IRS Releases Publication 80 (2017), (Circular SS), Federal Tax Guide for Employers in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to Pub. 80, such as legislation enacted after it was published, go to IRS.gov/pub80.

What's New

Social security and Medicare tax for 2017. The social security tax rate is 6.2% each for the employee and employer, unchanged from 2016. The social security wage base limit is $127,200.

The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employee and employer, unchanged from 2016. There is no wage base limit for Medicare tax.

Social security and Medicare taxes apply to the wages of household workers you pay $2,000 or more in cash wages in 2017. Social security and Medicare taxes apply to election workers who are paid $1,800 or more in cash or an equivalent form of compensation in 2017.

Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2015, a qualified small business may elect to claim up to $250,000 of its credit for increasing research activities as a payroll tax credit against the employer's share of social security tax. The portion of the credit used against the employer's share of social security tax is allowed in the first calendar quarter beginning after the date that the qualified small business filed its income tax return. The election and determination of the credit amount that will be used against the employer's share of social security tax is made on Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities. The amount from Form 6765, line 44, must then be reported on Form 8974, Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for Increasing Research Activities. Form 8974 is used to determine the amount of the credit that can be used in the current quarter. The amount from Form 8974, line 12, is reported on Form 941 or 941-SS, line 11.

New certification program for professional employer organizations. The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 required the IRS to establish a voluntary certification program for professional employer organizations (PEOs). PEOs handle various payroll administration and tax reporting responsibilities for their business clients and are typically paid a fee based on payroll costs. To become and remain certified under the certification program, certified professional employer organizations (CPEOs) must meet tax status, background, experience, business location, financial reporting, bonding, and other requirements described in sections 3511 and 7705 and related published guidance. The IRS began accepting applications for PEO certification in July 2016. Certification as a CPEO affects the employment tax liabilities of both the CPEO and its customers. A CPEO is generally treated as the employer of any individual performing services for a customer of the CPEO and covered by a contract described in section 7705(e)(2) between the CPEO and the customer (CPEO contract), but only for wages and other compensation paid to the individual by the CPEO. For more information, visit IRS.gov and enter "CPEO" in the search box.

Leave-based donation programs to aid victims of the severe storms and flooding in Louisiana. Under these programs, employees may donate their vacation, sick, or personal leave in exchange for employer cash payments made before January 1, 2018, to qualified tax-exempt organizations providing relief for the victims of the severe storms and flooding in Louisiana that began on August 11, 2016. The donated leave won't be included in the income or wages of the employee. The employer may deduct the cash payments as business expenses or charitable contributions. For more information, see Notice 2016-55, 2016-40 I.R.B. 432, available at IRS.gov/irb/2016-40_IRB/ar08.html.

Leave-based donation programs to aid victims of Hurricane Matthew. Under these programs, employees may donate their vacation, sick, or personal leave in exchange for employer cash payments made before January 1, 2018, to qualified tax-exempt organizations providing relief for the victims of Hurricane Matthew. The donated leave won't be included in the income or wages of the employee. The employer may deduct the cash payments as business expenses or charitable contributions. For more information, see Notice 2016-69, 2016-51 I.R.B. 832, available at IRS.gov/irb/2016-51_IRB/ar11.html.

Reminders

Work opportunity tax credit for qualified tax-exempt organizations hiring qualified veterans. The work opportunity tax credit is available for eligible unemployed veterans who begin work on or after November 22, 2011, and before January 1, 2020. Qualified tax-exempt organizations that hire eligible unemployed veterans can claim the work opportunity tax credit against their payroll tax liability using Form 5884-C. For more information, visit IRS.gov and enter "work opportunity tax credit" in the search box.

COBRA premium assistance credit. Effective for tax periods beginning after December 31, 2013, the credit for COBRA premium assistance payments can't be claimed on Form 941-SS, Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return--American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Instead, after filing your Form 941-SS, file Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, to claim the COBRA premium assistance credit. Filing a Form 941-X before filing a Form 941-SS for the quarter may result in errors or delays in processing your Form 941-X. For more information, see the Instructions for Form 941-SS or visit IRS.gov and enter "COBRA" in the search box. See the Instructions for Form 943 or the Instructions for Form 944 if you file one of these returns.

Same-sex marriage. A marriage of two individuals is recognized for federal tax purposes if the marriage is recognized by the state, possession, or territory of the United States in which the marriage is entered into, regardless of legal residence. Two individuals who enter into a relationship that is denominated as marriage under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction are recognized as married for federal tax purposes if the relationship would be recognized as marriage under the laws of at least one state, possession, or territory of the United States, regardless of legal residence. Individuals who have entered into a registered domestic partnership, civil union, or other similar relationship that isn't denominated as a marriage under the law of the state, possession, or territory of the United States where such relationship was entered into aren't recognized as married for federal tax purposes, regardless of legal residence.

Notice 2013-61 provides special administrative procedures for employers to make claims for refund or adjustments of overpayments of social security and Medicare taxes with respect to certain same-sex spouse benefits before expiration of the period of limitations. Notice 2013-61, 2013-44 I.R.B. 432, is available at IRS.gov/irb/2013-44_IRB/ar10.html. You may correct errors to Additional Medicare Tax withheld for prior years if the amount reported on your employment tax return doesn't agree with the amount you actually withheld. This type of error is an administrative error. You may also correct errors to Additional Medicare Tax withheld for prior years if section 3509 rates apply.

Outsourcing payroll duties. Unless the wages and other compensation paid to the individual performing services for you are paid by a CPEO and are covered by a contract described in section 7705(e)(2) between you and a CPEO (CPEO contract), you're responsible to ensure that tax returns are filed and deposits and payments are made, even if you contract with a third party to perform these acts. You remain responsible if the third party fails to perform any required action. If you choose to outsource any of your payroll and related tax duties (that is, withholding, reporting, and paying over social security, Medicare, FUTA, and income taxes) to a third-party payer, such as a payroll service provider or reporting agent, visit IRS.gov and enter "outsourcing payroll duties" in the search box for helpful information on this topic.

Residents of the Philippines working in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Employers must withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes on wages and other compensation paid to residents of the Philippines who don't hold an H-2 status for services performed as employees in the CNMI after December 31, 2014, unless those workers are eligible for exemption from social security and Medicare taxes under an exception listed in section 12. For more information, see Announcement 2012-43, 2012-51 I.R.B. 723, available at IRS.gov/irb/2012-51_IRB/ar15.html.

CNMI government employees are subject to social security and Medicare taxes. Beginning in the fourth calendar quarter of 2012, CNMI government employees are subject to social security and Medicare taxes.

You must receive written notice from the IRS to file Form 944. If you've been filing Forms 941-SS and believe your employment taxes for the calendar year will be $1,000 or less, and you would like to file Form 944 instead of Forms 941-SS, you must contact the IRS during the first calendar quarter of the tax year to request to file Form 944. You must receive written notice from the IRS to file Form 944 instead of Forms 941-SS before you may file this form. For more information on requesting to file Form 944, including the methods and deadlines for making a request, see the Instructions for Form 944.

Employers can request to file Forms 941-SS instead of Form 944. If you received notice from the IRS to file Form 944 but would like to file Forms 941-SS instead, you must contact the IRS during the first calendar quarter of the tax year to request to file Forms 941-SS. You must receive written notice from the IRS to file Forms 941-SS instead of Form 944 before you may file these forms. For more information on requesting to file Forms 941-SS, including the methods and deadlines for making a request, see the Instructions for Form 944.

Federal employers in the CNMI. The U.S. Treasury Department and the CNMI Division of Revenue and Taxation entered into an agreement under 5 USC 5517 in December 2006. Under this agreement, all federal employers (including the Department of Defense) are required to withhold CNMI income taxes (rather than federal income taxes) and deposit the CNMI taxes with the CNMI Treasury for employees who are subject to CNMI taxes and whose regular place of federal employment is in the CNMI. For more information, including details on completing Form W-2, visit IRS.gov and enter "5517 agreement" in the search box. Federal employers are also required to file quarterly and annual reports with the CNMI Division of Revenue and Taxation. For questions, contact the CNMI Division of Revenue and Taxation.

Change of business address or responsible party. Notify the IRS immediately if you change your business address or responsible party. Complete and mail Form 8822-B to notify the IRS of a business address or responsible party change. For a definition of "responsible party," see the Form 8822-B instructions.

Federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT). You must use EFT to make all federal tax deposits. Generally, an EFT is made using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). If you don't want to use EFTPS, you can arrange for your tax professional, financial institution, payroll service, or other trusted third party to make electronic deposits on your behalf. Also, you may arrange for your financial institution to initiate a same-day wire payment on your behalf. EFTPS is a free service provided by the Department of Treasury. Services provided by your tax professional, financial institution, payroll service, or other third party may have a fee.

For more information on making federal tax deposits, see How To Deposit, in section 8.

For more information about EFTPS or to enroll in EFTPS, visit the EFTPS website at eftps.gov or call 1-800-555-4477 or 1-800-733-4829 (TDD). Additional information about EFTPS is also available in Pub. 966.

