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            Department of the Treasury                   Contents
            Internal Revenue Service
                                                         What's New    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
                                                         Reminders    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Publication 51
Cat. No. 10320R                                          Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
                                                         Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
                                                         1. Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs)                     . . . . . .  7
(Circular A), 
                                                         2. Who Are Employees? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            9
Agricultural                                             3. Wages and Other Compensation                   . . . . . . . . . . .    10
                                                         4. Social Security and Medicare Taxes                   . . . . . . . .    11
Employer's                                               5. Federal Income Tax Withholding                 . . . . . . . . . . .    12
                                                         6. Required Notice to Employees About the 
Tax Guide                                                Earned Income Credit (EIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                     16
                                                         7. Depositing Taxes       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    16
For use in 2023                                          8. Form 943   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    21
                                                         9. Reporting Adjustments on Form 943                    . . . . . . . .    22
                                                         10. Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax . . . . . . . .                        23
                                                         11. Reconciling Wage Reporting Forms . . . . . . . .                       24
                                                         12. How Do Employment Taxes Apply to 
                                                         Farmwork? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            25
                                                         How To Get Tax Help         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    26
                                                         Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29

                                                         Future Developments
                                                         For the latest information about developments related to 
                                                         Pub.  51,  such  as  legislation  enacted  after  it  was 
                                                         published, go to IRS.gov/Pub51.

                                                         What's New
                                                         Social security and Medicare tax for 2023.                    The rate of 
                                                         social  security  tax  on  taxable  wages,  including  qualified 
                                                         sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages paid in 
                                                         2023 for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before Oc-
                                                         tober  1,  2021,  is  6.2%  each  for  the  employer  and  em-
                                                         ployee or 12.4% for both. Qualified sick leave wages and 
                                                         qualified family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken 
                                                         after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, aren't sub-
                                                         ject to the employer share of social security tax; therefore, 
                                                         the tax rate on these wages is 6.2%. The social security 
                                                         wage base limit is $160,200.
                                                         The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employee 
                                                         and  employer,  unchanged  from  2022.  There  is  no  wage 
Get forms and other information faster and easier at:    base limit for Medicare tax.
• IRS.gov (English)    • IRS.gov/Korean (한국어) 
• IRS.gov/Spanish (Español)  • IRS.gov/Russian (Pусский) 
• IRS.gov/Chinese (中文) • IRS.gov/Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) 

Dec 19, 2022

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Social security and Medicare taxes apply to the wages for qualified sick and family leave wages under sections
of household workers you pay $2,600 or more in cash 3131, 3132, and 3133 of the Internal Revenue Code, as
wages in 2023. enacted under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the
Qualified small business payroll tax credit for in- ARP), for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before
creasing research activities. For tax years beginning October 1, 2021, have expired. However, employers that
before January 1, 2023, a qualified small business may pay qualified sick and family leave wages in 2023 for
elect to claim up to $250,000 of its credit for increasing re- leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before October 1,
search activities as a payroll tax credit. The Inflation Re- 2021, are eligible to claim a credit for qualified sick and
duction Act of 2022 (the IRA) increases the election family leave wages in 2023. See the 2023 Instructions for
amount to $500,000 for tax years beginning after Decem- Form 943 for more information.
ber 31, 2022. The payroll tax credit election must be made Disaster tax relief. Disaster tax relief is available for
on or before the due date of the originally filed income tax those impacted by disasters. For more information about
return (including extensions). The portion of the credit disaster relief, go to IRS.gov/DisasterTaxRelief.
used against payroll taxes is allowed in the first calendar
Payroll tax credit for certain tax-exempt organiza-
quarter beginning after the date that the qualified small
tions affected by qualified disasters. Section 303(d) of
business filed its income tax return. The election and de-
the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of
termination of the credit amount that will be used against
2020 allows for a payroll tax credit for certain tax-exempt
the employer’s payroll taxes are made on Form 6765,
organizations affected by certain qualified disasters not
Credit for Increasing Research Activities. The amount
related to COVID-19. This credit is claimed on Form
from Form 6765, line 44, must then be reported on Form
5884-D (not on Form 943). Form 5884-D is filed after the
8974, Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for In-
Form 943 for the year for which the credit is being claimed
creasing Research Activities.
has been filed. For more information about this credit, go
Starting in the first quarter of 2023, the payroll tax credit to IRS.gov/Form5884D.
is first used to reduce the employer share of social secur-
ity tax up to $250,000 per quarter and any remaining 2023 withholding tables. The Percentage Method and
credit reduces the employer share of Medicare tax for the Wage Bracket Method withholding tables, the employer
quarter. Any remaining credit, after reducing the employer instructions on how to figure employee withholding, and
share of social security tax and the employer share of the amount to add to a nonresident alien employee's wa-
Medicare tax, is then carried forward to the next quarter. ges for figuring income tax withholding are included in
Form 8974 is used to determine the amount of the credit Pub. 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods,
that can be used in the current quarter. The amount from available at IRS.gov/Pub15T.
Form 8974, line 12 or, if applicable, line 17, is reported on Withholding on supplemental wages. P.L. 115-97 low-
Form 943. For more information about the payroll tax ered the withholding rates on supplemental wages for tax
credit, see IRS.gov/ResearchPayrollTC. Also see the years beginning after 2017 and before 2026. See Supple-
line 17 instructions in the Instructions for Form 943 for in- mental wages in section 5 for the withholding rates.
formation on reducing your record of tax liability for this Certification program for professional employer or-
credit. ganizations (PEOs). The Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a
Pubs. 51, 80, and 179 discontinued after 2023. Pub. Better Life Experience Act of 2014 required the IRS to es-
51; Pub. 80, Federal Tax Guide for Employers in the U.S. tablish a voluntary certification program for PEOs. PEOs
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Com- handle various payroll administration and tax reporting re-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and Pub. sponsibilities for their business clients and are typically
179, Guía Contributiva Federal para Patronos Puertorri- paid a fee based on payroll costs. To become and remain
queños, will no longer be available after 2023. Instead, in- certified under the certification program, certified profes-
formation specific to agricultural employers and employ- sional employer organizations (CPEOs) must meet vari-
ers in the U.S. territories will be included in Pub. 15 ous requirements described in sections 3511 and 7705
beginning with the Pub. 15 for use in 2024 (published De- and related published guidance. Certification as a CPEO
cember 2023). Beginning in 2024, there will be a new may affect the employment tax liabilities of both the CPEO
Pub. 15 (sp) that is a Spanish-language version of Pub. and its customers. A CPEO is generally treated for em-
15. ployment tax purposes as the employer of any individual
who performs services for a customer of the CPEO and is
covered by a contract described in section 7705(e)(2) be-
tween the CPEO and the customer (CPEO contract), but
Reminders only for wages and other compensation paid to the indi-
The COVID-19 related credit for qualified sick and vidual by the CPEO. To become a CPEO, the organization
family leave wages is limited to leave taken after must apply through the IRS Online Registration System.
March 31, 2020, and before October 1, 2021. Gener- For more information or to apply to become a CPEO, go to
ally, the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages, IRS.gov/CPEO. Also see Revenue Procedure 2017-14,
as enacted under the Families First Coronavirus Re- 2017-3 I.R.B. 426, available at IRS.gov/irb/
sponse Act (FFCRA) and amended and extended by the 2017-03_IRB#RP-2017-14.
COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020 for leave taken after Outsourcing payroll duties. You're responsible to en-
March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, and the credit sure that tax returns are filed and deposits and payments

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are made, even if you contract with a third party to perform marriage under the laws of at least one state, possession,
these acts. You remain responsible if the third party fails or territory of the United States, regardless of legal resi-
to perform any required action. Before you choose to out- dence. Individuals who have entered into a registered do-
source any of your payroll and related tax duties (that is, mestic partnership, a civil union, or other similar relation-
withholding, reporting, and paying over social security, ship that isn't denominated as a marriage under the law of
Medicare, FUTA, and income taxes) to a third-party payer, the state, possession, or territory of the United States
such as a payroll service provider or reporting agent, go to where such relationship was entered into aren't lawfully
IRS.gov/OutsourcingPayrollDuties for helpful information married for federal tax purposes, regardless of legal resi-
on this topic. If a CPEO pays wages and other compensa- dence.
tion to an individual performing services for you, and the Differential wage payments. Qualified differential wage
services are covered by a contract described in section payments made by employers to individuals serving in the
7705(e)(2) between you and the CPEO (CPEO contract), U.S. Armed Forces are subject to income tax withholding
then the CPEO is generally treated as the employer, but but not social security, Medicare, or FUTA taxes. For
only for wages and other compensation paid to the indi- more information, see section 5 of Pub. 15.
vidual by the CPEO. However, with respect to certain em-
Federal tax deposits must be made by electronic
ployees covered by a CPEO contract, you may also be
funds transfer (EFT). You must use EFT to make all
treated as an employer of the employees and, conse-
federal tax deposits. Generally, an EFT is made using the
quently, may also be liable for federal employment taxes
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). If you
imposed on wages and other compensation paid by the
don't want to use EFTPS, you can arrange for your tax
CPEO to such employees. For more information on the
professional, financial institution, payroll service, or other
different types of third-party payer arrangements, see sec-
trusted third party to make electronic deposits on your be-
tion 16 of Pub. 15.
half. Also, you may arrange for your financial institution to
Aggregate Form 943 filers. Approved section 3504 initiate a same-day wire payment on your behalf. EFTPS
agents and CPEOs must complete Schedule R (Form is a free service provided by the Department of the Treas-
943), Allocation Schedule for Aggregate Form 943 Filers, ury. Services provided by your tax professional, financial
when filing an aggregate Form 943. Aggregate Forms 943 institution, payroll service, or other third party may have a
are filed by agents approved by the IRS under section fee.
3504 of the Internal Revenue Code. To request approval
For more information on making federal tax deposits,
to act as an agent for an employer, the agent files Form
see How To Deposit in section 7. To get more information
2678 with the IRS. Aggregate Forms 943 are also filed by
about EFTPS or to enroll in EFTPS, go to EFTPS.gov or
CPEOs approved by the IRS under section 7705. To be-
call 800-555-4477. To contact EFTPS using Telecommu-
come a CPEO, the organization must apply through the
nications Relay Services (TRS) for people who are deaf,
IRS Online Registration System at IRS.gov/CPEO.
hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, dial 711 and
CPEOs file Form 8973, Certified Professional Employer
then provide the TRS assistant the 800-555-4477 number
Organization/Customer Reporting Agreement, to notify
above or 800-733-4829. Additional information about
the IRS that they've started or ended a service contract
EFTPS is also available in Pub. 966.
with a client or customer. CPEOs must generally file Form
943 and Schedule R (Form 943) electronically. For more Electronic filing and payment. Businesses can enjoy
information about a CPEO's requirement to file electroni- the benefits of filing tax returns and paying their federal
cally, see Revenue Procedure 2017-14, 2017-3 I.R.B. taxes electronically. Whether you rely on a tax professio-
426, available at IRS.gov/irb/2017-03_IRB#RP-2017-14. nal or handle your own taxes, the IRS offers you conven-
Other third-party payers that file aggregate Forms 943, ient programs to make filing and payment easier.
such as non-certified PEOs, must complete and file Spend less time worrying about taxes and more time
Schedule R (Form 943) if they have clients that are claim- running your business. Use e-file and EFTPS to your ben-
ing any employment tax credit (for example, the qualified efit.
small business payroll tax credit for increasing research • For e-file, go to IRS.gov/EmploymentEfile for addi-
activities). tional information. A fee may be charged to file elec-
Work opportunity tax credit for qualified tax-exempt tronically.
organizations hiring qualified veterans. Qualified
tax-exempt organizations that hire eligible unemployed • For EFTPS, go to EFTPS.gov, or call EFTPS Cus-
tomer Service at 800-555-4477. To contact EFTPS
veterans may be able to claim the work opportunity tax
using TRS for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or
credit against their payroll tax liability using Form 5884-C.
have a speech disability, dial 711 and then provide the
For more information, go to IRS.gov/WOTC.
TRS assistant the 800-555-4477 number above or
Definition of marriage. A marriage of two individuals is
800-733-4829.
recognized for federal tax purposes if the marriage is rec-
ognized by the state, possession, or territory of the United • For electronic filing of Form W-2, Wage and Tax
States in which the marriage is entered into, regardless of Statement, go to SSA.gov/employer. You may be re-
legal residence. Two individuals who enter into a relation- quired to file Forms W-2 electronically. For details,
ship that is denominated as a marriage under the laws of see the General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.
a foreign jurisdiction are recognized as married for federal
tax purposes if the relationship would be recognized as a

