Form 941 is the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Every three months, an employer uses it to report the wages it paid, the federal income tax it withheld, and both halves of Social Security and Medicare tax. The return for July to September 2026 is due November 2, 2026.
The return does not carry the money. The taxes are deposited during the quarter, and Form 941 checks that what was deposited matches what was owed. If the two agree, the balance due on the return is zero.
Who files Form 941, and who does not
You file Form 941 if you pay wages that have federal income tax, Social Security or Medicare tax withheld. Once you start, a return is due every quarter, even one with no wages, until you file a final return. A few employers file something else.
- Very small employers file Form 944 once a year instead, but only after the IRS tells them to in writing. You can ask for it if your employment taxes for the year will be $1,000 or less.
- Household employers, such as someone paying a nanny, report on Schedule H with their own Form 1040.
- Farm employers report agricultural wages on Form 943.
- Seasonal employers still use Form 941, but skip the quarters with no wages by checking the box on line 18 each time they file.
Form 941 never covers unemployment tax. That goes on the yearly Form 940, explained in what is FUTA.
When is Form 941 due in 2026?
Each return is due on the last day of the month after the quarter ends. Two of this year’s dates fall on a weekend, so they move to the next business day. If you deposited every dollar on time, you get 10 more days.
| Quarter | Quarter ends | Form 941 due | Due if every deposit was on time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1: January, February, March | Mar 31 | Thu, Apr 30, 2026 | Mon, May 11, 2026 |
| Q2: April, May, June | Jun 30 | Fri, Jul 31, 2026 | Mon, Aug 10, 2026 |
| Q3: July, August, September | Sep 30 | Mon, Nov 2, 2026 Oct 31 is a Saturday | Tue, Nov 10, 2026 |
| Q4: October, November, December | Dec 31 | Mon, Feb 1, 2027 Jan 31 is a Sunday | Wed, Feb 10, 2027 |
One quarter, line by line
Here is a third-quarter return for an invented bakery with four employees, paid every other Friday. The withholding comes from each person’s W-4, and the Social Security and Medicare lines use the 2026 rates.
| Line | What goes there | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employees paid for the pay period including September 12 | 4 |
| 2 | Wages: $5,420.00 a payday x 6 paydays | $32,520.00 |
| 3 | Federal income tax withheld | $1,464.78 |
| 5a | Social Security wages x 12.4% (employee and employer) | $4,032.48 |
| 5c | Medicare wages x 2.9% (employee and employer) | $943.08 |
| 5e | Total Social Security and Medicare | $4,975.56 |
| 6 | Total taxes before adjustments (line 3 + line 5e) | $6,440.34 |
| 7 | Fractions of cents | $0.00 |
| 10 | Total taxes after adjustments | $6,440.34 |
| 12 | Total taxes after credits | $6,440.34 |
| 13 | Deposits made for the quarter | $6,440.34 |
| 14 | Balance due | $0.00 |
Line 1 counts the people paid in the pay period that includes the 12th of the quarter’s last month. Line 2 is every wage, tip and taxable benefit paid in the quarter, and line 3 is the federal income tax withheld from it.
Lines 5a and 5c multiply wages by 12.4% and 2.9%, the employee and employer shares together. Line 5a stops at the $184,500 Social Security wage base for each employee. Line 5d adds Additional Medicare Tax on any one person’s pay above $200,000.
Line 7 corrects the cents lost when each paycheck’s tax is rounded. The bakery’s is zero, because every paycheck is a multiple of $20 and the taxes come out to whole cents. Most real payrolls show a few cents here, up or down.
Line 12 is the quarter’s tax. Line 13 is what was deposited, and line 14 is the difference. Payroll software fills all of this in from the pay stubs, which is why stubs and the return should always agree. Our FICA guide explains the two shares behind lines 5a and 5c.
Deposits come first: monthly or semiweekly
Your deposit schedule depends on the taxes you reported between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. At $50,000 or less you deposit monthly, by the 15th of the next month. Above that you deposit semiweekly, within a few days of each payday.
| Month | Paydays | Tax liability | Deposit due |
|---|---|---|---|
| July | 2 | $2,146.78 | Mon, Aug 17, 2026 the 15th is a weekend |
| August | 2 | $2,146.78 | Tue, Sep 15, 2026 |
| September | 2 | $2,146.78 | Thu, Oct 15, 2026 |
| Quarter | 6 | $6,440.34 | Equals line 12 |
Semiweekly depositors pay Wednesday, Thursday and Friday paydays by the next Wednesday, and Saturday to Tuesday paydays by the next Friday. They also attach Schedule B, which lists the tax for each payday, in place of the monthly figures on line 16.
Two rules override the schedule. If your tax for the quarter, or the quarter before, is under $2,500, you can pay with the return instead. And if you build up $100,000 on any day, it is due the next business day.
Deposits must be made electronically, through EFTPS, IRS Direct Pay or your IRS business tax account. A check sent with the return only works under the small-amount rule above.
What late deposits and late returns cost
Deposit penalties rise with each day the money is late, counted in calendar days from the due date.
| Deposited on | Days late | Penalty rate | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Sep 18, 2026 | 3 | 2% | $42.94 |
| Mon, Sep 28, 2026 | 13 | 5% | $107.34 |
| Mon, Oct 5, 2026 | 20 | 10% | $214.68 |
Beyond 10%, an amount still unpaid more than 10 days after the first IRS notice costs 15%. Filing the return late adds 5% of the unpaid tax for each month, up to 25%. Paying late adds 0.5% a month, plus interest.
The most serious is the trust fund recovery penalty. Withheld income tax and the employee share of FICA are trust fund taxes, held for the government. If they are not paid over, the IRS can charge 100% of the unpaid amount to the owners or managers responsible, personally.
Form 941 next to the other payroll forms
| Form | How often | What it reports |
|---|---|---|
| 941 | Quarterly | Income tax withheld, Social Security and Medicare for the quarter |
| 944 | Yearly | The same taxes, for very small employers the IRS has moved to an annual return |
| 940 | Yearly | Federal unemployment tax, paid by the employer only |
| W-2 and W-3 | Yearly | Each employee’s wages and withholding for the year, which should add up to the four Forms 941 |
At year end, the totals on your W-2s should match the four quarters of Form 941. Our free W-2 generator builds the employee copies, and W-2 box 12 codes explains the benefit codes on them.
Fixing a mistake on a filed return
Do not file a second Form 941 for the same quarter. Corrections go on Form 941-X, filed separately, which can also be filed electronically. Lines 7 to 9 on the regular return are only for the current quarter’s rounding, sick pay and tip adjustments, not for fixing an earlier quarter.
If you close the business or stop paying wages, check line 17 on your last return and enter the final date you paid wages. Attach a note naming who keeps the payroll records and where.
Sources: IRS Instructions for Form 941 (03/2026); Publication 15 (2026), section 11; Form 941 (Rev. March 2026); failure to file penalty. Checked October 22, 2026.