Electronic filing and payment. Using electronic options can make filing a return and paying your federal tax easier. Use EFTPS to make deposits or pay in full, whether you rely on a tax professional or prepare your own taxes. You can use IRS e-file to file certain returns. If there is a balance due on the return, you can e-file and e-pay in a single step by authorizing an electronic funds withdrawal (EFW) from your bank account while e-filing. Don't use EFW to pay taxes that are required to be deposited. Visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/employmentefile for more information on filing electronically. For more information on paying your taxes using EFW, visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/payments. A fee may be charged to file electronically.

Electronic option for filing Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. Employers in American Samoa, the CNMI, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands can now use the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) W-2 Online service to create, save, print, and submit up to 50 Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI at a time over the Internet. Form W-3SS will be generated automatically based on your Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. For more information, visit the SSA's website at socialsecurity.gov/bso/bsowelcome.htm.

CAUTION: If you're required to file 250 or more Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, you must file electronically. Failure to file electronically may result in penalties. For more information, see section 10.

Credit or debit card payments. You can pay the balance due shown on your employment tax return by credit or debit card. Don't use a credit or debit card to make federal tax deposits. For more information on paying your taxes with a credit or debit card, visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/payments.

Online payment agreement. You may be eligible to apply for an installment agreement online if you have a balance due when you file your employment tax return. For more information, see the instructions for your employment tax return or visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/opa.

Hiring new employees. Record the number and name from each new employee's social security card. An employee who doesn't have a social security card should apply for one on Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card. See section 3.

Reporting discrepancies between Forms 941-SS (or Form 944) and Forms W-2. File Schedule D (Form 941), Report of Discrepancies Caused by Acquisitions, Statutory Mergers, or Consolidations, to explain certain wage, tax, and payment discrepancies between Forms 941-SS (or Form 944), and Forms W-2 that were caused by acquisitions, statutory mergers, or consolidations. For more information, see the Instructions for Schedule D (Form 941).

Apply for an employer identification number (EIN) online. Visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/ein to apply for an EIN online.

Dishonored payments. Any form of payment that is dishonored and returned from a financial institution is subject to a penalty. The penalty is $25 or 2% of the payment, whichever is more. However, the penalty on dishonored payments of $24.99 or less is an amount equal to the payment. For example, a dishonored payment of $18 is charged a penalty of $18.

Private delivery services. You can use certain private delivery services designated by the IRS to send tax returns or payments. The list includes only the following.

CAUTION: Private delivery services can't deliver items to P.O. boxes. You must use the U.S. Postal Service to mail any item to an IRS P.O. box address.

Recordkeeping. Keep all records of employment taxes for 4 years. These should be available for IRS review.

There is no required format for such records, but they should include your EIN; the amounts and dates of all wage payments (including fringe benefits) and tips reported; the names, addresses, and occupations of employees receiving such payments and their social security numbers (SSNs); copies of returns filed; dates of employment; and the dates and amounts of deposits made. Farm employers must keep a record of the name, permanent address, and EIN of each crew leader. See Farm Crew Leaders in section 2.

Disregarded entities and qualified subchapter S subsidiaries (QSubs). Eligible single-owner disregarded entities and QSubs are treated as separate entities for employment tax purposes. Eligible single-member entities must report and pay employment taxes on wages paid to their employees using the entities' own names and EINs. See Regulations sections 1.1361-4(a)(7) and 301.7701-2(c)(2)(iv).

Pub. 5146 explains employment tax examinations and appeal rights. Pub. 5146 provides employers with information on how the IRS selects employment tax returns to be examined, what happens during an exam, and what options an employer has in responding to the results of an exam, including how to appeal the results. Pub. 5146 also includes information on worker classification issues and tip exams.

Photographs of missing children. The IRS is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC). Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

Calendar

The following are important dates and responsibilities. Also see Pub. 509, Tax Calendars.

TIP: If any date shown next for filing a return, furnishing a form, or depositing taxes falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is the next business day. A statewide legal holiday delays a filing due date only if the IRS office where you're required to file is located in that state. However, a statewide legal holiday doesn't delay the due date of federal tax deposits. See Deposits Due on Business Days Only in section 8. For any filing due date, you'll meet the "file" or "furnish" requirement if the envelope containing the return or form is properly addressed, contains sufficient postage, and is postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service on or before the due date, or sent by an IRS-designated delivery service on or before the due date. See Private delivery services under Reminders for more information.

By January 31

File Form 941-SS or Form 944. File Form 941-SS for the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year and deposit any undeposited taxes. You may pay these taxes with Form 941-SS if your total tax liability for the quarter is less than $2,500. File Form 944 for the previous calendar year instead of Form 941-SS if the IRS has notified you in writing to file Form 944 and pay any undeposited taxes. You may pay these taxes with Form 944 if your total tax liability for the year is less than $2,500. For additional rules on when you can pay your taxes with your return, see Payment with Return in section 8. If you timely deposited all taxes when due, you may file by February 10.

File Form 943. File Form 943, Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees, with the IRS. If you deposited all Form 943 taxes when due, you may file Form 943 by February 10.

File Form 940. U.S. Virgin Islands employers only must file Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return, with the IRS. Pay or deposit (if more than $500) any balance of the tax due. If you deposited the full amount of taxes when due, you may file Form 940 by February 10.

Furnish Forms 1099 and W-2. Furnish each employee a completed Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. See section 10 for more information. Furnish Form 1099-MISC to payees for nonemployee compensation. Most Forms 1099 must be furnished to payees by January 31, but some can be furnished by February 15. For more information, see the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns.

File Form W-2. File with the SSA Copy A of all 2016 paper and electronic Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI and Form W-3SS, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements. For more information on reporting Form W-2 information to the SSA electronically, visit the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information webpage at socialsecurity.gov/employer. If filing electronically, the SSA will generate Form W-3SS data from the electronic submission of Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, and W-2VI.

File Form 1099-MISC reporting nonemployee compensation. File with the IRS Copy A of all 2016 paper and electronic Forms 1099-MISC that report nonemployee compensation, with Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns. For information on filing information returns electronically with the IRS, see Pub. 1220.

By April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31

Deposit FUTA taxes. Deposit FUTA tax for the quarter (including any amount carried over from other quarters) if over $500. If $500 or less, carry it over to the next quarter. See section 11 for more information.

File Form 941-SS. File Form 941-SS and deposit any undeposited taxes. You may pay these taxes with Form 941-SS if your total tax liability for the quarter is less than $2,500. If you timely deposited all taxes when due, you may file by May 10, August 10, November 10, or February 10, respectively. Don't file Form 941-SS for these quarters if you've been notified to file Form 944 and you didn't request and receive written notice from the IRS to file quarterly Forms 941-SS.

Introduction

This publication is for employers whose principal place of business is in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or who have employees who are subject to income tax withholding for any of these jurisdictions. Employers and employees in these areas are generally subject to social security and Medicare taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). See section 6 and section 7 for more information. This publication summarizes employer responsibilities to collect, pay, and report these taxes.

Whenever the term "United States" is used in this publication, it includes U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

This publication also provides employers in the U.S. Virgin Islands with a summary of their responsibilities in connection with the tax under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, known as FUTA tax. See section 11 for more information.

Except as shown in the table in section 12, social security, Medicare, and FUTA taxes apply to every employer who pays taxable wages to employees or who has employees who report tips.

This publication doesn't include information relating to the self-employment tax (for social security and Medicare of self-employed persons). See Pub. 570, Tax Guide for Individuals With Income From U.S. Possessions, if you need this information.

This publication also doesn't include information relating to income tax withholding. In U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, contact your local tax department for information about income tax withholding. See Pub. 15 for information on U.S. federal income tax withholding.

Comments and suggestions. We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.

You can send us comments from IRS.gov/formcomment.

Or you can write to:

Internal Revenue Service Tax Forms and Publications 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 Washington, DC 20224

We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area code, in your correspondence.

Although we can't respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax forms, instructions, and publications. We can't answer tax questions sent to the above address.

1. Employer Identification Number (EIN)

An EIN is a nine-digit number that the IRS issues. Its format is 00-0000000. It is used to identify the tax accounts of employers and certain other organizations and entities that have no employees. Use your EIN on all of the items that you send to the IRS and the SSA for your business.

If you don't have an EIN, you may apply for one online by visiting the IRS website at IRS.gov/ein. You may also apply for an EIN by calling 267-941-1099, or you can fax or mail Form SS-4 to the IRS. Don't use an SSN in place of an EIN.

If you don't have an EIN by the time a return is due, file a paper return and enter "Applied For" and the date that you applied for it in the space shown for the number. If you took over another employer's business, don't use that employer's EIN.

You should have only one EIN. If you have more than one, write to the IRS office where you file your returns using the "without a payment" address in the Instructions for Form 941-SS, Instructions for Form 944, or Instructions for Form 943. Or call the IRS Business & Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933. Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability (TDD/TTY users) may call 1-800-829-4059. The IRS will tell you which EIN to use. For more information, see Pub. 1635.

2. Who Are Employees?

Generally, employees are defined either under common law or under special statutes for certain situations. See Pub. 15-A for details on statutory employees and nonemployees.