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If you’re filing your tax return or paying your fed- New hire reporting. You’re required to report any new
! eral taxes electronically, a valid employer identifi- employee to a designated state new-hire registry. A new
CAUTION cation number (EIN) is required at the time the re- employee is an employee who hasn't previously been em-
turn is filed or the payment is made. If a valid EIN isn't ployed by you or was previously employed by you but has
provided, the return or payment won't be processed. This been separated from such prior employment for at least
may result in penalties. See Employer identification num- 60 consecutive days.
ber (EIN) in section 1 for more information about applying Many states accept a copy of Form W-4 with employer
for an EIN. information added. Go to the Office of Child Support En-
forcement's website at acf.hhs.gov/css/employers for
Electronic funds withdrawal (EFW). If you file your em- more information.
ployment tax return electronically, you can e-file and use
EFW to pay the balance due in a single step using tax Forms in Spanish. You can provide Formulario W-4(SP)
preparation software or through a tax professional. How- in place of Form W-4 to your Spanish-speaking employ-
ever, don't use EFW to make federal tax deposits. For ees. For more information, see Pub. 17(SP), El Impuesto
more information on paying your taxes using EFW, go to Federal sobre los Ingresos (Para Personas Físicas).
IRS.gov/EFW. For nonemployees, such as independent contractors,
Formulario W-9(SP), Solicitud y Certificación del Número
Credit or debit card payments. You can pay the bal-
de Identificación del Contribuyente, may be used in place
ance due shown on your employment tax return by credit
of Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number
or debit card. Your payment will be processed by a pay-
and Certification.
ment processor who will charge a processing fee. Don't
use a credit or debit card to make federal tax deposits. For References in this publication to Form W-4 or Form
more information on paying your taxes with a credit or W-9 also apply to their equivalent Spanish transla-
debit card, go to IRS.gov/PayByCard. tions—Formulario W-4(SP) or Formulario W-9(SP).
Information returns. You must file Forms W-2 to report
Online payment agreement. You may be eligible to ap-
wages paid to employees. You may also be required to
ply for an installment agreement online if you can't pay the
file information returns to report certain types of payments
full amount of tax you owe when you file your employment
made during the year. For example, you must file Form
tax return. For more information, see the instructions for
1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, to report pay-
your employment tax return or go to IRS.gov/OPA.
ments of $600 or more to persons not treated as employ-
Dishonored payments. Any form of payment that is dis- ees (for example, independent contractors) for services
honored and returned from a financial institution is subject performed for your trade or business. For details about fil-
to a penalty. The penalty is $25 or 2% of the payment, ing Forms 1099 and for information about required elec-
whichever is more. However, the penalty on dishonored tronic filing, see the General Instructions for Certain Infor-
payments of $24.99 or less is an amount equal to the pay- mation Returns for general information, and the separate,
ment. For example, a dishonored payment of $18 is specific instructions for each information return you file
charged a penalty of $18. (for example, the Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and
When you hire a new employee. Ask each new em- 1099-NEC). Generally, don't use Forms 1099 to report
ployee to complete the 2023 Form W-4, or its Spanish wages and other compensation you paid to employees;
version, Formulario W-4(SP), Certificado de Retenciones report these amounts on Form W-2. See the General In-
del Empleado. Also, ask the employee to show you their structions for Forms W-2 and W-3 for details about filing
social security card so that you can record the employee's Form W-2 and for information about required electronic fil-
name and social security number (SSN) accurately. If the ing.
employee has lost the card or recently changed names, Technical Services Operation (TSO). The IRS oper-
have the employee apply for a duplicate or corrected card. ates the TSO to answer questions about reporting on
If the employee doesn't have a card, have the employee Forms W-2, W-3, and 1099, and other information returns.
apply for one on Form SS-5, Application for a Social Se- If you have questions related to reporting on information
curity Card. See section 1 for more information. returns, call 866-455-7438 (toll free) or 304-263-8700 (toll
Eligibility for employment. You must verify that each call). Deaf or hard of hearing customers may call any of
new employee is legally eligible to work in the United our toll-free numbers using their choice of relay service.
States. This includes completing the U.S. Citizenship and The center can also be reached by email at
Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-9, Employment Eli- mccirp@irs.gov. Don't include taxpayer identification num-
gibility Verification. You can get Form I-9 at USCIS.gov/ bers (TINs) or attachments in email because email isn't
Forms. For more information, go to the USCIS website at secure.
USCIS.gov/I-9-Central, or call 800-375-5283 or Web-based application for an EIN. Go to IRS.gov/EIN
800-767-1833 (TTY). to apply for an EIN online. See section 1 for additional in-
You may use the Social Security Number Verification formation.
Service (SSNVS) at SSA.gov/employer/ssnv.htm to verify When a crew leader furnishes workers to you. Re-
that an employee name matches an SSN. A person may cord the crew leader's name, address, and EIN. See sec-
have a valid SSN but not be authorized to work in the Uni- tions and 2 10.
ted States. You may use E-Verify at E-Verify.gov to con- Change of business address or responsible party.
firm the employment eligibility of newly hired employees. Notify the IRS immediately if you change your business

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address or responsible party. Complete and mail Form March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021, and re-
8822-B to notify the IRS of a business address or respon- cords related to qualified wages for the employee re-
sible party change. For a definition of “responsible party,” tention credit paid after June 30, 2021, should be kept
see the Instructions for Form SS-4. for at least 6 years. For more information on substan-
Ordering employer tax forms, instructions, and publi- tiation requirements, go to IRS.gov/PLC and IRS.gov/
cations. Go to IRS.gov/OrderForms to order current ERC.
forms, instructions, and publications; call 800-829-3676 to • Documentation to substantiate the amount of any em-
order prior-year forms and instructions. The IRS will proc- ployer or employee share of social security tax that
ess your order for forms and publications as soon as pos- you deferred and paid for 2020.
sible. Don’t resubmit requests you’ve already sent us.
If a crew leader furnished you with farmworkers, you
You can get forms and publications faster online.
must keep a record of the name, permanent mailing ad-
Instead of ordering paper Forms W-2 and W-3, con- dress, and EIN of the crew leader. If the crew leader has
sider filing them electronically using the SSA's free e-file no permanent mailing address, record their present ad-
service. Go to the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions dress.
& Information webpage at SSA.gov/employer to register
for Business Services Online. You’ll be able to create Private delivery services (PDSs). You can use certain
Forms W-2 online and submit them to the SSA by typing PDSs designated by the IRS to meet the “timely mailing
your wage information into easy-to-use fill-in fields. In ad- as timely filing” rule for tax returns. Go to IRS.gov/PDS for
dition, you can print out completed copies of Forms W-2 the current list of PDSs.
to file with state or local governments, distribute to your The PDS can tell you how to get written proof of the
employees, and keep for your records. Form W-3 will be mailing date.
created for you based on your Forms W-2. For the IRS mailing address to use if you’re using a
Tax questions. You can call the IRS Business and Spe- PDS, go to IRS.gov/PDSstreetAddresses. Select the mail-
cialty Tax Line with your employment tax questions at ing address listed on the webpage that is in the same
800-829-4933 or 800-829-4059 (TDD/TTY for persons state as the address to which you would mail returns filed
who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disabil- without a payment, as shown in the instructions for your
ity). You may also use this number for assistance with un- employment tax return.
resolved tax problems. PDSs can't deliver items to P.O. boxes. You must
Recordkeeping. Keep all records of employment taxes ! use the U.S. Postal Service to mail any item to an
for at least 4 years. These should be available for IRS re- CAUTION IRS P.O. box address.
view. Your records should include the following informa-
tion. Zero wage return. If you haven't filed a “final” Form 940,
Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax
• Your EIN. Return, or Form 943, you must continue to file Forms 940
• Amounts and dates of all wage, annuity, and pension and 943 even for years during which you paid no wages.
payments. The IRS encourages you to file your “zero wage” Forms
• Names, addresses, SSNs, and occupations of em- 940 and 943 electronically. Go to IRS.gov/
ployees and recipients. EmploymentEfile for more information on electronic filing.
Pub. 5146 explains employment tax examinations
• Any employee copies of Forms W-2 and W-2c re- and appeal rights. Pub. 5146 provides employers with
turned to you as undeliverable. information on how the IRS selects employment tax re-
• Dates of employment for each employee. turns to be examined, what happens during an exam, and
what options an employer has in responding to the results
• Periods for which employees and recipients were paid
of an exam, including how to appeal the results. Pub.
while absent due to sickness or injury and the amount
5146 also includes information on worker classification is-
and weekly rate of payments you or third-party payers
sues and tip exams.
made to them.
Photographs of missing children. The IRS is a proud
• Copies of employees' and recipients' income tax with- partner with the National Center for Missing & Exploited
holding certificates (Forms W-4, W-4(SP), W-4P, and Children® (NCMEC). Photographs of missing children se-
W-4S). lected by the Center may appear in this publication on pa-
• Dates and amounts of tax deposits you made and ac- ges that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring
knowledgment numbers for deposits made by EFTPS. these children home by looking at the photographs and
calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recog-
• Copies of returns filed and confirmation numbers.
nize a child.
• Records of fringe benefits and expense reimburse-
ments provided to your employees, including substan-
tiation.
Calendar
• Documentation to substantiate any credits claimed.
Records related to qualified sick leave wages and The following is a list of important dates and
qualified family leave wages for leave taken after responsibilities. The dates listed here haven’t been

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adjusted for Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays (see • File Form 945 to report any nonpayroll federal income
the TIP next). Pub. 509, Tax Calendars (for use in 2023), tax withheld. If you deposited all Form 945 taxes when
adjusts the dates for Saturdays, Sundays, and legal due, you may file Form 945 by February 10.
holidays. See section 7 for information about depositing By February 15
taxes reported on Forms 943 and 945, Annual Return of
Ask for a new Form W-4 or Formulario W-4(SP) from
Withheld Federal Income Tax. See section 10 for
each employee who claimed exemption from federal in-
information about depositing FUTA tax. Due dates for
come tax withholding last year.
forms required for health coverage reporting aren’t listed
here. For these dates, see Pub. 509. On February 16
If any date shown next for filing a return, furnish- Any Form W-4 claiming exemption from withholding for
TIP ing a form, or depositing taxes falls on a Saturday, the previous year has now expired. Begin withholding for
Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is the next any employee who previously claimed exemption from
business day. The term “legal holiday” means any legal withholding but hasn't given you a new Form W-4 for the
holiday in the District of Columbia. A statewide legal holi- current year. If the employee doesn't give you a new Form
day delays a filing due date only if the IRS office where W-4, withhold tax as if they had checked the box for Sin-
you’re required to file is located in that state. However, a gle or Married filing separately in Step 1(c) and made no
statewide legal holiday doesn't delay the due date of fed- entries in Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 of the 2023 Form W-4.
eral tax deposits. See Deposits Due on Business Days See section 5 for more information. If the employee gives
Only in section 7. For any filing due date, you will meet the you a new Form W-4 claiming exemption from withholding
“file” or “furnish” requirement if the envelope containing after February 15, you may apply the exemption to future
the return or form is properly addressed, contains suffi- wages, but don't refund taxes withheld while the exempt
cient postage, and is postmarked by the U.S. Postal Serv- status wasn't in place.
ice on or before the due date, or sent by an IRS-designa- By April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31
ted PDS on or before the due date. See Private delivery Deposit FUTA taxes. Deposit FUTA taxes if the unde-
services under Reminders, earlier, for more information. posited amount is over $500.
Fiscal year taxpayers. The due dates listed next apply Before December 1
whether you use a calendar or a fiscal year. Remind employees to submit a new Form W-4 if their
filing status, other income, deductions, or credits have
By January 31 changed or will change for the next year.
• File Form 943. If you deposited all Form 943 taxes
when due, you may file Form 943 by February 10. See
section 8 for more information on Form 943.
Introduction
• File Form 940 to report any FUTA tax. However, if you
deposited all the FUTA tax when due, you may file This publication is for employers of agricultural workers
Form 940 by February 10. See section 10 for more in- (farmworkers). It contains information that you may need
formation on FUTA tax. to comply with the laws for agricultural labor (farmwork)
relating to social security and Medicare taxes, FUTA tax,
• File with the SSA Copy A of all 2022 paper and elec- and withheld federal income tax (employment taxes). Ag-
tronic Forms W-2 with Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage ricultural employers report social security and Medicare
and Tax Statements. For more information on report- taxes and withheld federal income tax on Form 943 and
ing Form W-2 information to the SSA electronically, go report FUTA tax on Form 940. References to “income tax”
to the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Infor- in this guide apply only to federal income tax. Contact
mation webpage at SSA.gov/employer. If filing elec- your state or local tax department to determine their rules.
tronically via the SSA's Form W-2 Online service, the When you pay your employees, you don't pay them all
SSA will generate Form W-3 data from the electronic the money they earned. As their employer, you have the
submission of Form(s) W-2. added responsibility of withholding taxes from their pay-
• Furnish each employee a completed 2022 Form W-2. checks. The federal income tax and employees' share of
social security and Medicare taxes that you withhold from
• File with the IRS Copy A of all 2022 paper and elec-
your employees' paychecks are part of their wages that
tronic Forms 1099-NEC that report nonemployee
you pay to the U.S. Treasury instead of to your employ-
compensation. Paper forms must be filed with Form
ees. Your employees trust that you pay the withheld taxes
1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Infor-
to the U.S. Treasury by making federal tax deposits. This
mation Returns. For information on filing information
is the reason that these withheld taxes are called trust
returns electronically with the IRS, see Pub. 1220.
fund taxes. If federal income, social security, or Medicare
Other Forms 1099, including Forms 1099-MISC, have
taxes that must be withheld aren't withheld or aren't de-
different due dates. See the General Instructions for
posited or paid to the U.S. Treasury, the trust fund recov-
Certain Information Returns for more information.
ery penalty may apply. See section 7 for more information.
• Furnish each recipient to whom you paid $600 or If you have nonfarm employees, see Pub. 15. If you
more in nonemployee compensation a completed have employees in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Ameri-
Form 1099-NEC. can Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern

