How to Complete and File IRS Form 941

Form 941, the Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return, is a document businesses use to report payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Its main function is to detail the federal income tax withheld from employee wages and the Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by both the employee and the employer. By filing it, a business provides the government with a summary of its payroll tax liabilities for a three-month period.

Determining Who Must File Form 941

Any business that pays wages to an employee is required to file Form 941. This filing obligation is triggered when an employer withholds federal income tax from employee paychecks or pays wages that are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. Once a business files its first Form 941, it must continue to file a return each quarter, even if it has no employees or wages to report, until it files a final return.

There are specific exceptions. Employers of household workers, such as nannies or housekeepers, report those wages on Schedule H of their personal Form 1040. Businesses that employ agricultural workers will file the annual Form 943 instead of the quarterly Form 941. Some very small employers with a combined annual tax liability of $1,000 or less may receive instructions from the IRS to file Form 944 annually. Seasonal employers who do not pay wages during certain quarters may not have to file for those specific periods after indicating their seasonal status to the IRS.

Information and Calculations Needed for Form 941

To complete Form 941, you must gather all the necessary payroll data for the quarter. This includes a count of employees who received wages during the pay period that includes the 12th of the month for each month in the quarter. You will also need the total amount of wages, tips, and other compensation paid to all employees, and the total federal income tax withheld from all employee wages for the quarter.

For Social Security, the tax rate is 6.2% for both the employer and the employee, applied to wages up to an annual limit of $176,100 for 2025. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% for both the employer and employee, with no wage base limit. An additional Medicare tax of 0.9% is withheld from employees on wages they earn above $200,000 in a calendar year.

You will also need records of any adjustments, such as those for fractions of cents that arise from rounding, or for sick pay and tips. It is also necessary to have a complete record of all tax deposits made for the quarter, as these will be reported to show how much of the liability has already been paid.

A Guide to Completing Form 941

The process of filling out Form 941 involves transferring the gathered and calculated data onto the specific lines of the return.

Part 1

Part 1 of the form is where you report your core payroll numbers for the quarter. You will begin by entering the number of employees you paid, the total wages and other compensation you paid, and the federal income tax you withheld. Subsequent lines require you to report taxable Social Security and Medicare wages. You will then calculate the Social Security and Medicare taxes based on these wages, multiply them by the appropriate rates, and enter the results. These figures are added together to determine your total tax liability before any adjustments or credits.

Part 2

This section details your tax deposit schedule. If you are a monthly schedule depositor, you will report your total tax liability for each of the three months in the quarter in the designated boxes. If you are a semi-weekly schedule depositor, you will not complete this section and will instead fill out Form 941, Schedule B, to report your tax liability for each payday. The total liability reported in Part 2 must match the total taxes calculated in Part 1.

Part 3

Part 3 contains a series of questions about your business operations during the quarter. You will answer “yes” or “no” to questions such as whether your business has closed or if you are a seasonal employer who does not have to file a return for every quarter of the year. This section helps the IRS understand any changes to your business that might affect your filing requirements going forward.

Parts 4 & 5

In Part 4, you can designate an employee or paid preparer to discuss the return with the IRS. Part 5 requires the signature of a responsible party within the business, such as an owner or corporate officer, who attests to the accuracy of the information provided. If you used a paid preparer to complete the form, they must also sign and provide their information in this section.

Filing the Form and Making Tax Deposits

The filing deadlines are tied to the end of each calendar quarter. If a deadline falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the filing is due on the next business day. The due dates are:

• April 30 for the first quarter
• July 31 for the second quarter
• October 31 for the third quarter
• January 31 for the fourth quarter of the prior year

You can mail a paper copy to the IRS, with the correct mailing address depending on your state and whether you are including a payment with the return. Alternatively, you can file electronically through an IRS-approved e-file provider.

Depositing the taxes is a separate process from filing the form. Most employers are required to deposit their federal income tax withheld, along with both the employer and employee shares of Social Security and Medicare taxes, electronically through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). These deposits are made throughout the quarter on either a monthly or semi-weekly schedule. The Form 941 then serves as a reconciliation of the deposits you have made against your total liability for the quarter.

Correcting a Previously Filed Form 941

Errors on a previously filed Form 941 can be corrected using Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund. This form is used to amend returns for both underreported taxes that result in an additional payment and overreported taxes that may lead to a refund or credit. You should file Form 941-X as soon as you discover an error.

The process requires you to file a separate Form 941-X for each quarter that needs correction. On the form, you will report the amounts you originally stated, the correct amounts, and the difference between the two. If the correction results in a balance due, you will need to make a payment. If it results in an overpayment, you can choose to have the overpayment refunded or applied as a credit to a future Form 941 filing.