Employee status under common law. Generally, a worker who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. This is so even when you give the employee freedom of action. What matters is that you have the right to control the details of how the services are performed. See Pub. 15-A for more information on how to determine whether an individual providing services is an independent contractor or an employee.

Generally, people in business for themselves aren't employees. For example, doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, and others in an independent trade in which they offer their services to the public are usually not employees. However, if the business is incorporated, corporate officers who work in the business are employees of the corporation.

If an employer-employee relationship exists, it doesn't matter what it is called. The employee may be called an agent or independent contractor. It also doesn't matter how payments are measured or paid, what they're called, or if the employee works full or part time.

Statutory employees. There are also some special definitions of employees for social security, Medicare, and FUTA taxes.

While the following persons may not be common law employees, they're considered employees for social security and Medicare purposes if the conditions under Tests, discussed below, are met.

Pub. 15-A gives examples of the employer-employee relationship.

Statutory nonemployees. Certain direct sellers, qualified real estate agents, and certain companion sitters are, by law, considered nonemployees. They're generally treated as self-employed for employment tax purposes. See Pub. 15-A for details.

H-2A agricultural workers. On Form W-2, don't check box 13 (Statutory employee) as H-2A workers aren't statutory employees.

Treating employees as nonemployees. If you incorrectly treated an employee as a nonemployee and didn't withhold social security and Medicare taxes, you'll be liable for the taxes. See Treating employees as nonemployees in section 2 of Pub.15, for details on Internal Revenue Code section 3509, which may apply.

IRS help. If you want the IRS to determine if a worker is an employee, file Form SS-8.

Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP). Employers who are currently treating their workers (or a class or group of workers) as independent contractors or other nonemployees and want to voluntarily reclassify their workers as employees for future tax periods may be eligible to participate in the VCSP if certain requirements are met. File Form 8952 to apply for the VCSP. For more information, visit IRS.gov and enter "VCSP" in the search box.

Business Owned and Operated by Spouses

If you and your spouse jointly own and operate a business and share in the profits and losses, you may be partners in a partnership, whether or not you have a formal partnership agreement. See Pub. 541 for more details. The partnership is considered the employer of any employees, and is liable for any employment taxes due on wages paid to its employees.

Exception--Qualified Joint Venture. If you and your spouse materially participate as the only members of a jointly owned and operated business, and you file a joint Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, or joint Form 1040-SS, U.S. Self-Employment Tax Return--U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or Puerto Rico, you can make a joint election to be taxed as a qualified joint venture instead of a partnership. See the Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) or the Instructions for Form 1040-SS. Spouses electing qualified joint venture status are treated as sole proprietors for federal tax purposes. Either of the sole proprietor spouses may report and pay the employment taxes due on wages paid to the employees, using the EIN of that spouse's sole proprietorship. For more information on qualified joint ventures, visit IRS.gov and enter "qualified joint venture" in the search box.

Farm Crew Leaders

You're an employer of farmworkers if you're a crew leader. A crew leader is a person who furnishes and pays (either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of the farm operator) workers to do farmwork for the farm operator. If there is no written agreement between you and the farm operator stating that you're his or her employee, and if you pay the workers (either for yourself or for the farm operator), then you're a crew leader.

3. Employee's Social Security Number (SSN)

An employee's SSN consists of nine digits separated as follows: 000-00-0000. You must get each employee's name and SSN and enter them on Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. If you don't report the employee's correct name and SSN, you may owe a penalty unless you have reasonable cause. See Pub. 1586 for information on the requirement to solicit the employee's SSN.

Employee's social security card. You should ask the employee to show you his or her social security card. The employee may show the card if it is available. Don't accept a social security card that says "Not valid for employment." A social security number issued with this legend doesn't permit employment. You may, but you're not required to, photocopy the social security card if the employee provides it.

Applying for a social security card. Any employee who is legally eligible to work in the United States and doesn't have an SSN can get one by completing Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card, and submitting the necessary documentation. You can get Form SS-5 from the SSA website at socialsecurity.gov/forms.pdf or see Where to get and file SSN application forms below. The employee must complete and sign Form SS-5; it can't be filed by the employer. You may be asked to supply a letter to accompany Form SS-5 if the employee has exceeded his or her yearly or lifetime limit for the number of replacement cards allowed.

Applying for an SSN. If you file Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI on paper and your employee applied for an SSN but doesn't have one when you must file Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, enter "Applied For" on the form. If you're filing electronically, enter all zeros (000-00-0000 if creating forms online or 000000000 if uploading a file) in the social security number field. When the employee receives the SSN, file Copy A of Form W-2c with the SSA to show the employee's SSN. Furnish copies B, C, and 2 of Form W-2c to the employee. Up to 25 Forms W-2c for each Form W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax Statements, may now be filed per session over the Internet, with no limit on the number of sessions. For more information, visit the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information webpage at socialsecurity.gov/employer. Advise your employee to correct the SSN on his or her original Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI.

Correctly record the employee's name and SSN. Record the name and SSN of each employee as they appear on his or her social security card. If the name isn't correct as shown on the card (for example, because of marriage or divorce), the employee should request an updated card from the SSA. Continue to use the old name until the employee shows you the updated social security card with the corrected name.

If the SSA issues the employee an updated card after a name change, or a new card with a different SSN after a change in alien work status, file a Form W-2c to correct the name/SSN reported on the most recently filed Form W-2, W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. It isn't necessary to correct other years if the previous name and SSN were used for years before the most recent Form W-2.

Where to get and file SSN application forms. U.S. Social Security Administration offices located in the territories.

U.S. Virgin Islands 1st Fl Suite 14 8000 Nisky Shopping Ct St. Thomas, VI 00802

Guam Suite 155 770 East Sunset Blvd Tiyan, GU 96913

American Samoa Centennial Building 3rd Floor, Suite 302 Pago Pago, AS 96799

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands MH II Building, Suite 201 Marina HGT Business Pk Saipan, MP 96950

Additional information is available on the SSA website on the Social Security Office Locator page at https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON.

Verification of SSNs. Employers and authorized reporting agents can use the Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) to instantly verify up to 10 names and SSNs (per screen) at a time, or submit an electronic file of up to 250,000 names and SSNs and usually receive the results the next business day. Visit socialsecurity.gov/employer/ssnv.htm for more information.

Registering for SSNVS. You must register online and receive authorization from your employer to use SSNVS. To register, visit the SSA's website at socialsecurity.gov/bso and click on the Register link under Business Services Online. Follow the registration instructions to obtain a user identification (ID) and password. You'll need to provide the following information about yourself and your company.

4. Wages and Other Compensation

Generally, all wages are subject to social security and Medicare tax (and FUTA tax for U.S. Virgin Islands employers). However, wages subject to social security tax and FUTA tax are limited by a wage base amount that you pay to each employee for the year. The wage base for social security tax is $127,200 for 2017. After you pay $127,200 to an employee in 2017, including tips, don't withhold social security tax on any amount that you later pay to the employee for the year. The wage base for FUTA tax is $7,000 for 2017. All wages are subject to Medicare tax. The wages may be in cash or in other forms, such as an automobile for personal use. Wages include salaries, vacation allowances, bonuses, commissions, and fringe benefits. It doesn't matter how payments are measured or paid.

See the table in section 12 for exceptions to social security, Medicare, and FUTA taxes on wages. See section 5 and section 6 for a discussion of how the rules apply to tips and farmworkers.

Social security and Medicare taxes apply to most payments of sick pay, including payments by third parties such as insurance companies. Special rules apply to the reporting of third-party sick pay. For details, see Pub. 15-A.

Determine the value of noncash pay (such as goods, lodging, and meals) by its fair market value. However, see Fringe Benefits below. Except for farmworkers and household employees, this kind of pay may be subject to social security, Medicare, and FUTA taxes.

Back pay, including retroactive wage increases (but not amounts paid as liquidated damages), is taxed as ordinary wages in the year paid. For information on reporting back pay to the SSA, see Pub. 957.

Travel and business expenses. Payments to your employee for travel and other necessary expenses of your business generally are included in taxable wages if (a) your employee isn't required to or doesn't substantiate timely those expenses to you with receipts or other documentation, or (b) you advance an amount to your employee for business expenses and your employee isn't required to or doesn't return timely any amount that he or she doesn't substantiate.

Sick pay. In general, sick pay is any amount that you pay, under a plan that you take part in, to an employee because of sickness or injury. These amounts are sometimes paid by a third party, such as an insurance company. In either case, these payments are subject to social security and Medicare taxes (and FUTA tax for U.S. Virgin Islands employers). These taxes don't apply to sick pay paid more than 6 calendar months after the last calendar month in which the employee worked for the employer. Pub. 15-A explains the employment tax rules that apply to sick pay, disability benefits, and similar payments to employees.

Fringe Benefits

Generally, fringe benefits are includible in the gross income of an employee and are subject to employment taxes. Examples of fringe benefits include the use of an automobile, aircraft flights that you provide, free or discounted commercial airline flights, vacations, discounts on property or services, memberships in country clubs or other social clubs, and tickets to entertainment or sporting events. In general, the amount included in the employee's income is the excess of the fair market value of the benefit over the sum of any amount paid for it by the employee and any amount excluded by law. For more information, see Pub. 15-B.