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Mariana Islands, see Pub. 80. Pub. 15-A contains more
employment-related information, including information
about sick pay and pension income. Pub. 15-B contains 1. Taxpayer Identification
information about the employment tax treatment and valu-
Numbers (TINs)
ation of various types of noncash compensation. Pub.
15-T includes the federal income tax withholding tables
If you’re required to withhold any federal income, social
and instructions on how to use the tables. For additional
security, or Medicare taxes, you will need an EIN for your-
information about employment taxes, go to IRS.gov/
self. Also, you will need the SSN of each employee and
EmploymentTaxes. For general tax information relevant to
the name of each employee as shown on the employee's
agricultural employers, go to IRS.gov/
social security card.
AgricultureTaxCenter.
Employer identification number (EIN). An EIN is a
Comments and suggestions. We welcome your com-
nine-digit number that the IRS issues. The digits are ar-
ments about this publication and suggestions for future
ranged as follows: 00-0000000. It is used to identify the
editions
tax accounts of employers and certain others who have
You can send us comments through IRS.gov/
no employees. Use your EIN on all of the items that you
FormComments.
send to the IRS and the SSA.
Or you can write to:
If you don't have an EIN, you may apply for one online
Internal Revenue Service by going to IRS.gov/EIN. You may also apply for an EIN
Tax Forms and Publications by faxing or mailing Form SS-4 to the IRS. If the principal
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 business was created or organized outside of the United
Washington, DC 20224 States or U.S. territories, you may also apply for an EIN by
calling 267-941-1099 (toll call). Don't use an SSN in place
Although we can’t respond individually to each com- of an EIN.
ment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will If you don't have an EIN by the time a return is due, file
consider your comments and suggestions as we revise a paper return and write “Applied For” and the date you
our tax forms, instructions, and publications. Don’t send applied for it in the space shown for the number. If you
tax questions, tax returns, or payments to the above ad- took over another employer's business, don't use that em-
dress. ployer's EIN.
You should have only one EIN. If you have more than
Getting answers to your tax questions. If you have a one, and aren't sure which one to use, call the toll-free
tax question not answered by this publication, check Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 or
IRS.gov and How To Get Tax Help at the end of this publi- 800-829-4059 (TDD/TTY for persons who are deaf, hard
cation. of hearing, or have a speech disability). Provide the EINs
that you have, the name and address to which each num-
Disregarded entities and qualified subchapter S sub- ber was assigned, and the address of your principal place
sidiaries (QSubs). Eligible single-owner disregarded en- of business. The IRS will tell you which EIN to use. For
tities and QSubs are treated as separate entities for em- more information, see Pub. 1635.
ployment tax purposes. Eligible single-member entities
Always be sure the EIN on the form you file ex-
must report and pay employment taxes on wages paid to
actly matches the EIN the IRS assigned to your
their employees using the entities' own names and EINs. CAUTION!
business. Don't use your SSN or individual tax-
See Regulations sections 1.1361-4(a)(7) and
payer identification number (ITIN) on forms that ask for an
301.7701-2(c)(2)(iv).
EIN. If you used an EIN (including a prior owner's EIN) on
Form 943 that is different from the EIN reported on Form
Useful Items W-3, see Box h—Other EIN used this year in the General
You may want to see: Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3. The name and EIN
on Form 945 must match the name and EIN on your infor-
Publication mation returns where federal income tax withholding is re-
15 15 Employer's Tax Guide ported (for example, backup withholding reported on Form
1099-NEC). Filing a Form 945 with an incorrect EIN or us-
15-A 15-A Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide ing another business's EIN may result in penalties and de-
15-B 15-B Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits lays in processing your return.

15-T 15-T Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods When you receive your EIN. If you’re a new em-
225 225 Farmer's Tax Guide ployer that indicated a federal tax obligation when re-
questing an EIN, you will be pre-enrolled in EFTPS. You
535 535 Business Expenses will receive information in your EIN Package about Ex-
press Enrollment and an additional mailing containing
583 583 Starting a Business and Keeping Records
your EFTPS personal identification number (PIN) and in-
1635 1635 Employer Identification Number: structions for activating your PIN. Call the toll-free number
Understanding Your EIN

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located in your “How To Activate Your EFTPS Enrollment” If the SSA issues the employee an updated card after a
brochure to activate your enrollment and begin making name change, or a new card with a different SSN after a
your employment tax deposits. If you outsource any of change in alien work status, file a Form W-2c to correct
your payroll and related tax duties to a third-party payer, the name/SSN reported on the most recently filed Form
such as a payroll service provider or reporting agent, be W-2. It isn't necessary to correct other years if the previ-
sure to tell them about your EFTPS enrollment. ous name and SSN were used for years before the most
recent Form W-2.
Social security number (SSN). An employee's SSN
consists of nine digits arranged as follows: 000-00-0000. IRS individual taxpayer identification numbers
You must obtain each employee's name and SSN as (ITINs) for aliens. Don't accept an ITIN in place of an
shown on the employee's social security card because SSN for employee identification or for work. An ITIN is
you must enter them on Form W-2. Don't accept a social only available to resident and nonresident aliens who
security card that says “Not valid for employment.” An aren't eligible for U.S. employment and need identification
SSN issued with this legend doesn't permit employment. for other tax purposes. You can identify an ITIN because
You may, but aren't required to, photocopy the social se- it’s a nine-digit number, formatted like an SSN, that starts
curity card if the employee provides it. If you don't show with the number “9” and has a range of numbers from “50–
the employee's correct name and SSN on Form W-2, you 65,” “70–88,” “90–92,” and “94–99” for the fourth and fifth
may owe a penalty unless you have reasonable cause. digits (for example, 9NN-7N-NNNN). For more informa-
See Pub. 1586, Reasonable Cause Regulations & Re- tion about ITINs, see the Instructions for Form W-7 or go
quirements for Missing and Incorrect Name/TINs, for infor- to IRS.gov/ITIN.
mation on the requirement to solicit the employee's SSN.
An individual with an ITIN who later becomes eli-
Applying for a social security card. Any employee ! gible to work in the United States must obtain an
who is legally eligible to work in the United States and CAUTION SSN. If the individual is currently eligible to work
doesn't have a social security card can get one by com- in the United States, instruct the individual to apply for an
pleting Form SS-5 and submitting the necessary docu- SSN and follow the instructions under Applying for an
mentation to the SSA. You can get Form SS-5 at SSN, earlier. Don't use an ITIN in place of an SSN on
SSA.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf, at SSA offices, or by calling Form W-2.
800-772-1213 or 800-325-0778 (TTY). The employee
must complete and sign Form SS-5; it can't be filed by the Verification of SSNs. Employers and authorized report-
employer. You may be asked to supply a letter to accom- ing agents can use the Social Security Number Verifica-
pany Form SS-5 if the employee has exceeded their tion Service (SSNVS) to instantly verify that an employee
yearly or lifetime limit for the number of replacement cards name matches an SSN for up to 10 names and SSNs (per
allowed. screen) at a time, or submit an electronic file of up to
250,000 names and SSNs and usually receive results the
Applying for an SSN. If you file Form W-2 on paper and next business day. Go to SSA.gov/employer/ssnv.htm for
your employee has applied for an SSN but doesn't have more information. A person may have a valid SSN but not
one when you must file Form W-2, enter “Applied For” on be authorized to work in the United States. Employers
the form. If you’re filing electronically, enter all zeros may use E-Verify at E-Verify.gov to confirm the employ-
(000-00-0000 if creating forms online or 000000000 if up- ment eligibility of newly hired employees.
loading a file) in the SSN field. When the employee re-
ceives the SSN, file Copy A of Form W-2c, Corrected Registering for SSNVS. You must register online to
Wage and Tax Statement, with the SSA to show the em- use SSNVS. To register, go to the SSA's website at
ployee's SSN. Furnish Copies B, C, and 2 of Form W-2c SSA.gov/bso and click on the Register link under Busi-
to the employee. Up to 25 Forms W-2c for each Form ness Services Online. Follow the registration instructions
W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax State- to obtain a user identification (ID) and password. You will
ments, may be filed per session over the Internet, with no need to provide the following information about yourself
limit on the number of sessions. For more information, go and your company.
to the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Informa- • Name.
tion webpage at SSA.gov/employer. Advise your em-
• SSN.
ployee to correct the SSN on their original Form W-2.
• Date of birth.
Correctly record the employee's name and SSN. Re-
cord the name and SSN of each employee as they’re • Type of employer.
shown on the employee's social security card. If the em- • EIN.
ployee's name isn't correct as shown on the card (for ex-
• Company name, address, and telephone number.
ample, because of marriage or divorce), the employee
should request an updated card from the SSA. Continue • Email address.
to report the employee's wages under the old name until When you have completed the online registration process,
the employee shows you an updated social security card the SSA will mail a one-time activation code to you. You
with the corrected name. must enter the activation code online to use SSNVS. Your
employees must receive authorization from you to use

