What is form 941 and where to mail it?

Form 941 is an employer’s quarterly federal tax return to report income taxes, medicare taxes, and social security taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks. If your company uses a payroll service like ADP, you may get the 941 form from ADP.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Where to mail form 941?

2. Who must file IRS Form 941?

3. How often is 941 filing?

4. What does a form 941 show and look like?

5. What do businesses need to file form 941?

6. Do Employers Have to File a 941 if They Have No Payroll?

7. Can Form 941 Be Filed Electronically?

8. How Do Businesses File IRS Form 941?

What is form 941

Form 941 is a way for employers to report their federal payroll taxes to the IRS. The 941 form includes such information as:

Federal income tax withheld from employee wages
Employer contributions to Medicare and Social Security taxes
Medicare and Social Security taxes deducted from employee wages
Wages paid to employees

Company must file a form 941 on a quarterly basis. If you use a payroll service like ADP, you can log into your account and download a completed form 941. Otherwise, you can go to the IRS website and download the form 941.

Form 941 allows employers to accomplish many tasks, from reporting Medicare taxes that are withheld from workers’ paychecks to providing the IRS information on Social Security taxes and employees’ income taxes. IRS Form 941 also helps companies pay their share of Medicare and Social Security taxes for their employees.

In this article, our Los Angeles employer lawyer for companies and employers will explain the practical uses of 941 Quarters and the easiest and most effective ways to file a form 941.

Where to mail form 941?

The IRS encourages companies not to mail form 941. The IRS has an online portal to file form 941. The IRS states:

“You’re encouraged to file Form 941 electronically. Go to IRS.gov/EmploymentEfile for more information on
electronic filing. If you file a paper return, where you file depends on whether you include a payment with Form
941. Mail your return to the address listed for your location in the table that follows.”

Companies should ensure that they provide enough time to mail form 941 postmarked on or before the date form 941 is due. The form 941 should be mail to (select one):

Austin – Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center
3651 S IH35,
Austin TX 78741

Kansas City – Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center
333 W. Pershing,
Kansas City, MO 64108

Ogden – Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center
1973 Rulon White Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84201

Who must file IRS Form 941?

Any person or business that pays wages to an employee must file a Form 941 each quarter, and must continue to do so even if there are no employees during some of the quarters. Businesses typically need to file Form 941 if they have employees and withhold income tax, social security, and Medicare tax from their wages. Seasonal businesses don’t have to file during quarters when they haven’t hired anyone.

How often is 941 filing?

Any person or business that have employees must file a IRS Form 941 for each quarter. Form 941 is due and must be filed by the last day of the month following the end of the quarter. Under the monthly deposit schedule, deposit employment taxes on payments made during a month by the 15th day of the following month.

What does a form 941 show and look like?

A form 941 will shows social security tax, report income taxes, medicare tax withheld from the worker’s paychecks.

A form 941 looks like this:

What do businesses need to file form 941?

Most businesses are required to file the 941 form, with a few exceptions. Seasonal businesses only need to file form 941 in the quarters in which they are operating. Companies that hire farm workers or household employees do not don’t need to file form 941.

When companies file a 941 Quarterly Form, the IRS also expects them to pay for their workers’ share of Medicare taxes and Social Security taxes.

Annually, the IRS sets four deadlines for businesses to send in their 941 form, including 4/30, 7/31, 10/31, and 1/31.

No company should fail to file IRS Form 941. When companies do not send their Quarterly 941 on time, the IRS may penalize them. Businesses may have to pay 5% extra of the due taxes, and depending on circumstances, the IRS can raise this penalty to 25%.

Do Employers Have to File a 941 if They Have No Payroll?

Typically, companies that withholds taxes from workers’ paychecks must fill out and file a 941 Quarterly Form. They must do so four times annually and complete the form even if they do not have any tax numbers to report.

However, individuals who employ household workers, such as maids, housekeepers, or house cleaners, should use Form 1040 instead of Form 941.

Also, individuals, such as farmers, who utilize agricultural workers for help, should use Form 943.

Employers who pay wages to their seasonal employees still must fill out Form 941 for any quarter during which they pay workers’ earnings.

Can Form 941 Be Filed Electronically?

Employers can file Form 941 by traditional mail or the web.

However, employers should stick to one submission method and not use both. When companies file electronically and send in paper documents, multiple forms can create confusion.

The U.S. Treasury Dept. provides a free service through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System for businesses that want to file online. The IRS allows companies to file electronically through their website.

How Do Businesses File IRS Form 941?

Some employers choose to stick with the traditional filing process. Those companies have a choice: they can fill out Form 941 online and then print it, or they can print the documents first and fill it in by hand.

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