When fringe benefits are treated as paid. You can choose to treat certain noncash fringe benefits (including personal use of an automobile provided by you) as paid by the pay period, quarter, or on any other basis that you choose, but they must be treated as paid at least annually. You don't have to make a formal choice of payment dates or notify the IRS. You don't have to use the same basis for all employees. You may change methods as often as you like, as long as all benefits provided in a calendar year are treated as paid no later than December 31 of the calendar year. However, see Special accounting rule for fringe benefits provided during November and December below.

You can treat the value of a single taxable noncash fringe benefit as paid on one or more dates in the same calendar year, even if the employee gets the entire benefit at one time. However, once you elect the payment dates, you must report the taxes on your return in the same tax period in which you treated them as paid. This election doesn't apply to a fringe benefit where real property or investment personal property is transferred.

Withholding social security and Medicare taxes on fringe benefits. You add the value of fringe benefits to regular wages for a payroll period and figure social security and Medicare taxes on the total.

If you withhold less than the required amount of social security and Medicare taxes from the employee in a calendar year but report and pay the proper amount, you may recover the taxes from the employee.

Depositing taxes on fringe benefits. Once you choose payment dates for taxable noncash fringe benefits, you must deposit taxes in the same deposit period that you treat the fringe benefits as paid. You may make a reasonable estimate of the value of the fringe benefits. In general, the value of taxable noncash fringe benefits provided in a calendar year must be determined by January 31 of the following year.

You may claim a refund of overpayments or elect to have any overpayment applied to the next employment tax return. If deposits are underpaid, see Deposit Penalties in section 8.

Valuation of vehicles provided to employees. If you provide a vehicle to your employees, you may either determine the actual value of the benefit for the entire calendar year, excluding the portion attributable to the employee's business use from the employee's income and including only the portion attributable to the employee's personal use of the vehicle, or consider the entire use for the calendar year as personal and include 100% of the value of the vehicle in the employee's income. For reporting information to employees, see the box 14 instructions in the General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

Special accounting rule for fringe benefits provided during November and December. You may choose to treat the value of taxable noncash fringe benefits provided during November and December as paid in the next year. However, this applies only to those benefits that you actually provided during November and December, not to those you merely treated as paid during those months.

If you use this rule, you must notify each affected employee between the time of the employee's last paycheck of the calendar year and at or near the time that you give the employee Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. If you use the special accounting rule, your employee must also use it for the same period that you use it. You can't use this rule for a fringe benefit of real property or tangible or intangible real property of a kind normally held for investment that is transferred to your employee.

5. Tips

Tips that your employee receives from customers are generally subject to social security and Medicare withholding. Your employee must report cash tips to you by the 10th of the month after the month that the tips are received. The report should include tips you paid over to the employee for charge customers, tips the employee received directly from customers, and tips received from other employees under any tip-sharing arrangement. Both directly and indirectly tipped employees must report tips to you. The report shouldn't include tips that the employee paid out to other employees. No report is required for months when tips are less than $20. Your employees report tips on Form 4070 or on a similar statement. They may also use Form 4070A to keep a record of their tips. Both forms are included in Pub. 1244 available at IRS.gov.

The statement must be signed by the employee and must include:

Collecting taxes on tips. You must collect the employee social security and Medicare taxes on the employee's tips. You can also collect these taxes from the employee's wages or from other funds that he or she makes available. Stop collecting the employee social security tax when his or her total wages and tips for 2017 reach $127,200. Collect the employee Medicare tax for the whole year on all wages and tips.

You're responsible for the employer social security tax on wages and tips until the wages (including tips) reach the wage base limit. You're responsible for the employer Medicare tax for the whole year on all wages and tips. File Form 941-SS (or Form 944) to report withholding and employer taxes on tips.

The withholding rules for withholding an employee's share of Medicare tax on tips also apply to withholding the Additional Medicare Tax once wages and tips exceed $200,000 in the calendar year.

Ordering rule. If, by the 10th of the month after the month you received an employee's report on tips, you don't have enough employee funds available to deduct the employee social security and Medicare tax on tips, you no longer have to collect it and aren't liable for it.

Reporting tips. Report tips and any collected and uncollected social security in boxes 1, 5, 7, and 12 on Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI and on Form 941-SS, lines 5b, 5c, and 5d (Form 944, lines 4b, 4c, and 4d). Don't include any uncollected Additional Medicare Tax in box 12 of Form W-2. Report an adjustment on Form 941-SS, line 9 (Form 944, line 6), for the uncollected social security and Medicare taxes. The table in section 12 shows how tips are treated for FUTA tax purposes.

Revenue Ruling 2012-18 provides guidance for employers regarding social security and Medicare taxes imposed on tips, including information on the reporting of the employer share of social security and Medicare taxes under section 3121(q), the difference between tips and service charges, and the section 45B credit. See Revenue Ruling 2012-18, 2012-26 I.R.B. 1032, available at IRS.gov/irb/2012-26_IRB/ar07.html.

6. Social Security and Medicare Taxes for Farmworkers

The tests described next apply only to services that are defined as agricultural labor (farmwork). In general, you're an employer of farmworkers if your employees:

Farmwork doesn't include reselling activities that don't involve any substantial activity of raising agricultural or horticultural commodities, such as a retail store or a greenhouse used primarily for display or storage. It also doesn't include processing services which change a commodity from its raw or natural state, or services performed after a commodity has been changed from its raw or natural state.

A "share farmer" working for you isn't your employee. However, the share farmer may be subject to self-employment tax. In general, share farming is an arrangement in which certain commodity products are shared between the farmer and the owner (or tenant) of the land. For details, see Regulations section 31.3121(b)(16)-1.

The $150 Test or the $2,500 Test

All cash wages that you pay to any employee for farmwork are subject to social security and Medicare taxes if either of the following two tests is met.

A seasonal farmworker is a worker who:

The tax rate for social security is 6.2% (amount withheld) each for the employer and employee (12.4% total). The social security wage base limit is $127,200. The tax rate for Medicare is 1.45% (amount withheld) each for the employee and employer (2.9% total). There is no wage base limit for Medicare tax; all covered wages are subject to Medicare tax. Multiply each wage payment by these percentages to figure the tax to withhold from employees. Employers report both the employee and employer shares on Forms 941-SS, 944, or Form 943 (farm employment). See section 5 for information on tips.

Additional Medicare Tax withholding. In addition to withholding Medicare tax at 1.45%, you must withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax from wages you pay to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. You're required to begin withholding Additional Medicare Tax in the pay period in which you pay wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee and continue to withhold it each pay period until the end of the calendar year. Additional Medicare Tax is only imposed on the employee. There is no employer share of Additional Medicare Tax. All wages that are subject to Medicare tax are subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding if paid in excess of the $200,000 withholding threshold.

For more information on what wages are subject to Medicare tax, see the chart Special Rules for Various Types of Employment and Payments in section 12. For more information on Additional Medicare Tax, visit IRS.gov and enter "Additional Medicare Tax" in the search box.

Deducting the tax. Deduct the employee tax from each wage payment. If you're not sure that the wages that you pay to a farmworker during the year will be taxable, you may either deduct the tax when you make the payments or wait until the $2,500 test or the $150 test explained in section 6 has been met.

Employee's portion of taxes paid by employer. If you pay your employee's social security and Medicare taxes without deducting them from the employee's pay, you must include the amount of the payments in the employee's wages for social security and Medicare taxes. This increase in the employee's wage payment for your payment of the employee's social security and Medicare taxes is also subject to employee social security and Medicare taxes. This again increases the amount of the additional taxes that you must pay. For more information, see Revenue Ruling 86-14, 1986-1 C.B. 304.

Household and agricultural employers. This discussion doesn't apply to household and agricultural employers. If you pay a household or agricultural employee's social security and Medicare taxes, these payments must be included in the employee's wages. However, this wage increase due to the tax payments isn't subject to social security or Medicare taxes as discussed in this section. See Pub. 15-A for details.

Sick pay payments. Social security and Medicare taxes apply to most payments of sick pay, including payments made by third parties such as insurance companies. For details on third-party payers of sick pay, see Pub. 15-A.

Motion picture project employers. All wages paid by a motion picture project employer to a motion picture project worker during a calendar year are subject to a single social security tax wage base ($127,200 for 2017) and a single FUTA tax wage base ($7,000 for 2017) regardless of the worker's status as a common law employee of multiple clients of the motion picture project employer. For more information, including the definition of a motion picture project employer and motion picture project worker, see Internal Revenue Code section 3512.

8. Depositing Taxes

You must deposit social security and Medicare taxes if your tax liability (Form 941-SS, line 12 (line 10 for the 4th quarter of 2016); Form 944, line 7; or Form 943, line 11) is $2,500 or more for the tax return period. You must make the deposit by EFT. For more information about EFT, see How To Deposit, later in this section.

Payment with Return

$2,500 rule. Instead of making deposits during the current quarter, you can pay your total Form 941-SS tax liability when you timely file Form 941-SS if:

Employers who have been notified to file Form 944 can pay their tax liability due for the fourth quarter with Form 944, if their fourth quarter tax liability is less than $2,500. Employers must have deposited any tax liability due for the first, second, and third quarters, according to the deposit rules, in order to avoid an FTD penalty for deposits due during those quarters.