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SSNVS.  If  your  employees  register,  the  one-time  activa-     horticultural  commodities,  such  as  a  retail  store  or  a 
tion code will be mailed to you.                                   greenhouse  used  primarily  for  display  or  storage.  It  also 
                                                                   doesn't  include  processing  services  that  change  a  com-
                                                                   modity from its raw or natural state, or services performed 
                                                                   after a commodity has been changed from its raw or natu-
2. Who Are Employees?
                                                                   ral state.
Generally,  employees  are  defined  either  under  common         The  table  in  section  12, How  Do  Employment  Taxes 
law or under statutes for certain situations. See Pub. 15-A        Apply to Farmwork, distinguishes between farm and non-
for details on statutory employees and nonemployees.               farm activities, and also addresses rules that apply in spe-
                                                                   cial situations.
Employee  status  under  common  law.       Generally,  a 
worker who performs services for you is your employee if 
you have the right to control what will be done and how it         Crew Leaders
will be done. This is so even when you give the employee 
                                                                   If you’re a crew leader, you’re an employer of farmwork-
freedom of action. What matters is that you have the right 
                                                                   ers. A crew leader is a person who furnishes and pays (ei-
to control the details of how the services are performed. 
                                                                   ther on their own behalf or on behalf of the farm operator) 
See Pub. 15-A for more information on how to determine 
                                                                   workers to do farmwork for the farm operator. If there is no 
whether an individual providing services is an independ-
                                                                   written  agreement  between  you  and  the  farm  operator 
ent contractor or an employee.
                                                                   stating that you’re their employee and if you pay the work-
If an employer-employee relationship exists, it doesn't            ers  (either  for  yourself  or  for  the  farm  operator),  then 
matter what it is called. The employee may be called an            you’re a crew leader. For FUTA tax rules, see section 10.
agent  or  independent  contractor.  It  also  doesn't  matter 
how payments are measured or paid, what they’re called,            If you're a crew leader, you're not considered the em-
or if the employee works full or part time.                        ployee of the farm operator for services you perform in fur-
                                                                   nishing farmworkers and as a member of the crew.
You’re responsible for withholding and paying employ-
ment taxes for your employees. You’re also required to file 
employment tax returns. These requirements don't apply             Business Owned and Operated by 
to amounts that you pay to independent contractors. The            Spouses
rules  discussed  in  this  publication  apply  only  to  workers 
who are your employees.                                            If you and your spouse jointly own and operate a farm or 
In  general,  you’re  an  employer  of  farmworkers  if  your      nonfarm business and share in the profits and losses, you 
employees:                                                         may be partners in a partnership, whether or not you have 
                                                                   a  formal  partnership  agreement.  See  Pub.  541  for  more 
• Raise or harvest agricultural or horticultural products          details. The partnership is considered the employer of any 
  on your farm (including the raising and feeding of live-         employees and is liable for any employment taxes due on 
  stock);                                                          wages paid to its employees.
• Work in connection with the operation, management, 
  conservation, improvement, or maintenance of your                Exception—Qualified  joint  venture. For  tax  years  be-
  farm and its tools and equipment, if the major part of           ginning after 2006, the Small Business and Work Oppor-
  such service is performed on a farm;                             tunity Tax Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-28) provides that a 
                                                                   “qualified  joint  venture,”  whose  only  members  are  spou-
• Provide services relating to salvaging timber, or clear-         ses filing a joint income tax return, can elect not to be trea-
  ing land of brush and other debris, left by a hurricane          ted as a partnership for federal tax purposes. A qualified 
  (also known as hurricane labor) if the major part of             joint venture conducts a trade or business where:
  such service is performed on a farm;
                                                                   • The only members of the joint venture are spouses 
• Handle, process, or package any agricultural or horti-             who file a joint income tax return,
  cultural commodity in its unmanufactured state, if you 
  produced over half of the commodity (for a group of              • Both spouses materially participate (see Material par-
  up to 20 unincorporated operators, all of the commod-              ticipation in the instructions for Schedule C (Form 
  ity); or                                                           1040), line G) in the trade or business (mere joint own-
                                                                     ership of property isn't enough),
• Do work for you related to cotton ginning, turpentine, 
  gum resin products, or the operation and maintenance             • Both spouses elect to not be treated as a partnership, 
  of irrigation facilities.                                          and
For this purpose, the term “farm” includes stock, dairy,           • The business is co-owned by both spouses and isn't 
poultry, fruit, fur-bearing animal, and truck farms, as well         held in the name of a state law entity such as a part-
as  plantations,  ranches,  nurseries,  ranges,  greenhouses         nership or limited liability company (LLC).
or other similar structures used primarily for the raising of      To  make  the  election,  all  items  of  income,  gain,  loss, 
agricultural or horticultural commodities, and orchards.           deduction, and credit must be divided between the spou-
Farmwork doesn't include reselling activities that don't           ses, in accordance with each spouse's interest in the ven-
involve  any  substantial  activity  of  raising  agricultural  or ture, and reported on a separate Schedule C (Form 1040) 

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or Schedule F (Form 1040) as sole proprietors. Each and your employee can agree to have federal income tax
spouse must also file a separate Schedule SE (Form withheld on noncash wages.
1040) to pay self-employment taxes, as applicable. Noncash wages, including commodity wages, are trea-
Spouses using the qualified joint venture rules are trea- ted as cash wages if the substance of the transaction is a
ted as sole proprietors for federal tax purposes and gener- cash payment. Noncash wages treated as cash wages
ally don't need an EIN. If employment taxes are owed by are subject to social security taxes, Medicare taxes, and
the qualified joint venture, either spouse may report and federal income tax withholding.
pay the employment taxes due on the wages paid to the Report the value of noncash wages in box 1 of Form
employees using the EIN of that spouse's sole proprietor- W-2 together with cash wages. Noncash wages for farm-
ship. Generally, filing as a qualified joint venture won't in- work are subject to federal income tax unless a specific
crease the spouses' total tax owed on the joint income tax exclusion applies. Don't show noncash wages in box 3 or
return. However, it gives each spouse credit for social se- 5 of Form W-2 (unless the substance of the transaction is
curity earnings on which retirement benefits are based a cash payment and they’re being treated as cash wa-
and for Medicare coverage without filing a partnership re- ges).
turn.
Note. If your spouse is your employee, not your part- Other compensation. Pubs. 15-A and 15-B discuss
ner, you must withhold and pay federal income, social se- other forms of compensation that may be taxable.
curity, and Medicare taxes for them. However, the wages
Family members. Generally, the wages that you pay to
aren’t subject to FUTA tax.
family members who are your employees are subject to
For more information on qualified joint ventures, go to
social security and Medicare taxes, federal income tax
IRS.gov/QJV.
withholding, and FUTA tax. However, certain exemptions
Exception—Community income. If you and your may apply for your child, spouse, or parent. See the table,
spouse wholly own an unincorporated business as com- How Do Employment Taxes Apply to Farmwork, in
munity property under the community property laws of a section 12.
state, foreign country, or U.S. possession, you can treat
Household employees. The wages of an employee who
the business either as a sole proprietorship (of the spouse
performs household services, such as a maid, babysitter,
who carried on the business) or a partnership. You may
gardener, or cook, in your home aren't subject to social
still make an election to be taxed as a qualified joint ven-
security and Medicare taxes if you pay that employee
ture instead of a partnership. See Exception—Qualified
cash wages of less than $2,600 in 2023.
joint venture, earlier in this section.
Social security and Medicare taxes don't apply to cash
wages for housework in your private home if it was done
by your spouse or your child under age 21. Nor do the
3. Wages and Other taxes apply to housework done by your parent unless:
Compensation • You have a child (including an adopted child or step-
child) living in your home who is under age 18 or has a
Cash wages that you pay to employees for farmwork are physical or mental condition that requires care by an
generally subject to social security tax and Medicare tax. adult for at least 4 continuous weeks in the calendar
You may also be required to withhold, deposit, and report quarter services were performed; and
Additional Medicare Tax. See section 4 for more informa- • You’re a widow or widower, or divorced and not re-
tion. If the wages are subject to social security and Medi- married, or have a spouse in the home who, because
care taxes, they’re also subject to federal income tax with- of a physical or mental condition, can't care for your
holding. You’re liable for the payment of these taxes to the child for at least 4 continuous weeks in the calendar
federal government whether or not you collect them from quarter services were performed.
your employees. If, for example, you withhold less than
For more information, see Pub. 926.
the correct tax from an employee's wages, you’re still lia-
ble for the full amount. You may also be liable for FUTA Wages for household work are generally not a de-
tax, which isn't withheld by you or paid by the employee. ! ductible farm expense. See Nondeductible Pay in
FUTA tax is discussed in section 10. Cash wages include CAUTION chapter 4 of Pub. 225 for more information.
checks, money orders, and any kind of money or cash.
For more information on what payments are considered Share farmers. You don't have to withhold or pay social
taxable wages, see Pub. 15. security and Medicare taxes on amounts paid to share
farmers under share-farming arrangements.
Noncash wages (including commodity wages). Non-
cash wages include food, lodging, clothing, transportation Compensation paid to H-2A visa holders. Report
passes, farm products, or other goods or commodities. compensation of $600 or more paid to foreign agricultural
Noncash wages paid to farmworkers, including commod- workers who entered the country on H-2A visas in box 1 of
ity wages, aren't subject to social security taxes, Medicare Form W-2 but don't report it as social security wages
taxes, or federal income tax withholding. However, you (box 3) or Medicare wages (box 5) on Form W-2 because
compensation paid to H-2A workers for agricultural labor

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performed in connection with this visa isn't subject to so- • Is paid piece rates in an operation that is usually paid
cial security and Medicare taxes. On Form W-2, don't on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment,
check box 13 (Statutory employee), as H-2A workers
• Commutes daily from their permanent home to the
aren't statutory employees.
farm, and
An employer isn't required to withhold federal income
tax from compensation paid to an H-2A worker for agricul- • Had been employed in agriculture less than 13 weeks
tural labor performed in connection with this visa but may in the preceding calendar year.
withhold if the worker asks for withholding and the em-
ployer agrees. In that case, the worker must give the em- Social Security and Medicare Tax
ployer a completed Form W-4. Federal income tax with-
Withholding
held should be reported in box 2 of Form W-2.
These reporting rules apply when the H-2A worker pro-
The tax rate for social security is 6.2% (amount withheld)
vides their TIN to the employer. If the H-2A worker doesn't
each for the employer and employee (12.4% total). The
provide a TIN and the total annual wages to the H-2A
social security wage base limit is $160,200. The tax rate
worker are at least $600, the employer is required to
for Medicare is 1.45% (amount withheld) each for the em-
backup withhold. See the Instructions for Forms
ployee and employer (2.9% total). There is no wage base
1099-MISC and 1099-NEC and the Instructions for Form
limit for Medicare tax; all covered wages are subject to
945.
Medicare tax.
For more information on foreign agricultural workers on
H-2A visas, go to IRS.gov/H2A. Social security and Medicare taxes apply to most pay-
ments of sick pay, including payments made by third par-
ties such as insurance companies. For details, see sec-
4. Social Security and tion 6 of Pub. 15-A.
Qualified sick leave wages and qualified family
Medicare Taxes ! leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2020,
CAUTION and before April 1, 2021, aren't subject to the em-
Generally, you must withhold social security and Medicare
ployer share of social security tax; therefore, the tax rate
taxes on all cash wage payments that you make to your
on these wages is 6.2%. Qualified sick leave wages and
employees. You may also be required to withhold Addi-
qualified family leave wages for leave taken after March
tional Medicare Tax. For more information, see Additional
31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021, are subject to both
Medicare Tax withholding, later.
the employer share (6.2%) and employee share (6.2%) of
social security tax (12.4% total).
The $150 Test or the $2,500 Test
For purposes of this publication, all references to
All cash wages that you pay to an employee during the TIP “sick pay” mean ordinary sick pay, not “qualified
year for farmwork are subject to social security and Medi- sick leave wages” under the FFCRA, as amended
care taxes and federal income tax withholding if either of by the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020, and the
the two tests below is met. ARP.
• You pay cash wages to an employee of $150 or more
in a year for farmwork (count all cash wages paid on a Additional Medicare Tax withholding. In addition to
time, piecework, or other basis). The $150 test applies withholding Medicare tax at 1.45%, you must withhold a
separately to each farmworker that you employ. If you 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax from wages you pay to an
employ a family of workers, each member is treated employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year.
separately. Don't count wages paid by other employ- You’re required to begin withholding Additional Medicare
ers. Tax in the pay period in which you pay wages in excess of
$200,000 to an employee and continue to withhold it each
• The total that you pay for farmwork (cash and non-
pay period until the end of the calendar year. Additional
cash) to all your employees is $2,500 or more during
Medicare Tax is only imposed on the employee. There is
the year.
no employer share of Additional Medicare Tax. All wages
Exceptions. Annual cash wages of less than $150 you that are subject to Medicare tax are subject to Additional
pay to a seasonal farmworker aren't subject to social se- Medicare Tax withholding if paid in excess of the
curity and Medicare taxes, or federal income tax withhold- $200,000 withholding threshold.
ing, even if you pay $2,500 or more to all your farmwork- For more information on what wages are subject to
ers. However, these wages count toward the $2,500 test Medicare tax, see the chart, Special Rules for Various
for determining whether other farmworkers' wages are Types of Services and Payments, in section 15 of Pub.
subject to social security and Medicare taxes. 15. For more information on Additional Medicare Tax, go
A seasonal farmworker is a worker who: to IRS.gov/ADMTfaqs.

