment.
  
  

Instructions for Form 941

• For detailed instructions on completing Form 941, go to the IRS website and print out the eight-page instruction manual (see Resources). The instructions include where to mail the form if you are remitting a payment and where to send the form if there is no payment accompanying it.