CAUTION: Only monthly schedule depositors are allowed to make an Accuracy of Deposits Rule payment with the return. Semiweekly schedule depositors must timely deposit the amount. See Accuracy of Deposits Rule and How To Deposit, later in this section.

When To Deposit

Under the rules discussed below, the only difference between farm and nonfarm workers' employment tax deposit rules is the lookback period. Therefore, farm and nonfarm workers are discussed together except where noted.

Depending on your total taxes reported during a lookback period (discussed below), you're either a monthly schedule depositor or a semiweekly schedule depositor.

The terms "monthly schedule depositor" and "semiweekly schedule depositor" don't refer to how often you pay your employees or how often you're required to make deposits. The terms identify which set of rules that you must follow when a tax liability arises (for example, when you have a payday).

You'll need to determine your deposit schedule for a calendar year based on the total employment taxes reported on Forms 941-SS, line 10; Form 944, line 7; or Form 943, line 11, for your lookback period (defined below). If you filed both Forms 941-SS and 941 during the lookback period, combine the tax liabilities for these returns for purposes of determining your deposit schedule. Determine your deposit schedule for Form 943 separately from Forms 941-SS and 941.

Lookback period for employers of nonfarm workers. The lookback period for Form 941-SS (or Form 941) consists of four quarters beginning July 1 of the second preceding year and ending June 30 of the prior year. These four quarters are your lookback period even if you didn't report any taxes for any of the quarters. For 2017, the lookback period is July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016.

Table 1. Lookback Period for Calendar Year 2017

 -------------------------------------------------------------

Lookback period for employers of farmworkers. The lookback period for Form 943 is the second calendar year preceding the current calendar year. The lookback period for calendar year 2017 is calendar year 2015.

Adjustments to lookback period taxes. To determine your taxes for the lookback period, use only the tax that you reported on the original returns (Forms 941-SS, 943, or 944). Don't include any adjustments shown on Form 941-X, 943-X, or 944-X.

Example. An employer originally reported total taxes of $45,000 for the lookback period. The employer discovered during January 2017 that the tax reported during the lookback period was understated by $10,000 and corrected this error by filing Form 941-X. The employer is a monthly schedule depositor for 2017 because the lookback period tax liabilities are based on the amounts originally reported, and they were $50,000 or less.

Deposit Period

The term "deposit period" refers to the period during which tax liabilities are accumulated for each required deposit due date. For monthly schedule depositors, the deposit period is a calendar month. The deposit periods for semiweekly schedule depositors are Wednesday through Friday and Saturday through Tuesday.

Monthly Deposit Schedule

If your total tax reported for the lookback period is $50,000 or less, you're a monthly schedule depositor for the current year. You must deposit taxes on wage payments made during a calendar month by the 15th day of the following month.

New employers. Your tax liability for any quarter in the lookback period before the date you started or acquired your business is considered to be zero. Therefore, you're a monthly schedule depositor for the first calendar year of your business (but see the $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule, later in this section).

Semiweekly Deposit Schedule

If your total tax reported for the lookback period is more than $50,000, you're a semiweekly schedule depositor for the current year. If you're a semiweekly schedule depositor, you must deposit on Wednesday and/or Friday, depending on what day of the week that you make wage payments, as follows.

CAUTION: Semiweekly schedule depositors must complete Schedule B (Form 941), Report of Tax Liability for Semiweekly Schedule Depositors, and submit it with Form 941-SS. If you file Form 944 and are a semiweekly schedule depositor, complete Form 945-A, Annual Record of Federal Tax Liability, and submit it with your return (instead of Schedule B). If you file Form 943 and are a semiweekly schedule depositor, complete Form 943-A, Agricultural Employer's Record of Federal Tax Liability, and submit it with your return (instead of Schedule B).

Semiweekly deposit period spanning two quarters (Form 941-SS filers). If you have more than one pay date during a semiweekly period and the pay dates fall in different calendar quarters, you'll need to make separate deposits for the separate liabilities.

Example. If you have a pay date on Saturday, September 30, 2017 (third quarter), and another pay date on Sunday, October 1, 2017 (fourth quarter), two separate deposits will be required even though the pay dates fall within the same semiweekly period. Both deposits will be due on Friday, October 6, 2017.

Semiweekly deposit period spanning two return periods (Form 943 or Form 944 filers). If you have more than one pay date during a semiweekly period and the pay dates fall in different return periods, you'll need to make separate deposits for the separate liabilities. For example, if you have a pay date on Saturday, December 30, 2017, and another pay date on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, two separate deposits will be required even though the pay dates fall within the same semiweekly period. Both deposits will be due Friday, January 5, 2018 (3 business days from the end of the semi-weekly deposit period).

Examples of Monthly and Semiweekly Schedules

Employers of nonfarm workers. Rose Co. reported Form 941-SS taxes as follows:

                  2016 Lookback Period

Employers of farmworkers. Red Co. reported taxes on its 2015 Form 943, line 11, of $48,000. On its 2016 Form 943, line 11, it reported taxes of $60,000.

Red Co. is a monthly schedule depositor for 2017 because its taxes for its lookback period ($48,000 for calendar year 2015) weren't more than $50,000. However, for 2018, Red Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor because the total taxes for its lookback period ($60,000 for calendar year 2016) exceeded $50,000.

New agricultural employers. New agricultural employers filing Form 943 are monthly schedule depositors for the first and second calendar years of their business because their taxes for the lookback period (2 years) are considered to be zero. However, see the $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule below.

Deposits Due on Business Days Only

If a deposit due date falls on a day that isn't a business day, the deposit is considered timely if it is made by the close of the next business day. A business day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. For example, if a deposit is required to be made on Friday, but Friday is a legal holiday, the deposit is considered timely if it is made by the following Monday (if Monday is a business day).

Semiweekly schedule depositors have at least 3 business days following the close of the semiweekly period to make a deposit. If any of the 3 weekdays after the end of a semiweekly period is a legal holiday, you'll have an additional day for each day that is a legal holiday to make the required deposit. For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor accumulated taxes for payments made on Friday and the following Monday is a legal holiday, the deposit normally due on Wednesday may be made on Thursday (this allows 3 business days to make the deposit).

Legal holiday. The term "legal holiday" means any legal holiday in the District of Columbia. For purposes of the deposit rules, the term "legal holiday" doesn't include other statewide legal holidays. Legal holidays for 2017 are listed next.

The following examples illustrate the procedure for determining the deposit date under the two different deposit schedules.

Monthly schedule example. Spruce Co. is a monthly schedule depositor with seasonal employees. It paid wages each Friday during July but didn't pay any wages during August. Under the monthly deposit schedule, Spruce Co. must deposit the combined tax liabilities for the July paydays by August 15. Spruce Co. doesn't have a deposit requirement for August (due by September 15) because no wages were paid and, therefore, it didn't have a tax liability for August.

Semiweekly schedule example. Green, Inc. is a semiweekly schedule depositor and pays wages once each month on the last Friday of the month. Although Green, Inc., has a semiweekly deposit schedule, it will deposit just once a month because it pays wages only once a month. The deposit, however, will be made under the semiweekly deposit schedule as follows: Green, Inc.'s tax liability for the April 28, 2017 (Friday), payday must be deposited by May 3, 2017 (Wednesday). Under the semiweekly deposit schedule, liabilities for wages paid on Wednesday through Friday must be deposited by the following Wednesday.

$100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule

If you accumulate taxes of $100,000 or more on any day during a deposit period, you must deposit by the close of the next business day, whether you're a monthly or a semiweekly schedule depositor.

For purposes of the $100,000 rule, don't continue accumulating taxes after the end of a deposit period. For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor has accumulated taxes of $95,000 on Tuesday and $10,000 on Wednesday, the $100,000 next-day deposit rule doesn't apply because the $10,000 is accumulated in the next deposit period. Thus, $95,000 must be deposited by Friday and $10,000 must be deposited by the following Wednesday.

However, once you accumulate at least $100,000 in a deposit period, stop accumulating at the end of that day and begin to accumulate anew on the next day. For example, Fir Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor. On Monday, Fir Co. accumulates taxes of $110,000 and must deposit on Tuesday, the next business day. On Tuesday, Fir Co. accumulates additional taxes of $30,000. Because the $30,000 isn't added to the previous $110,000 and is less than $100,000, Fir Co. doesn't have to deposit the $30,000 until Friday (following the semiweekly deposit schedule).

CAUTION: If you're a monthly schedule depositor and you accumulate a $100,000 tax liability on any day during a month, you become a semiweekly schedule depositor on the next day and remain so for the remainder of the calendar year and for the following calendar year.

Example. Elm, Inc. started its business on May 7, 2017. On May 10, it paid wages for the first time and accumulated a tax liability of $40,000. On Friday, May 12, Elm, Inc. paid wages and accumulated a liability of $60,000, making its accumulated Form 941-SS tax liability total $100,000. Elm, Inc. must deposit $100,000 by Monday, May 15, the next business day. Because this was the first year of its business, the tax liability for its lookback period is considered to be zero, and it would be a monthly schedule depositor based on the lookback rules. However, because Elm, Inc. accumulated $100,000 on May 12, it became a semiweekly schedule depositor on May 13. It will be a semiweekly schedule depositor for the remainder of 2017 and for 2018.