• Is employed in agriculture as a hand-harvest laborer, Employee share paid by employer. If you would rather
pay a household or agricultural employee's share of the
social security and Medicare taxes without withholding

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them from the employee’s wages, you may do so. If you a withholding allowance was tied to the amount of the per-
don't withhold the taxes, however, you must still pay them sonal exemption. Due to changes in the law, taxpayers
on behalf of the employee. Any employee social security can no longer claim personal exemptions or dependency
and Medicare taxes that you pay are additional income to exemptions; therefore, Form W-4 no longer asks an em-
the employee. Include it in box 1 of the employee's Form ployee to report the number of withholding allowances
W-2, but don't count it as social security and Medicare that they are claiming. The revised Form W-4 is divided
wages and don't include it in boxes 3 and 5. Also, don't into five steps. Step 1 and Step 5 apply to all employees.
count the additional income as wages for FUTA tax purpo- In Step 1, employees enter personal information like their
ses. Different rules apply to employer payments of social name and filing status. In Step 5, employees sign the
security and Medicare taxes for non-household and form. Employees who complete only Step 1 and Step 5
non-agricultural employees. See section 7 of Pub. 15-A. will have their withholding figured based on their filing sta-
tus’s standard deduction and tax rates with no other ad-
Example. Gavrielle operates a small family fruit farm. justments. If applicable, in Step 2, employees increase
Gavrielle employs day laborers in the picking season to al- their withholding to account for higher tax rates due to in-
low Gavrielle time to get the crops to market. Gavrielle come from other jobs in their household. Under Step 2,
doesn't deduct the employees' share of social security employees either enter an additional amount to withhold
and Medicare taxes from their pay; instead, Gavrielle pays per payroll period in Step 4(c) or check the box in Step
it on their behalf. When Gavrielle prepares the employees' 2(c) for higher withholding rate tables to apply to their wa-
Forms W-2, Gavrielle adds each employee's share of so- ges. In Step 3, employees decrease their withholding by
cial security and Medicare taxes that Gavrielle paid to the reporting the annual amount of any credits they will claim
employee's wage income (box 1 of Form W-2), but on their income tax return. In Step 4, employees may in-
doesn't include it in box 3 (social security wages) or box 5 crease or decrease their withholding based on the annual
(Medicare wages and tips). amount of other income or deductions they will report on
For 2022, Gavrielle paid Dan $1,000 during the year. their income tax return and they may also request any ad-
Gavrielle enters $1,076.50 in box 1 of Dan's Form W-2 ditional federal income tax they want withheld each pay
($1,000 wages plus $76.50 social security and Medicare period.
taxes paid for Dan). Gavrielle enters $1,000.00 in boxes 3 Employees who have submitted Form W-4 in any year
and 5 of Dan's Form W-2. before 2020 aren’t required to submit a new form merely
because of the redesign. Employers will continue to figure
Withholding social security and Medicare taxes on
withholding based on the information from the employee’s
nonresident alien employees. In general, if you pay
most recently submitted Form W-4. The withholding ta-
wages to nonresident alien employees, you must withhold
bles in Pub. 15-T allow employers to figure withholding
social security and Medicare taxes as you would for a
based on a Form W-4 for 2019 or earlier, as well as the re-
U.S. citizen or resident alien. However, see Pub. 515 for
designed Form W-4. While you may ask your employees
exceptions to this general rule. One such exception is for
first paid wages before 2020 that have not yet submitted a
foreign agricultural workers on H-2A visas, who are ex-
redesigned Form W-4 to submit new Forms W-4 using the
empt from social security and Medicare taxes. See Com-
redesigned version of the form, you should explain to
pensation paid to H-2A visa holders in section 3.
them that they’re not required to do this and if they don’t
Religious exemption. An exemption from social security submit a new Form W-4, withholding will continue based
and Medicare taxes is available to members of a recog- on a valid Form W-4 previously submitted. All newly hired
nized religious sect opposed to insurance. This exemption employees must use the redesigned form. Similarly, any
is available only if both the employee and the employer other employees who wish to adjust their withholding must
are members of the sect. For more information, see Pub. use the redesigned form.
517. Pub. 15-T provides an optional computational bridge to
treat 2019 or earlier Forms W-4 as if they were 2020 or
later Forms W-4 for purposes of figuring federal income
tax withholding. This computational bridge allows you to
5. Federal Income Tax use computational procedures and data fields for a 2020
and later Form W-4 to arrive at the equivalent withholding
Withholding for an employee that would have applied using the com-
putational procedures and data fields on a 2019 or earlier
Farm operators and crew leaders must withhold federal
Form W-4. See How To Treat 2019 and Earlier Forms
income tax from the wages of farmworkers if the wages
W-4 as if They Were 2020 or Later Forms W-4 in the Intro-
are subject to social security and Medicare taxes. The
duction section of Pub. 15-T.
amount to withhold is figured on gross wages before tak-
ing out social security and Medicare taxes, union dues, More information. For more information about the re-
etc. You may use one of several methods to determine the designed Form W 4 and regulations that provide guidance ‐
amount of federal income tax withholding. They’re dis- for employers concerning income tax withholding from
cussed in Pub. 15-T. employees’ wages, see Treasury Decision 9924, 2020 44 ‐
I.R.B. 943, available at IRS.gov/irb/
Redesigned Form W-4. The IRS redesigned Form W-4 2020-44_IRB#TD-9924. For information about Form W 4, ‐
for 2020 and subsequent years. Before 2020, the value of go to IRS.gov/FormW4. Employer instructions on how to

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figure employee withholding are provided in Pub. 15 T, ‐ held each pay period in addition to the amount of with-
available at IRS.gov/Pub15T. holding based on filing status and other information
reported on Form W-4.
Using Form W-4 to figure withholding. To know how Employees that are married filing jointly and have spou-
much federal income tax to withhold from employees' wa- ses that also currently work, or employees that hold more
ges, you should have a Form W-4 on file for each em- than one job at the same time, should account for their
ployee. Encourage your employees to file an updated higher tax rate by completing Step 2 of their 2023 Form
Form W-4 for 2023, especially if they owed taxes or re- W-4. Employees also have the option to report on their
ceived a large refund when filing their 2022 tax return. 2023 Form W-4 other income they will receive that isn't
Ask all new employees to give you a signed Form W-4 subject to withholding and other deductions they will claim
when they start work. Make the form effective with the first in order to increase the accuracy of their federal income
wage payment. If a new employee doesn't give you a tax withholding.
completed Form W-4 in 2023 (including an employee who See Pub. 505 for more information about completing
previously worked for you and was rehired in 2023, and Form W-4. Along with Form W-4, you may wish to order
who fails to furnish a Form W-4), treat the new employee Pub. 505 for use by your employees.
as if they had checked the box for Single or Married filing Don't accept any withholding or estimated tax pay-
separately in Step 1(c) and made no entries in Step 2, ments from your employees in addition to withholding
Step 3, or Step 4 of the 2023 Form W-4. An employee based on their Form W-4. If an employee wants additional
who was paid wages before 2020 and who failed to fur- withholding, they should submit a new Form W-4 and, if
nish a Form W-4 should continue to be treated as single necessary, pay estimated tax by filing Form 1040-ES or
and claiming zero allowances on a 2019 Form W-4. If you by using EFTPS to make estimated tax payments.
use the optional computational bridge, described earlier
under Redesigned Form W-4, you may treat this em- Exemption from federal income tax withholding.
ployee as if they had checked the box for Single or Mar- Generally, an employee may claim exemption from fed-
ried filing separately in Step 1(c), and made no entries in eral income tax withholding because they had no federal
Step 2 and Step 3, an entry of $8,600 in Step 4(a), and an income tax liability last year and expect none this year.
entry of zero in Step 4(b) of the 2023 Form W-4. See the Form W-4 instructions for more information. How-
ever, the wages are still subject to social security and
Form in Spanish. You can provide Formulario W-4(SP) Medicare taxes. See also Invalid Forms W-4, later in this
in place of Form W-4 to your Spanish-speaking employ- section.
ees. For more information, see Pub. 17(SP). The rules A Form W-4 claiming exemption from withholding is ef-
discussed in this section that apply to Form W-4 also ap- fective when it is given to the employer and only for that
ply to Formulario W-4(SP). calendar year. To continue to be exempt from withholding,
an employee must give you a new Form W-4 by February
Electronic system to receive Form W-4. You may es-
15. If the employee doesn't give you a new Form W-4 by
tablish a system to electronically receive Forms W-4 from
February 15, begin withholding as if they had checked the
your employees. See Regulations section 31.3402(f)
box for Single or Married filing separately in Step 1(c) and
(5)-1(c), Pub. 15-A, and Pub. 15-T for more information.
made no entries in Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 of the 2023
Effective date of Form W-4. A Form W-4 for 2022 or Form W-4. If the employee provides a new Form W-4
earlier years remains in effect for 2023 unless the em- claiming exemption from withholding on February 16 or
ployee gives you a 2023 Form W-4. When you receive a later, you may apply it to future wages but don't refund any
new Form W-4 from an employee, don't adjust withholding taxes withheld while the exempt status wasn’t in place.
for pay periods before the effective date of the new form. If
Withholding income taxes on the wages of nonresi-
an employee gives you a Form W-4 that replaces an exist-
dent alien employees. In general, you must withhold
ing Form W-4, begin withholding no later than the start of
federal income taxes on the wages of nonresident alien
the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day from
employees. However, see Pub. 515 for exceptions to this
the date you received the replacement Form W-4. For ex-
general rule. Also see Compensation paid to H-2A visa
ceptions, see Exemption from federal income tax with-
workers in section 3.
holding IRS review of requested Forms W-4, , and Invalid
Forms W-4, later in this section. Withholding adjustment for nonresident alien em-
A Form W-4 that makes a change for the next cal- ployees. Nonresident aliens may not claim the standard
deduction on their tax return; therefore, employers must
CAUTION dar year.
! endar year won't take effect in the current calen- add an amount to the wages of nonresident alien employ-
ees performing services within the United States in order
to figure the amount of federal income tax to withhold from
Completing Form W-4. The amount of any federal in-
their wages. The amount is added to their wages solely for
come tax withholding must be based on filing status, in-
calculating federal income tax withholding. The amount
come (including income from other jobs), deductions, and
isn’t included in any box on the employee's Form W-2 and
credits. Your employees may not base their withholding
doesn’t increase the income tax liability of the employee.
amounts on a fixed dollar amount or percentage. How-
The amount also doesn't increase the social security tax
ever, an employee may specify a dollar amount to be with-
or Medicare tax liability of the employer or the employee,

