What Are the Rules for a Semi-Weekly Depositor?
Understand your IRS payroll tax deposit obligations. Learn the specific timing and conditions that define a semi-weekly depositor for accurate, timely payments.
Employers required to deposit federal employment taxes, such as Social Security, Medicare, and withheld federal income tax, are assigned one of two deposit schedules by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). One of these is the semi-weekly schedule, which dictates more frequent deposits than the alternative monthly schedule. This schedule is for employers with a higher payroll tax liability.
Determining Your Deposit Schedule
Your deposit schedule for a calendar year is determined by the total employment tax liability you reported during a specific “lookback period.” This lookback period consists of the four quarters running from July 1 of the second preceding year through June 30 of the prior year. For example, to determine your schedule for 2025, you would look at your total taxes reported on your quarterly Form 941 filings from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
The threshold is $50,000. If your total tax liability on all Forms 941 filed for the lookback period was more than $50,000, you are a semi-weekly depositor; if it was $50,000 or less, you are a monthly depositor. This total tax liability is found on Line 12 of Form 941, “Total taxes after adjustments and nonrefundable credits.”
An exception exists for new employers. If you are a new business and have no tax liability for any quarter in the lookback period because you were not yet operating, you are automatically classified as a monthly depositor for your first year. This status remains unless you trigger the next-day deposit rule.
Semi-Weekly Deposit Rules
Once you are identified as a semi-weekly depositor, your deposit due dates are tied directly to your company’s paydays. The schedule is divided into two distinct periods within a week.
For paydays that fall on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the associated employment taxes must be deposited by the following Wednesday. For instance, if your company’s payday is Friday, March 7, the tax deposit would be due by Wednesday, March 12.
For paydays that occur on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, the deposit deadline is the following Friday. If a scheduled deposit due date falls on a legal holiday recognized in the District of Columbia, the deposit is timely if made by the next business day. A statewide holiday that is not a federal holiday does not extend the due date.
The Next-Day Deposit Rule
The $100,000 next-day deposit rule can override both monthly and semi-weekly schedules. If an employer’s accumulated tax liability reaches $100,000 or more on any single day during a deposit period, the deposit must be made by the close of the next business day.
For a semi-weekly depositor, if you accumulate $110,000 in tax liability on a Monday, you must deposit that amount by Tuesday. Any additional tax liability accumulated on Tuesday would follow the standard semi-weekly schedule, assuming it is less than $100,000.
An employer who must make a next-day deposit automatically becomes a semi-weekly depositor for the remainder of that calendar year and for the entire following calendar year. This change occurs even if the employer was previously on a monthly schedule and their lookback period liability was below the $50,000 threshold.
How to Make Federal Tax Deposits
All federal tax deposits must be made through electronic funds transfer. The primary method for this is the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), a free service provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
To use the system, you must first enroll at the EFTPS website. Enrollment requires your Employer Identification Number (EIN), business contact information, and bank account details. After enrolling, you will receive a Personal Identification Number (PIN) by mail within five to seven business days to activate your account and set an internet password.
Once enrolled, you can log in to the EFTPS portal or use the phone system to schedule payments. Payments must be scheduled by 8 p.m. Eastern Time at least one calendar day before the deposit is due. You will receive an EFT Acknowledgment Number as a receipt for your transaction.