Accuracy of Deposits Rule

You're required to deposit 100% of your tax liability on or before the deposit due date. However, penalties won't be applied for depositing less than 100% if both of the following conditions are met.

Employers of Both Farm and Nonfarm Workers

If you employ both farm and nonfarm workers, you must treat employment taxes for the farmworkers (Form 943 taxes) separately from employment taxes for the nonfarm workers (Form 941-SS or 944 taxes). Form 943 taxes and Form 941-SS (or Form 944) taxes aren't combined for purposes of applying any of the deposit rules.

If a deposit is due, deposit the Form 941-SS (or Form 944) taxes and Form 943 taxes separately, as discussed next.

How To Deposit

You must deposit employment taxes by EFT. See Payment with Return, earlier in this section, for exceptions explaining when taxes may be paid with the tax return instead of being deposited.

Electronic deposit requirement. You must use EFT to make all federal tax deposits (such as deposits of employment tax, excise tax, and corporate income tax). Generally, an EFT is made using EFTPS. If you don't want to use EFTPS, you can arrange for your tax professional, financial institution, payroll service, or other trusted third party to make electronic deposits on your behalf.

EFTPS is a free service provided by the Department of the Treasury. To get more information or to enroll in EFTPS, visit eftps.gov or call 1-800-555-4477 or 1-800-733-4829 (TDD). Additional information about EFTPS is also available in Pub. 966.

When you receive your EIN. If you're a new employer that indicated a federal tax obligation when requesting an EIN, you'll be pre-enrolled in EFTPS. You'll receive information about Express Enrollment in your EIN Package and an additional mailing containing your EFTPS personal identification number (PIN) and instructions for activating your PIN. Follow the steps in your "How To Activate Your Enrollment" brochure to activate your enrollment and begin making your payroll tax deposits. If you outsource any of your payroll and related tax duties to a third party payer, such as a payroll service provider or reporting agent, be sure to tell them about your EFTPS enrollment.

Deposit record. For your records, an EFT Trace Number will be provided with each successful payment. The number can be used as a receipt or to trace the payment.

Depositing on time. For deposits made by EFTPS to be on time, you must submit the deposit by 8 p.m. Eastern time the day before the date the deposit is due. If you use a third party to make deposits on your behalf, they may have different cutoff times.

Same-day wire payment option. If you fail to submit a deposit transaction on EFTPS by 8 p.m. Eastern time the day before the date a deposit is due, you can still make your deposit on time by using the Federal Tax Collection Service (FTCS). To use the same-day wire payment method, you'll need to make arrangements with your financial institution ahead of time. Please check with your financial institution regarding availability, deadlines, and costs. Your financial institution may charge you a fee for payments made this way. To learn more about the information you'll need to provide to your financial institution to make a same-day wire payment, visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/payments and click on Same-day wire.

How to claim credit for overpayments. If you deposited more than the right amount of taxes for a tax period, you can choose on Form 941-SS, 941, 944, or 943 for that tax period to have the overpayment refunded or applied as a credit to your next return. Don't ask EFTPS to request a refund from the IRS for you.

Deposit Penalties

Penalties may apply if you don't make required deposits on time or if you make deposits of less than the required amount. The penalties don't apply if any failure to make a proper and timely deposit was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. If you receive a penalty notice, you can provide an explanation of why you believe reasonable cause exists. If you timely filed your employment tax return, the IRS may also waive deposit penalties if you inadvertently failed to deposit and it was the first quarter that you were required to deposit any employment tax, or if you inadvertently failed to deposit the first time after your deposit frequency changed.

For amounts not properly or timely deposited, the penalty rates are as follows.

  2% - Deposits made 1 to 5 days late.

Special rule for former Form 944 filers. If you filed Form 944 for the prior year and must file Forms 941-SS for the current year because your employment tax liability for the prior year exceeded the Form 944 eligibility requirement ($1,000 or less), the FTD penalty won't apply to a late deposit of employment taxes for the first month of the current year if the taxes are deposited in full by March 15 of the current year.

Order in which deposits are applied. Deposits generally are applied to the most recent tax liability within the return period (quarter or year). However, if you receive an FTD penalty notice, you may designate how your payment is to be applied in order to minimize the amount of the penalty, if you do so within 90 days of the date of the notice. Follow the instructions on the penalty notice that you received. For more information on designating deposits, see Revenue Procedure 2001-58. You can find Revenue Procedure 2001-58 on page 579 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 2001-50 at IRS.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb01-50.pdf.

Example. Cedar, Inc. is required to make a deposit of $1,000 on May 15 and $1,500 on June 15. It doesn't make the deposit on May 15. On June 15, Cedar, Inc. deposits $2,000. Under the deposits rule, which applies deposits to the most recent tax liability, $1,500 of the deposit is applied to the June 15 deposit and the remaining $500 is applied to the May deposit. Accordingly, $500 of the May 15 liability remains undeposited. The penalty on this underdeposit will apply as explained earlier.

Trust fund recovery penalty. If federal income, social security, or Medicare taxes that must be withheld (that is, trust fund taxes) aren't withheld or aren't deposited or paid to the United States Treasury, the trust fund recovery penalty may apply. The penalty is the full amount of the unpaid trust fund tax. This penalty may apply to you if these unpaid taxes can't be immediately collected from the employer or business.

The trust fund recovery penalty may be imposed on all persons who are determined by the IRS to be responsible for collecting, accounting for, or paying over these taxes, and who acted willfully in not doing so.

A responsible person can be an officer or employee of a corporation, a partner or employee of a partnership, an accountant, a volunteer director/trustee, or an employee of a sole proprietorship, or any other person or entity that is responsible for collecting, accounting for, or paying over trust fund taxes. A responsible person also may include one who signs checks for the business or otherwise has authority to cause the spending of business funds.

Willfully means voluntarily, consciously, and intentionally. A responsible person acts willfully if the person knows the required actions of collecting, accounting for, or paying over trust fund taxes aren't taking place, or recklessly disregards obvious and known risks to the government's right to receive trust fund taxes.

"Averaged" FTD penalty. The IRS may assess an "averaged" FTD penalty of 2% to 10% if you're a monthly schedule depositor and didn't properly complete Form 941-SS, line 16, when your tax liability shown on Form 941-SS, line 12, was $2,500 or more. IRS may also assess this penalty of 2% to 10% if you're a semiweekly schedule depositor and your tax liability shown on Form 941-SS, line 12, was $2,500 or more and you did any of the following.

You can avoid the penalty by reviewing your return before filing it. Follow these steps before filing your Form 941-SS.

9. Employer's Returns

General instructions. File Forms 941-SS (or Form 944) for nonfarm workers and Form 943 for farmworkers. (U.S. Virgin Islands employers may be required to file Form 940 for the combined wages of nonfarm workers and farm-workers.)

Employers with employees subject to U.S. income tax withholding. If you have both employees who are subject to U.S. income tax withholding and employees who aren't subject to U.S. income tax withholding, you must file only Form 941 (or Form 944) and include all your employees' wages on that form.

Nonfarm employers. File Form 941-SS for the calendar quarter in which you first pay wages for nonfarm workers and for each quarter thereafter unless you're a seasonal employer or file a final return. Due dates for each quarter of the calendar year are as follows.

    Quarter              Due

If you closed your business or stopped paying wages and don't have to file returns in the future, check the box on line 17 of your final Form 941-SS and show the date final wages were paid.

Form 944. If IRS notified you to file Form 944, file your 2016 Form 944 by January 31, 2017, or by February 10, 2017 (if you deposited all taxes when due).

Household employers reporting social security and Medicare taxes. If you're a sole proprietor and file Forms 941-SS (or Form 944) for business employees, you may include taxes for household employees on your Forms 941-SS (or Form 944). Otherwise, report social security and Medicare taxes for household employees on Schedule H (Form 1040). See Pub. 926 for more information.

Employers of farmworkers. Every employer of farm-workers must file a Form 943 for each calendar year beginning with the first year the employer pays $2,500 or more for farmwork or employs a farmworker who meets the $150 test described in section 6.

File a Form 943 each year for all taxable wages paid for farmwork. You may report household workers in a private home on a farm operated for profit on Form 943. Don't report wages for farmworkers on Form 941-SS or 944.

Send Form 943 to the IRS by January 31 of the following year. Send it with payment of any taxes due that you're not required to deposit. If you deposited all taxes when due, you may file Form 943 by February 10.

Penalties. For each whole or part month that a return isn't filed when required (disregarding any extensions of the filing deadline), there is a failure-to-file (FTF) penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax due with that return. The maximum penalty is generally 25% of the tax due. Also, for each whole or part month that the tax is paid late (disregarding any extensions of the payment deadline), there is a failure-to-pay (FTP) penalty of 0.5% per month of the amount of tax. For individual filers only, the FTP penalty is reduced from 0.5% per month to 0.25% per month if an installment agreement is in effect. You must have filed your return on or before the due date of the return to qualify for the reduced penalty. The maximum amount of the FTP penalty is also 25% of the tax due. If both penalties apply in any month, the FTF penalty is reduced by the amount of the FTP penalty. The penalties won't be charged if you have a reasonable cause for failing to file or pay. If you receive a penalty notice, you can provide an explanation of why you believe reasonable cause exists.