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or the FUTA tax liability of the employer. See Withholding After submitting a copy of the requested Form W-4 to
Adjustment for Nonresident Alien Employees in the Intro- the IRS, continue to withhold federal income tax based on
duction section of Pub. 15-T for the amount to add to their that Form W-4 if it is valid (see Invalid Forms W-4, later in
wages for the payroll period. this section). However, if the IRS later notifies you in writ-
ing that the employee isn't entitled to claim exemption
Supplemental wage payment. The adjustment for
from withholding or a claimed amount of deductions or
determining the amount of federal income tax withholding
credits, withhold federal income tax based on the effective
for nonresident alien employees doesn't apply to a sup-
date, employee's permitted filing status, and withholding
plemental wage payment (see Supplemental wages, later
instructions specified in the IRS notice (commonly refer-
in this section) if the 37% mandatory flat rate withholding
red to as a “lock-in letter”).
applies or if the 22% optional flat rate withholding is being
used to calculate income tax withholding on the supple- Initial lock-in letter. The IRS uses information repor-
mental wage payment. ted on Form W-2 to identify employees with withholding
compliance problems. In some cases, if a serious under-
Nonresident alien employee's Form W-4. When com- withholding problem is found to exist for a particular em-
pleting Forms W-4, nonresident aliens are required to: ployee, the IRS may issue a lock-in letter to the employer
• Not claim exemption from income tax withholding specifying the employee's permitted filing status and pro-
(even if they meet both of the conditions to claim ex- viding withholding instructions for the specific employee.
emption from withholding listed in the Form W-4 in- You’ll also receive a copy for the employee that identifies
structions); the permitted filing status and provides a description of
the withholding instructions you’re required to follow and
• Request withholding as if they’re single, regardless of the process by which the employee can provide additional
their actual filing status; information to the IRS for purposes of determining the ap-
• Not claim the child tax credit or credit for other de- propriate withholding and/or modifying the specified filing
pendents in Step 3 of Form W-4 (if the nonresident status. You must furnish the employee copy to the em-
alien is a resident of Canada, Mexico, or South Korea, ployee within 10 business days of receipt if the employee
or a student from India, or a business apprentice from is employed by you as of the date of the notice. You may
India, they may claim, under certain circumstances follow any reasonable business practice to furnish the em-
(see Pub. 519), the child tax credit or credit for other ployee copy to the employee. Begin withholding based on
dependents); and the notice on the date specified in the notice.
• Write “Nonresident Alien” or “NRA” in the space below Implementation of lock-in letter. When you receive
Step 4(c) of Form W-4. the notice specifying the permitted filing status and provid-
If you maintain an electronic Form W-4 system, you ing withholding instructions, you may not withhold immedi-
should provide a field for nonresident aliens to enter non- ately on the basis of the notice. You must begin withhold-
resident alien status instead of writing “Nonresident Alien” ing tax on the basis of the notice for any wages paid after
or “NRA” in the space below Step 4(c) of Form W-4. You the date specified in the notice. The delay between your
should instruct nonresident aliens to see Notice 1392, receipt of the notice and the date to begin the withholding
Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Ali- on the basis of the notice permits the employee time to
ens, before completing Form W-4. contact the IRS.
Form 8233. If a nonresident alien employee claims a Seasonal employees and employees not currently
tax treaty exemption from withholding, the employee must performing services. If you receive a notice for an em-
submit Form 8233 with respect to the income exempt un- ployee who isn't currently performing services for you,
der the treaty, instead of Form W-4. For more information, you’re still required to furnish the employee copy to the
see the Instructions for Form 8233 and Pay for Personal employee and withhold based on the notice if any of the
Services Performed under Withholding on Specific In- following apply.
come in Pub. 515. • You’re paying wages for the employee's prior services
and the wages are subject to income tax withholding
IRS review of requested Forms W-4. When requested on or after the date specified in the notice.
by the IRS, you must make original Forms W-4 available
for inspection by an IRS employee. You may also be di- • You reasonably expect the employee to resume serv-
rected to send certain Forms W-4 to the IRS. You may re- ices within 12 months of the date of the notice.
ceive a notice from the IRS requiring you to submit a copy • The employee is on a leave of absence that doesn't
of Form W-4 for one or more of your named employees. exceed 12 months or the employee has a right to re-
Send the requested copy or copies of Form W-4 to the employment after the leave of absence.
IRS at the address provided and in the manner directed
by the notice. The IRS may also require you to submit Termination and rehire of employees. If you must
copies of Form W-4 to the IRS as directed by a revenue furnish and withhold based on the notice and the employ-
procedure or notice published in the Internal Revenue ment relationship is terminated after the date of the notice,
Bulletin. When we refer to Form W-4, the same rules ap- you must continue to withhold based on the notice if you
ply to Formulario W-4(SP), its Spanish translation. continue to pay any wages subject to income tax withhold-
ing. You must also withhold based on the notice or

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modification notice (explained next) if the employee re- You can't accept substitute Forms W-4 developed by
sumes the employment relationship with you within 12 employees. An employee who submits an employee-de-
months after the termination of the employment relation- veloped substitute Form W-4 after October 10, 2007, will
ship. be treated as failing to furnish a Form W-4. However, con-
tinue to honor any valid employee-developed Forms W-4
Modification notice. After issuing the notice specify-
you accepted before October 11, 2007.
ing the permitted filing status and providing withholding in-
structions, the IRS may issue a subsequent notice (modifi- Invalid Forms W-4. Any unauthorized change or addi-
cation notice) that modifies the original notice. The tion to Form W-4 makes it invalid. This includes taking out
modification notice may change the permitted filing status any language by which the employee certifies the form is
and withholding instructions. You must withhold federal in- correct. A Form W-4 is also invalid if, by the date an em-
come tax based on the effective date specified in the ployee gives it to you, they clearly indicate it is false. An
modification notice. employee who submits a false Form W-4 may be subject
New Form W-4 after IRS notice. After the IRS issues to a $500 penalty. You may treat a Form W-4 as invalid if
a notice or modification notice, if the employee provides the employee wrote “exempt” below Step 4(c) and
you with a new Form W-4 claiming complete exemption checked the box in Step 2(c) or entered numbers for
from withholding or a completed Form W-4 that results in Steps 3 and 4.
less withholding than would result under the IRS notice or When you get an invalid Form W-4, don't use it to figure
modification notice, disregard the new Form W-4. You federal income tax withholding. Tell the employee it is in-
must withhold based on the notice or modification notice valid and ask for another one. If the employee doesn't give
unless the IRS notifies you to withhold based on the new you a valid one, and you have an earlier Form W-4 for this
Form W-4. If the employee wants to put a new Form W-4 employee that is valid, withhold as you did before. If you
into effect that results in less withholding than required, don't have an earlier Form W-4 that is valid, withhold tax
the employee must contact the IRS. as if the employee had checked the box for Single or Mar-
If, after you receive an IRS notice or modification no- ried filing separately in Step 1(c) and made no entries in
tice, your employee gives you a new completed Form W-4 Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 of the 2023 Form W-4. However,
that results in more withholding than would result under an employee who was paid wages in 2019 who never
the notice or modification notice, you must withhold tax submitted a valid Form W-4 and submits an invalid Form
based on the new Form W-4. Otherwise, disregard any W-4 in 2023 should continue to be treated as single and
subsequent Forms W-4 provided by the employee and claiming zero allowances on a 2019 Form W-4. If you use
withhold based on the IRS notice or modification notice. the optional computational bridge, described earlier under
Redesigned Form W-4, you may treat this employee as if
If, in a year before 2020, you received a lock-in they had checked the box for Single or Married filing sep-
! letter for an employee, then for 2023 you should arately in Step 1(c), and made no entries in Step 2 and
CAUTION continue to follow the instructions in the lock-in
Step 3, an entry of $8,600 in Step 4(a), and an entry of
letter. You will use the withholding methods described in zero in Step 4(b) of the 2023 Form W-4.
Pub. 15-T for an employee with a Form W-4 from 2019 or
earlier, or you may use the optional computational bridge Amounts exempt from levy on wages, salary, and
to treat 2019 or earlier Forms W-4 as if they were 2020 or other income. If you receive a Notice of Levy on Wages,
later Forms W-4 for purposes of figuring federal income Salary, and Other Income (Forms 668-W(ACS), 668-W(c)
tax withholding. See How To Treat 2019 and Earlier (DO), or 668-W(ICS)), you must withhold amounts as de-
Forms W-4 as if They Were 2020 or Later Forms W-4 in scribed in the instructions for these forms. Pub. 1494 has
the Introduction section of Pub. 15-T. You should continue tables to figure the amount exempt from levy. If a levy is-
following the instructions in the pre-2020 lock-in letter until sued in a prior year is still in effect and the taxpayer sub-
you receive a letter releasing your employee from the mits a new Statement of Exemptions and Filing Status,
lock-in procedures, you receive a modification notice, or use the current year Pub. 1494 to figure the exempt
your employee gives you a new Form W-4 that results in amount.
more withholding than would result under the notice.
For additional information about employer withholding How To Figure Federal Income Tax
compliance, see IRS.gov/WHC. Withholding

Substitute Forms W-4. You’re encouraged to have your There are several ways to figure federal income tax with-
employees use the official version of Form W-4. You may holding; see Pub. 15-T for more information. If an em-
use a substitute version of Form W-4 to meet your busi- ployee wants additional federal income tax withheld, have
ness needs. However, your substitute Form W-4 must the employee show the extra amount on Form W-4.
contain language that is identical to the official Form W-4
and your form must meet all current IRS rules for substi- Supplemental wages. Supplemental wages are wage
tute forms. At the time you provide your substitute form to payments to an employee that aren't regular wages. They
the employee, you must provide them with all tables, in- include, but aren't limited to, bonuses, commissions, over-
structions, and worksheets from the current Form W-4. time pay, payments for accumulated sick leave, sever-
ance pay, awards, prizes, back pay, retroactive pay

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increases, and payments for nondeductible moving ex- Regardless of the method you use to withhold federal
penses. However, employers have the option to treat income tax on supplemental wages, they’re subject to so-
overtime pay as regular wages instead of supplemental cial security, Medicare, and FUTA taxes.
wages. Other payments subject to the supplemental wage
rules include taxable fringe benefits and expense allowan-
ces paid under a nonaccountable plan. How you withhold
6. Required Notice to
on supplemental wages depends on whether the supple-
mental payment is identified as a separate payment from Employees About the Earned
regular wages. See Regulations section 31.3402(g)-1 for
additional guidance. Also see Revenue Ruling 2008-29, Income Credit (EIC)
2008-24 I.R.B. 1149, available at IRS.gov/irb/
2008-24_IRB#RR-2008-29. You must notify employees who have no federal income
If you pay supplemental wages with regular wages but tax withheld that they may be able to claim a tax refund
don't specify the amount of each, withhold federal income because of the EIC. Although you don't have to notify em-
tax as if the total was a single payment for a regular pay- ployees who claim exemption from withholding on Form
roll period. W-4 about the EIC, you’re encouraged to notify any em-
If you pay supplemental wages separately (or combine ployees whose wages for 2022 were less than $53,057
them in a single payment and specify the amount of ($59,187 if married filing jointly) that they may be eligible
each), the federal income tax withholding method de- to claim the credit for 2022. This is because eligible em-
pends partly on whether you withhold federal income tax ployees may get a refund of the amount of the EIC that is
from your employee's regular wages. more than the tax they owe.
1. If you withheld federal income tax from an employee's You’ll meet the notification requirement if you issue the
regular wages in the current or immediately preceding employee Form W-2 with the EIC notice on the back of
calendar year, you can use one of the following meth- Copy B, or a substitute Form W-2 with the same state-
ods for the supplemental wages. ment. You may also meet the requirement by providing
Notice 797, Possible Federal Tax Refund Due to the
a. Withhold a flat 22% (no other percentage al-
Earned Income Credit (EIC), or your own statement that
lowed).
contains the same wording.
b. If the supplemental wages are paid concurrently
If a substitute Form W-2 is given to the employee on
with regular wages, add the supplemental wages
time but doesn't have the required statement, you must
to the concurrently paid regular wages and with-
notify the employee within 1 week of the date the substi-
hold federal income tax as if the total were a single
tute Form W-2 is given. If Form W-2 is required but isn't
payment for a regular payroll period. If there are
given on time, you must give the employee Notice 797 or
no concurrently paid regular wages, add the sup-
your written statement by the date Form W-2 is required to
plemental wages to, alternatively, either the regu-
be given. If Form W-2 isn't required, you must notify the
lar wages paid or to be paid for the current payroll
employee by February 7, 2023.
period or the regular wages paid for the preceding
payroll period. Figure the income tax withholding
as if the total of the regular wages and supplemen-
tal wages is a single payment. Subtract the tax al- 7. Depositing Taxes
ready withheld or to be withheld from the regular
wages. Withhold the remaining tax from the sup- If an employer is eligible to claim a credit for quali-
plemental wages. If there were other payments of TIP fied sick and family leave wages during 2023, the
supplemental wages paid during the payroll period employer can reduce their deposits by the
made before the current payment of supplemental amount of their anticipated credit. Employers won't be
wages, aggregate all the payments of supplemen- subject to a failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty for properly
tal wages paid during the payroll period with the reducing their deposits if certain conditions are met. For
regular wages paid during the payroll period, fig- more information on reducing deposits, see Notice
ure the tax on the total, subtract the tax already 2020-22, 2020-17 I.R.B. 664, available at IRS.gov/irb/
withheld from the regular wages and previous 2020-17_IRB#NOT-2020-22; Notice 2021-24, 2021-18
supplemental wage payments, and withhold the I.R.B. 1122, available at IRS.gov/irb/
remaining tax. 2021-18_IRB#NOT-2021-24; and the Instructions for
Form 943. For more information about the credit for quali-
2. If you didn't withhold federal income tax from the em- fied sick and family leave wages, go to IRS.gov/PLC.
ployee's regular wages in the current or immediately
preceding calendar year, use method 1b. Generally, you must deposit federal income tax with-
Separate rules apply to any supplemental wages held and both the employer and employee social security
and Medicare taxes. You must use EFT to make all fed-
! exceeding $1 million that you pay to an individual eral tax deposits. See How To Deposit, later in this sec-
CAUTION during the year. See section 7 of Pub. 15 for de-
tails. tion, for information on electronic deposit requirements.

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Payment with return. You may make payments with for your employment tax return that were applicable during
Form 943 or 945 instead of depositing, without incurring a the lookback period.
penalty, if one of the following applies.
• You report less than a $2,500 tax liability for the year Lookback period. The lookback period is the second
(Form 943, line 13; Form 945, line 3) and you pay in calendar year preceding the current calendar year. For
full with a return that is filed on time. However, if you’re example, the lookback period for 2023 is 2021.
unsure that you will report less than $2,500, deposit
Example of deposit schedule based on lookback
under the rules explained in this section so that you
period. Rose Co. reported taxes on Form 943 as follows.
won't be subject to an FTD penalty.
• You’re a monthly schedule depositor (defined later) 2021—$48,000
and make a payment in accordance with the Accuracy 2022—$60,000
of Deposits Rule, discussed later in this section. This Rose Co. is a monthly schedule depositor for 2023 be-
payment may be $2,500 or more. cause its taxes for the lookback period ($48,000 for calen-
Only monthly schedule depositors are allowed to dar year 2021) weren't more than $50,000. However, for
2024, Rose Co. will be a semiweekly schedule depositor
CAUTION the return. Semiweekly schedule depositors must
! make an Accuracy of Deposits Rule payment with because the total taxes before adjustment for its lookback
timely deposit the amount by the shortfall makeup date. period ($60,000 for calendar year 2022) exceeded
See Accuracy of Deposits Rule and How To Deposit, later $50,000.
in this section. Adjustments to lookback period taxes. To deter-
mine your taxes for the lookback period, use only the tax
that you reported on the original return (Form 943,
When To Deposit
line 13). Don't include adjustments shown on Form 943-X.
If you employ both farm and nonfarm workers,
Example of adjustments. An employer originally re-
! don't combine the taxes reportable on Forms 941
CAUTION or 944 with Form 943 to decide whether to make ported total tax of $45,000 for the lookback period. The
a deposit. See Employers of Both Farm and Nonfarm employer discovered during March 2023 that the tax re-
Workers, later in this section. ported for the lookback period was understated by
$10,000 and corrected this error by filing Form 943-X. The
total tax reported in the lookback period is still $45,000.
The rules for determining when to deposit Form 943
The $10,000 adjustment is also not treated as part of the
taxes are discussed next. See section 10 for the separate
2023 taxes.
rules that apply to FUTA tax. Under these rules, you’re
classified as either a monthly schedule depositor or a Deposit period. The term “deposit period” refers to the
semiweekly schedule depositor. period during which tax liabilities are accumulated for
The terms “monthly schedule depositor” and “semi- each required deposit due date. For monthly schedule de-
weekly schedule depositor” don't refer to how often your positors, the deposit period is a calendar month. The de-
business pays its employees or how often you’re required posit periods for semiweekly schedule depositors are
to make deposits. The terms identify which set of deposit Wednesday through Friday and Saturday through Tues-
rules you must follow when you incur a tax liability (for ex- day.
ample, when you have a payday). If you're an agent with an approved Form 2678,
TIP the deposit rules apply to you based on the total
The deposit schedule that you must use for a calendar employment taxes accumulated by you for your
year is determined from the total tax liability reported on own employees and on behalf of all employers for whom
your Form 943, line 13, for the lookback period, discussed you're authorized to act. For more information on an agent
next. with an approved Form 2678, see Revenue Procedure
• If you reported $50,000 or less of Form 943 taxes for 2013-39, 2013-52 I.R.B. 830, available at IRS.gov/irb/
the lookback period, you’re a monthly schedule de- 2013-52_IRB#RP-2013-39.
positor.
• If you reported more than $50,000 of Form 943 taxes Monthly Deposit Schedule
for the lookback period, you’re a semiweekly schedule
depositor. If the tax liability reported on Form 943, line 13, for the
lookback period is $50,000 or less, you’re a monthly
Your total tax liability for the lookback period is
schedule depositor for the current year. You must deposit
TIP determined based on the amount of taxes you re-
Form 943 taxes on wage payments made during a calen-
ported on Form 943, line 13. Your total liability
dar month by the 15th day of the following month.
isn’t reduced by the refundable portion of the credit for
qualified sick and family leave wages, the refundable por- Monthly schedule example. Spruce Co. is a monthly
tion of the employee retention credit, or the refundable schedule depositor with seasonal employees. It paid wa-
portion of the COBRA premium assistance credit. For ges each Friday during May but didn't pay any wages
more information about these credits, see the instructions

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during June. Under the monthly deposit schedule, Spruce                The return period for Form 943 is a calendar year. If you 
Co. must deposit the combined tax liabilities for the May              have more than one pay date during a semiweekly period 
paydays by June 15. Spruce Co. doesn't have a deposit                  and  the  pay  dates  fall  in  different  return  periods,  you’ll 
requirement for June (due by July 15) because no wages                 need  to  make  separate  deposits  for  the  separate  liabili-
were  paid  and,  therefore,  it  didn't  have  a  tax  liability  for ties.  For  example,  if  a  return  period  ends  on  Thursday, 
June.                                                                  taxes accumulated on Wednesday and Thursday are sub-
                                                                       ject to one deposit obligation, and taxes accumulated on 
New employers.    For agricultural employers, your tax lia-            Friday are subject to a separate obligation. Separate de-
bility for any year in the lookback period before the date             posits  are  required  because  two  different  return  periods 
you started or acquired your business is considered to be              are affected.
zero. Therefore, you’re a monthly schedule depositor for 
the  first  and  second  calendar  years  of  your  agricultural       Deposits Due on Business Days Only
business (but see $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule, later 
in this section).                                                      If a deposit is required to be made on a day that isn't a 
                                                                       business day, the deposit is considered timely if it is made 
Semiweekly Deposit Schedule                                            by the close of the next business day. A business day is 
                                                                       any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. 
You’re  a  semiweekly  schedule  depositor  for  a  calendar           For example, if a deposit is required to be made on a Fri-
year  if  the  tax  liability  on  Form  943,  line  13,  during  your day  and  Friday  is  a  legal  holiday,  the  deposit  is  consid-
lookback period was more than $50,000. Under the semi-                 ered timely if it is made by the following Monday (if Mon-
weekly deposit schedule, deposit Form 943 taxes for pay-               day is a business day).
ments made on Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday by 
                                                                        Semiweekly  schedule  depositors  have  at  least  3 
the  following  Wednesday.  Deposit  taxes  for  payments 
                                                                       business days following the close of the semiweekly pe-
made on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and/or Tuesday by 
                                                                       riod to make a deposit. If any of the 3 weekdays after the 
the following Friday. See also   Deposits Due on Business 
                                                                       end of a semiweekly period is a legal holiday, you’ll have 
Days Only, later in this section.
                                                                       an  additional  day  for  each  day  that  is  a  legal  holiday  to 
                                                                       make the required deposit. For example, if a semiweekly 
Semiweekly schedule depositors aren't required to de-
                                                                       schedule  depositor  accumulated  taxes  for  payments 
posit  twice  a  week  if  their  payments  were  in  the  same 
                                                                       made on Friday and the following Monday is a legal holi-
semiweekly period unless the     $100,000 next-day deposit 
                                                                       day,  the  deposit  normally  due  on  Wednesday  may  be 
rule (discussed later in this section) applies. For example, 
                                                                       made on Thursday (this allows 3 business days to make 
if  you  made  a  payment  on  both  Wednesday  and  Friday 
                                                                       the deposit).
and incurred taxes of $10,000 for each pay date, deposit 
the $20,000 by the following Wednesday. If you made no                 Legal holiday. The term “legal holiday” means any legal 
additional payments on Saturday through Tuesday, no de-                holiday in the District of Columbia. For purposes of the de-
posit is due on Friday.                                                posit rules, the term "legal holiday" doesn't include other 
        Semiweekly  schedule  depositors  must  complete               statewide legal holidays. Legal holidays for 2023 are listed 
                                                                       below.
!       Form  943-A,  Agricultural  Employer's  Record  of 
CAUTION Federal Tax Liability, and submit it with Form 943.
                                                                       • January 2, 2023—New Year's Day (observed)
                                                                       • January 16—Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Semiweekly Deposit Schedule
                                                                       • February 20—Washington's Birthday
IF the payday falls on a...  THEN deposit taxes by                     • April 17—District of Columbia Emancipation Day (ob-
                             the following...                            served)
Wednesday, Thursday, and/or  Wednesday.                                • May 29—Memorial Day
Friday
                                                                       • June 19—Juneteenth National Independence Day
Saturday, Sunday, Monday,    Friday.                                     July 4—Independence Day
and/or Tuesday                                                         •
                                                                       • September 4—Labor Day
Semiweekly schedule example.     Green, Inc., is a semi-               • October 9—Columbus Day
weekly  schedule  depositor  and  pays  wages  once  each              • November 10—Veterans Day (observed)
month on the last Friday of the month. Green, Inc., will de-
posit only once a month, but the deposit will be made un-              • November 23—Thanksgiving Day
der  the  semiweekly  deposit  schedule  as  follows.  Green,          • December 25—Christmas Day
Inc.'s tax liability for the April 28, 2023 (Friday), wage pay-
ment must be deposited by May 3, 2023 (Wednesday).                     $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule

Semiweekly deposit period spanning two return peri-                    If you accumulate $100,000 or more in taxes on any day 
ods. The period covered by a return is the return period.              during  a  monthly  or  semiweekly  deposit  period  (see 

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Deposit period, earlier in this section), you must deposit 1. Any deposit shortfall doesn't exceed the greater of
the tax by the next business day, whether you’re a $100 or 2% of the amount of taxes otherwise required
monthly or semiweekly schedule depositor. to be deposited.
2. The deposit shortfall is paid or deposited by the short-
For purposes of the $100,000 rule, don't continue accu-
fall makeup date as described next.
mulating a tax liability after the end of a deposit period.
For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor has ac- Makeup Date for Deposit Shortfall:
cumulated a liability of $95,000 on a Tuesday (of a Satur-
day-through-Tuesday deposit period) and accumulated a • Monthly schedule depositor—Deposit the shortfall
$10,000 liability on Wednesday, the $100,000 next-day or pay it with your return by the due date of your Form
deposit rule doesn't apply because the $10,000 is accu- 943. You may pay the shortfall with your Form 943
mulated in the next deposit period. Thus, $95,000 must be even if the amount is $2,500 or more.
deposited by Friday and $10,000 must be deposited by • Semiweekly schedule depositor—Deposit by the
the following Wednesday. earlier of (a) the first Wednesday or Friday (whichever
comes first) that falls on or after the 15th day of the
However, once you accumulate at least $100,000 in a month following the month in which the shortfall occur-
deposit period, stop accumulating at the end of that day red, or (b) the due date for Form 943.
and begin to accumulate anew on the next day. For exam-
For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor has a
ple, Fir Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor. On Mon-
deposit shortfall during May 2023, the shortfall makeup
day, Fir Co. accumulates taxes of $110,000 and must de-
date is June 16, 2023 (Friday). However, if the shortfall
posit this amount on Tuesday, the next business day. On
occurred on the required January 4, 2023, deposit due
Tuesday, Fir Co. accumulates additional taxes of
date for a December 29, 2022 (Thursday), pay date, the
$30,000. Because the $30,000 isn't added to the previous
Form 943 due date (January 31, 2023) for the return pe-
$110,000 and is less than $100,000, Fir Co. must deposit
riod would come before the February 15, 2023 (Wednes-
the $30,000 by Friday (following the semiweekly deposit
day), shortfall makeup date. In this case, the shortfall must
schedule).
be deposited by January 31, 2023.
If you’re a monthly schedule depositor and accu-
! mulate a $100,000 tax liability on any day of a cal- How To Deposit
CAUTION endar month, you become a semiweekly sched-
ule depositor on the next day and remain so for at least You must deposit employment taxes by EFT. See Pay-
the rest of the calendar year and for the following calendar ment with return, earlier in this section, for exceptions ex-
year. plaining when taxes may be paid with the tax return in-
stead of being deposited.
Example of the $100,000 next-day deposit rule. Elm,
Inc., started its business on May 1, 2023. Because Elm, Electronic deposit requirement. You must use EFT to
Inc., is a new employer, the tax liability for its lookback pe- make all federal tax deposits. Generally, an EFT is made
riod is considered to be zero; therefore, Elm, Inc., is a using EFTPS. If you don't want to use EFTPS, you can ar-
monthly schedule depositor. On Wednesday, May 3, Elm, range for your tax professional, financial institution, payroll
Inc., paid wages for the first time and accumulated a tax service, or other trusted third party to make electronic de-
liability of $50,000. On Friday, May 5, Elm, Inc., paid wa- posits on your behalf. EFTPS is a free service provided by
ges and accumulated a liability of $60,000, for a total of the Department of the Treasury. To get more information
$110,000. Because Elm, Inc., accumulated $110,000 on or to enroll in EFTPS, go to EFTPS.gov or call
May 5, it must deposit $110,000 by Monday, May 8, the 800-555-4477. To contact EFTPS using TRS for people
next business day. Elm, Inc., became a semiweekly who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability,
schedule depositor on May 6. It will be a semiweekly dial 711 and then provide the TRS assistant the
schedule depositor for the remainder of 2023 and for 800-555-4477 number above or 800-733-4829. Additional
2024. information about EFTPS is also available in Pub. 966.