Reporting Adjustments to Form 941-SS, 944, or 943

Current Period Adjustments

Make current period adjustments for fractions of cents, sick pay, tips, and group-term life insurance on your Form 941-SS, 944, or 943. See the Instructions for Form 941-SS, Instructions for Form 944, or Instructions for Form 943 for information on how to report these adjustments.

Prior Period Adjustments

Forms for prior period adjustments. Use Form 941-X or Form 944-X to make a correction after you discover an error on a previously filed Form 941 or Form 944. There are also Forms 943-X, 945-X, and CT-1X to report corrections on the corresponding returns. Form 941-X and Form 944-X also replace Form 843 for employers to request a refund or abatement of overreported employment taxes. Continue to use Form 843 when requesting a refund or abatement of assessed interest or penalties.

TIP: See Revenue Ruling 2009-39, 2009-52 I.R.B. 951, for examples of how the interest-free adjustment and claim for refund rules apply in 10 different situations. You can find Revenue Ruling 2009-39, at IRS.gov/irb/2009-52_IRB/ar14.html.

Background. Treasury Decision 9405 changed the process for making interest-free adjustments to employment taxes reported on Forms 941-SS, 943, 944-SS, and 944, and for filing a claim for refund of employment taxes. Treasury Decision 9405, 2008-32 I.R.B. 293, is available at IRS.gov/irb/2008-32_IRB/ar13.html. You'll use the adjustment process if you underreported employment taxes and are making a payment, or if you overreported employment taxes and will be applying the credit to the Form 941-SS, 943, or 944 period during which you file Forms 941-X, 943-X, or 944-X, respectively. You'll use the claim process if you overreported employment taxes and are requesting a refund or abatement of the overreported amount. We use the terms "correct" and "corrections" to include interest-free adjustments under sections 6205 and 6413, and claims for refund and abatement under sections 6402, 6414, and 6404 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Correcting employment taxes. When you discover an error on a previously filed Form 941-SS, 943, or 944, you must:

Report current period adjustments for fractions of cents, third-party sick pay, tips, and group-term life insurance on Form 941-SS, lines 7-9; Form 943, line 10; or Form 944, line 6. Report the correction of underreported and overreported amounts for the same tax period on a single Form 941-X, Form 943-X, or Form 944-X unless you're requesting a refund. If you're requesting a refund and are correcting both underreported and overreported amounts, file one Form 941-X, Form 943-X, or Form 944-X correcting the underreported amounts only and a second Form 941-X, Form 943-X, or Form 944-X correcting the overreported amounts.

See the chart on the back of Form 941-X, Form 943-X, or Form 944-X for help in choosing whether to use the adjustment process or the claim process. See the Instructions for Form 941-X, Instructions for Form 943-X, or Instructions for Form 944-X for details on how to make the adjustment or claim for refund or abatement.

TIP: You can't adjust amounts reported as Additional Medicare Tax withheld in a prior calendar year unless it is to correct an administrative error or section 3509 applies. An administrative error occurs if the amount you entered on Form 941-SS, 944, or 943 isn't the amount that you actually withheld. Examples include mathematical or transposition errors. If a prior year error was a nonadministrative error, you may correct only the wages and tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding.

Exceptions to interest-free corrections of employment taxes. A correction won't be eligible for interest-free treatment if:

Refunding amounts incorrectly withheld from employees. If you withheld more than the correct amount of social security tax or Medicare tax from wages paid, and discover the error before filing Form 941-SS, 944, or 943, repay or reimburse the employee the amount overwithheld before filing the return.

Note. An employer reimburses an employee by applying the overwithheld amount against taxes to be withheld on future wages.

Be sure to keep in your records the employee's written receipt showing the date and amount of the repayment or record of reimbursement. You must report and pay any taxes overwithheld when you file the return for the return period in which the overcollection was made if you haven't repaid or reimbursed the employee.

For an overcollection reported on a previously filed Form 941-SS, 944, or 943, an employer is required to repay or reimburse its employees prior to filing an adjusted employment tax return. Any excess Additional Medicare Tax withholding must be repaid or reimbursed to the employee before the end of the calendar year in which it was withheld.

Employers filing claims for refund of overpaid social security and Medicare taxes may either repay or reimburse the employees their share of social security tax and Medicare tax first or get employee consents to file the claim for the excess tax on their behalf. Employers must retain the written receipt of the employee showing the date and amount of the repayment, record of reimbursement, or the written consent of the employee. You can't use a claim for refund to correct Additional Medicare Tax withholding errors.

10. Wage and Tax Statements

By January 31, furnish Copies B and C of Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI to each employee. If an employee stops working for you during the year, furnish the statement at any time after employment ends but no later than January 31 of the next year. However, if the employee asks you for Form W-2, furnish it within 30 days of the request or the last wage payment, whichever is later.

If you go out of business during the year, give your employees their Forms W-2 by the due date of your final Form 941-SS. File Copy A with the SSA by the last day of the month after that due date.

If an employee loses or destroys his or her copies, furnish that employee copies of Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI marked "REISSUED STATEMENT." Don't send Copy A of the reissued form to the SSA.

TIP: Employers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands should contact their local tax department for instructions on completing Form W-2CM. You can get Form W-2CM and its instructions by going to cnmidof.net/rev/forms.asp, or by calling 670-664-1000.

When and where to file electronically. If you're required to file 250 or more Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, you must file electronically. See the General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 or call the SSA at 1-800-772-6270 for more information. You may also visit Social Security's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information website at socialsecurity.gov/employer to electronically file your Forms W-2. File your 2016 wage and tax statements electronically by January 31, 2017.

If you experience problems filing electronically, contact the SSA at 1-800-772-6270. To speak with the SSA's Employer Services Liaison Officer for your region, call 212-264-1462 for the U.S. Virgin Islands or 510-970-8247 for Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. You may also visit the SSA's Regional Employer Services Liaison Officers website at socialsecurity.gov/employer/wage_reporting_specialists.htm.

Waiver. You may request a waiver from filing electronically on Form 8508. You must submit Form 8508 to the IRS at least 45 days before the due date of Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. See the Form 8508 instructions for more information.

When and where to file 2016 paper forms. By January 31, 2017 (or when filing a final return if you make final payments before the end of the year), send your completed forms to the following locations.

Correcting Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, W-2VI, and Form W-3SS. If you need to correct a Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or Form W-2VI after you've sent Copy A to the SSA, use Form W-2c. Furnish employees Copies B and C of Form W-2c. Send Copy A with Form W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax Statements, to the SSA at the address shown on Form W-3c. For more information, see the General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

If a form is corrected before you send Copy A to the SSA, furnish the employee the corrected copies. Mark the original Copy A "Void" in the proper box and send the new Copy A as explained above. Only send the new Copy A to the SSA; don't send the Copy A marked "Void." If you're required to file 250 or more Forms W-2c during a calendar year, you must file them electronically unless the IRS grants you a waiver. For more information, see the General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

11. Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax -- U.S. Virgin Islands Employers Only

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act, with state unemployment systems, provides for payments of unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs. Most employers pay both a federal and a state unemployment tax. Only the employer pays FUTA tax; it isn't withheld from your employees' wages. For more information, see the Instructions for Form 940.

You must file Form 940 if you're subject to federal unemployment (FUTA) tax under the following rules.

In general. You're subject to FUTA tax in 2017 on the wages you pay employees who aren't farmworkers or household workers if:

Farmworkers. You're subject to FUTA tax on the wages that you pay to farmworkers in 2017 if:

In most cases, farmworkers supplied by a crew leader are considered employees of the farm operator for FUTA tax purposes. However, this isn't the case if either of the following applies and the crew leader isn't an employee of the farm operator.

Computing FUTA tax rate. For 2017, the FUTA tax rate is 6.0%. The tax applies to the first $7,000 you pay to each employee as wages during the year. The $7,000 is the federal wage base. Your wage base in the U.S. Virgin Islands may be different.

Generally, you can take a credit against your FUTA tax for amounts you paid into U.S. Virgin Islands unemployment funds. The credit may be as much as 5.4% of wages subject to FUTA tax. If you're entitled to the maximum 5.4% credit, the FUTA tax rate after the credit is 0.6%. You're entitled to the maximum credit if you paid your U.S. Virgin Islands unemployment taxes in full, on time, and on all the same wages as are subject to FUTA tax, and as long as the U.S. Virgin Islands isn't determined to be a credit reduction state. See the Instructions for Form 940 to determine the credit.

The U.S. Virgin Islands may exclude some types of wages from its unemployment insurance tax, even though they're subject to FUTA tax. In such a case, you may be required to deposit more than 0.6% FUTA tax on those wages. Contact the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Labor for information on wages subject to the U.S. Virgin Islands unemployment insurance tax. See the Instructions for Form 940 for further guidance.

In years when the U.S. Virgin Islands is determined to be a credit reduction state, you must include liabilities owed for credit reduction with your fourth quarter deposit. You may deposit the anticipated extra liability throughout the year, but it isn't due until the due date for the deposit for the fourth quarter, and the associated liability should be recorded as being incurred in the fourth quarter. See the Instructions for Form 940 for more information.

Form 940. By January 31, 2017, file your 2016 Form 940. if you made all FUTA tax deposits on time, you may file Form 940 by February 10, 2017.

Deposits. For deposit purposes, figure FUTA tax quarterly. Determine your FUTA tax liability by multiplying the amount of taxable wages paid during the quarter by 0.6%. Stop depositing FUTA tax on an employee's wages when he or she reaches $7,000 in taxable wages for the calendar year. If your FUTA tax liability for any calendar quarter is $500 or less, you don't have to deposit the tax. Instead, you may carry it forward and add it to the liability figured in the next quarter to see if you must make a deposit. If your FUTA tax liability for any calendar quarter is over $500 (including any FUTA tax carried forward from an earlier quarter), you must deposit the tax by EFT. See section 8 for more information on deposits.

12. Special Rules for Various Types of Employment and Payments

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Special Certifying Requirements for Federal Agencies

This section sets forth the legal authorities requiring federal agencies to certify to the IRS the amount of federal income taxes withheld from amounts paid to U.S. Government employees working in, as well as federal civilian and military pensioners residing in, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam. As noted below, these special certifying requirements don't apply to federal agencies who have employees working in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

American Samoa

Code sections 931(a), 931 (d), and 7654 provide that the U.S. Government is required to transfer ("cover over") to the Treasury of American Samoa the federal income taxes withheld on amounts paid to military and civilian employees and pensioners who are residents of American Samoa. The effect of these provisions is that the Federal Government transfers on at least an annual basis the federal income taxes withheld or collected from its employees and pensioners who are residents of American Samoa to the American Samoa Treasury. In order for the Federal Government to cover over these income taxes as required by law, federal agencies must certify the amount of federal income taxes withheld or collected from its employees and pensioners by following the procedures discussed under Certification Procedures, later in this section.

Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands

Code section 7654 and Title 48 U.S.C. section 1681, [Public Law 94 241, section 703 (b)] provide that the U.S. Government is required to cover over to the Treasury of the CNMI the federal income taxes withheld on amounts paid to military and civilian employees and pensioners who are residents of the CNMI. The effect of these provisions is that the Federal Government transfers on at least an annual basis the federal income taxes withheld or collected from its employees and pensioners who are residents of the CNMI to the CNMI Treasury. In order for the Federal Government to cover over these federal income taxes as required by law, federal agencies must certify the amount of federal income taxes withheld or collected from its employees and pensioners by following the procedures discussed under Certification Procedures, later in this section. As discussed in the Caution next, federal agencies aren't required to certify the amount of local CNMI taxes that are withheld or collected.

CAUTION: The U.S. Treasury Department and the CNMI Division of Revenue and Taxation entered into an agreement under 5 USC 5517 in December 2006. Under this agreement, all federal employers (including the Department of Defense) are required to withhold CNMI income taxes (rather than federal income taxes) and deposit the CNMI taxes with the CNMI Treasury for employees whose regular place of federal employment is in the CNMI. Federal employers are also required to file quarterly and annual reports with the CNMI Division of Revenue and Taxation. The 5517 agreement isn't applicable to payments made to pensioners and compensation paid to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are stationed in the CNMI but have a state of legal residence outside the CNMI. For more information, including details on completing Form W-2, visit IRS.gov and enter "5517 agreement" in the search box.

Guam

Code section 7654 and Title 48 U.S.C. section 1421(h) provide that the U.S. Government is required to cover over to the Treasury of Guam the federal income taxes withheld on amounts paid to military and civilian employees and pensioners who are residents of Guam. The effect of these provisions is that the Federal Government transfers on at least an annual basis the federal income taxes withheld or collected from its employees and pensioners who are residents of Guam to the Guam Treasury. In order for the Federal Government to cover over these federal income taxes as required by law, federal agencies must certify the amount of federal income taxes withheld or collected from its employees, by following the procedures discussed under Certification Procedures, later in this section.

Puerto Rico

These special certifying requirements don't apply to federal agencies who have employees working in Puerto Rico.

CAUTION: The U.S. Treasury Department and Puerto Rico entered into an agreement under 5 USC 5517 in November 1988. Under this agreement, all federal employers (including the Department of Defense) are required to withhold Puerto Rico income taxes (rather than federal income taxes) and deposit the Puerto Rico taxes with the Puerto Rico Treasury for employees whose regular place of federal employment is in Puerto Rico. Federal employers are also required to file quarterly and annual reports with the Puerto Rico tax department. The 5517 agreement isn't applicable to payments made to pensioners and compensation paid to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are stationed in Puerto Rico but have a state of legal residence outside Puerto Rico. For more information, including details on completing Form W-2, visit IRS.gov and enter "5517 agreement" in the search box.

U.S. Virgin Islands

These special certifying requirements don't apply to federal agencies who have employees working in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"Federal Income Taxes" From American Samoa, the CNMI, or Guam

This section describes what "federal income taxes" are subject to these certification procedures.

For purposes of these cover over certification requirements, the term "federal income taxes" includes federal income taxes that have been withheld from compensation and other amounts paid to and deposited into the U.S. Treasury on any of the following:

This section contains the procedures federal agencies must follow to certify to the IRS the amount of "federal income taxes" paid to and deposited into the U.S. Treasury. All departments and agencies of the Federal Government (as well as service and social organizations associated with a military or civilian federal entity) that withhold federal income taxes on amounts paid to employees and pensioners of the United States (or any agency thereof) as provided herein, must certify to the IRS each calendar quarter the total amount of federal income taxes withheld that have been deposited into the U.S. Treasury. Federal agencies must submit a separate certification for Federal income taxes creditable to American Samoa, the CNMI, and Guam, as applicable.

Except as provided below, these certifications should be in the form of a letter and should include each of the following:

In addition, Federal Government agencies certifying for compensation paid to military personnel not stationed in American Samoa, the CNMI, or Guam but who have a state of legal residence in one of these territories must provide each servicemember's name, social security number, amount of annual salary paid, and total amount of annual federal income tax withheld.

The amounts shown in the certification must agree with the amounts of federal income tax withheld and reported on the quarterly federal tax return(s) of the agency (Form 941).

Federal agencies must submit these certifications on a quarterly basis no later than 45 days after the close of each calendar quarter as follows:

   Quarter                                 Due

Internal Revenue Service Revenue Systems and Analysis Attn: OS:CFO:FM:RA:S (77K St) 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W. CFO/FM - Mail Stop 6167 Washington, DC 20224 Fax: (202) 803-9691

How To Get Tax Help

If you have questions about a tax issue, need help preparing your tax return, or want to download free publications, forms, or instructions, go to IRS.gov and find resources that can help you right away.

Preparing and filing your tax return. Visit the IRS website at IRS.gov/employmentefile for more information on filing your employment tax returns electronically.

Getting answers to your tax law questions. On IRS.gov get answers to your tax questions anytime, anywhere.

Getting a transcript or copy of a return. You can get a copy of your tax transcript or a copy of your return by calling 1-800-829-4933 or by mailing Form 4506-T (transcript request) or Form 4506 (copy of return) to the IRS.

Resolving tax-related identity theft issues.

Contacting your local IRS office. Keep in mind, many questions can be resolved on IRS.gov without visiting an IRS Tax Assistance Center (TAC). Go to IRS.gov/letushelp for the topics people ask about most. If you still need help, IRS TACs provide tax help when a tax issue can't be handled online or by phone. All TACs now provide service by appointment so you'll know in advance that you can get the service you need without waiting. Before you visit, go to IRS.gov/taclocator to find the nearest TAC, check hours, available services, and appointment options. Or, on the IRS2Go app, under the Stay Connected tab, choose the Contact Us option and click on "Local Offices."

Watching IRS videos. The IRS Video portal (IRSvideos.gov) contains video and audio presentations for individuals, small businesses, and tax professionals.

Getting tax information in other languages. For taxpayers whose native language isn't English, we have the following resources available. Taxpayers can find information on IRS.gov in the following languages.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service Is Here To Help You

What is the Taxpayer Advocate Service?

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer rights. Our job is to ensure that every taxpayer is treated fairly and that you know and understand your rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

What Can the Taxpayer Advocate Service Do For You?

We can help you resolve problems that you can't resolve with the IRS. And our service is free. If you qualify for our assistance, you will be assigned to one advocate who will work with you throughout the process and will do everything possible to resolve your issue. TAS can help you if:

We have offices in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Your local advocate's number is in your local directory and at taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov. You can also call us at 1-877-777-4778.

How Can You Learn About Your Taxpayer Rights?

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights describes 10 basic rights that all taxpayers have when dealing with the IRS. Our Tax Toolkit at taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov can help you understand what these rights mean to you and how they apply. These are your rights. Know them. Use them.

How Else Does the Taxpayer Advocate Service Help Taxpayers?

TAS works to resolve large-scale problems that affect many taxpayers. If you know of one of these broad issues, please report it to us at IRS.gov/sams.