The $100,000 tax liability threshold requiring a New employers that have a federal tax obligation will
TIP next-day deposit is determined before you con- be pre-enrolled in EFTPS. Call the toll-free number loca-
sider any reduction of your liability for nonrefunda- ted in your EIN Package to activate your enrollment and
ble credits. For more information, see frequently asked begin making your tax deposit payments. See When you
question 17 at IRS.gov/ETD. receive your EIN in section 1 for more information.
Deposit record. For your records, an EFT Trace
Accuracy of Deposits Rule Number will be provided with each successful payment.
The number can be used as a receipt or to trace the pay-
You’re required to deposit 100% of your tax liability on or ment.
before the deposit due date. However, penalties won't be
applied for depositing less than 100% if both of the follow- Depositing on time. For deposits made by EFTPS to
ing conditions are met. be on time, you must submit the deposit by 8 p.m. Eastern
time the day before the date a deposit is due. If you use a

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third party to make a deposit on your behalf, they may Order in which deposits are applied. Deposits are
have different cutoff times. generally applied to the most recent tax liability within the
year. If you receive an FTD penalty notice, you may desig-
Same-day wire payment option. If you fail to submit
nate how your deposits are to be applied in order to mini-
a deposit transaction on EFTPS by 8 p.m. Eastern time
mize the amount of the penalty if you do so within 90 days
the day before the date a deposit is due, you can still
of the date of the notice. Follow the instructions on the
make your deposit on time by using the Federal Tax Col-
penalty notice that you receive. For more information on
lection Service (FTCS) to make a same-day wire pay-
designating deposits, see Revenue Procedure 2001-58.
ment. To use the same-day wire payment method, you’ll
You can find Revenue Procedure 2001-58 on page 579 of
need to make arrangements with your financial institution
Internal Revenue Bulletin 2001-50 at IRS.gov/pub/irs-irbs/
ahead of time. Check with your financial institution regard-
irb01-50.pdf.
ing availability, deadlines, and costs. Your financial institu-
tion may charge you a fee for payments made this way. Example. Cedar, Inc., is required to make a deposit of
To learn more about the information you’ll need to give $1,000 on May 15 and $1,500 on June 15. It doesn't make
your financial institution to make a same-day wire pay- the deposit on May 15. On June 15, Cedar, Inc., deposits
ment, go to IRS.gov/SameDayWire. $2,000. Under the deposits rule, which applies deposits to
the most recent tax liability, $1,500 of the deposit is ap-
Deposit Penalties plied to the June 15 deposit and the remaining $500 is ap-
plied to the May deposit. Accordingly, $500 of the May 15
Penalties may apply if you don't make required deposits liability remains undeposited. The penalty on this under-
on time or if you make deposits for less than the required deposit will apply as explained earlier.
amount. The penalties don't apply if any failure to make a
proper and timely deposit was due to reasonable cause Trust fund recovery penalty. If federal income, social
and not to willful neglect. If you receive a penalty notice, security, or Medicare taxes that must be withheld (that is,
you can provide an explanation of why you believe rea- trust fund taxes) aren't withheld or aren't deposited or paid
sonable cause exists. to the U.S. Treasury, the trust fund recovery penalty may
apply. The penalty is 100% of the unpaid trust fund tax. If
If you timely filed your employment tax return, the IRS these unpaid taxes can't be immediately collected from
may waive deposit penalties if you inadvertently failed to the employer or business, the trust fund recovery penalty
deposit and it was the first quarter that you were required may be imposed on all persons who are determined by
to deposit any employment tax, or if you inadvertently the IRS to be responsible for collecting, accounting for, or
failed to deposit the first time after your deposit frequency paying over these taxes, and who acted willfully in not do-
changed. You must also meet the net worth and size limi- ing so. The trust fund recovery penalty won't apply to any
tations applicable to awards of administrative and litiga- amount of trust fund taxes an employer holds back in an-
tion costs under section 7430; for individuals, this means ticipation of any credits they are entitled to.
that your net worth can't exceed $2 million, and for busi- A responsible person can be an officer or employee
nesses, your net worth can't exceed $7 million and you of a corporation, a partner or employee of a partnership,
also can't have more than 500 employees. an accountant, a volunteer director/trustee, or an em-
The IRS may also waive the deposit penalty the first ployee of a sole proprietorship. A responsible person may
time you’re required to make a deposit if you inadvertently also include one who signs checks for the business or oth-
send the payment to the IRS rather than deposit it by EFT. erwise has authority to cause the spending of business
funds.
For amounts not properly or timely deposited, the pen- Willfully means voluntarily, consciously, and intention-
alty rates are as follows. ally. A responsible person acts willfully if the person
knows that the required actions of collecting, accounting
Penalty Charged for...
for, or paying over trust fund taxes aren't taking place, or
2% Deposits made 1 to 5 days late. recklessly disregards obvious and known risks to the gov-
5% Deposits made 6 to 15 days late. ernment's right to receive trust fund taxes.

10% Deposits made 16 or more days late, but before 10 days “Averaged” FTD penalty. The IRS may assess an
from the date of the first notice the IRS sent asking for the
tax due. “averaged” FTD penalty of 2% to 10% if you’re a monthly
schedule depositor and didn't properly complete Form
10% Amounts that should have been deposited, but instead 943, line 17, when your tax liability shown on Form 943,
were paid directly to the IRS or paid with your tax return. line 13, equaled or exceeded $2,500.
See Payment with return, earlier in this section, for
exceptions. The IRS may also assess an “averaged” FTD penalty of
2% to 10% if you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor and
15% Amounts still unpaid more than 10 days after the date of your tax liability shown on Form 943, line 13, equaled or
the first notice the IRS sent asking for the tax due or the
day on which you received notice and demand for exceeded $2,500 and you:
immediate payment, whichever is earlier. • Completed Form 943, line 17, instead of
Form 943-A;
Late deposit penalty amounts are determined using
calendar days, starting from the due date of the liability. • Failed to attach a properly completed Form 943-A; or

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• Improperly completed Form 943-A by, for example, Household employees, later, for the rules on household
entering tax deposits instead of tax liabilities in the employment.
numbered spaces.
If a deposit is due, deposit the Form 941/944 taxes and
The FTD penalty is figured by distributing your total tax the Form 943 taxes by making separate deposits. For ex-
liability shown on Form 943, line 13, equally throughout ample, if you’re a monthly schedule depositor for both
the tax period. Then, we apply your deposits and pay- Forms 941/944 and 943 taxes and your tax liability at the
ments to the averaged liabilities in the date order we re- end of May is $1,500 reportable on Form 941/944 and
ceived your deposits. We figure the penalty on any tax not $1,200 reportable on Form 943, deposit both amounts by
deposited, deposited late, or not deposited in the correct June 15. Use one transaction to deposit the $1,500 of
amounts. Your deposits and payments may not be coun- Form 941/944 taxes and another transaction to deposit
ted as timely because the actual dates of your tax liabili- the $1,200 of Form 943 taxes.
ties can't be accurately determined.
You can avoid an “averaged” FTD penalty by reviewing
your return before filing it. Follow these steps before filing
your Form 943. 8. Form 943

• If you’re a monthly schedule depositor, report your tax You must file Form 943 for each calendar year beginning
liabilities (not your deposits) in the monthly entry with the first year that you pay $2,500 or more for farm-
spaces on Form 943, line 17. work or you employ a farmworker who meets the $150
• If you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor, report your test explained in section 4. Don't report these wages on
tax liabilities (not your deposits) on Form 943-A on the Form 941 or Form 944.
lines that represent the dates your employees were
Household employees. If you file Form 943 and pay wa-
paid.
ges to household workers, you may include the wages
• Verify that your total liability shown on Form 943, and taxes of these workers on Form 943. If you choose
line 17, or Form 943-A, line M, equals your tax liability not to report these wages and taxes on Form 943, report
shown on Form 943, line 13. the wages of these workers separately on Schedule H
• Don't show negative amounts on Form 943, line 17, or (Form 1040). You must have an EIN to file Schedule H
Form 943-A. (Form 1040). See section 1 for details. If you report the
wages on Form 943, include the taxes when you figure
• For prior period errors, don't adjust your tax liabilities deposit requirements or make deposits. If you include
reported on Form 943, line 17, or on Form 943-A. In- household employee wages and taxes on Schedule H
stead, file Form 943-X, as discussed in Prior Year Ad- (Form 1040), don't include the household employee taxes
justments in section 9. when you figure deposit requirements or make Form 943
In addition to civil penalties, you may be subject deposits. See Pub. 926 for more information about house-
hold workers.
CAUTION fully:
! to criminal prosecution (brought to trial) for will- If household employee wages and taxes are included
on Form 943, you must also include FUTA tax for the em-
• Evading tax; ployees on Form 940. See section 10 for more informa-
• Failing to collect or truthfully account for and pay over tion.
tax;
Penalties. For each whole or part month a return isn't
• Failing to file a return, supply information, or pay any filed when required, there is a failure-to-file (FTF) penalty
tax due; of 5% of the unpaid tax due with that return. The maximum
• Furnishing false or fraudulent Forms W-2 to employ- penalty is generally 25% of the tax due. Also, for each
ees or failing to furnish Forms W-2; whole or part month the tax is paid late, there is a fail-
ure-to-pay (FTP) penalty of 0.5% per month of the amount
• Committing fraud and providing false statements;
of tax. For individual filers only, the FTP penalty is re-
• Preparing and filing a fraudulent return; or duced from 0.5% per month to 0.25% per month if an in-
stallment agreement is in effect. You must have filed your
• Committing identity theft.
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
Employers of Both Farm and Nonfarm in any month, the FTF penalty is reduced by the amount of
Workers the FTP penalty. The penalties won't be charged if you
have reasonable cause for failing to file or pay. If you re-
If you employ both farm and nonfarm workers, you must ceive a penalty notice, you can provide an explanation of
treat employment taxes for the farmworkers (Form 943 why you believe reasonable cause exists.
taxes) separately from employment taxes for the nonfarm Note. In addition to any penalties, interest accrues from
workers (Form 941 and Form 944 taxes). Form 943 taxes the due date of the tax on any unpaid balance.
and Form 941/944 taxes aren't combined for purposes of If federal income, social security, or Medicare taxes
applying any of the deposit schedule rules. See that must be withheld aren't withheld or aren't paid, you

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may be personally liable for the trust fund recovery pen- See Revenue Ruling 2009-39, 2009-52 I.R.B.
alty. See Trust fund recovery penalty in section 7. TIP 951, for examples of how the interest-free adjust-
Generally, the use of a third-party payer, such as a pay- ment and claim for refund rules apply in 10 differ-
roll service provider or reporting agent, doesn't relieve an ent situations. You can find Revenue Ruling 2009-39 at
employer of the responsibility to ensure tax returns are IRS.gov/irb/2009-52_IRB#RR-2009-39.
filed and all taxes are paid or deposited correctly and on
time. See Outsourcing payroll duties, earlier, for more in- Form 843. Don't use Form 843 to request a refund or
formation. abatement of overreported social security or Medicare
taxes. Instead, request your refund or abatement of taxes
on Form 943-X. However, use Form 843 when requesting
9. Reporting Adjustments on a refund or abatement of assessed interest or penalties.

Form 943 Federal income tax and Additional Medicare Tax
withholding adjustments. You can't adjust amounts re-
There are two types of adjustments: current year adjust- ported as income tax or Additional Medicare Tax withheld
ments and prior year adjustments to correct errors. See in a prior calendar year, even if you withheld the wrong
the Instructions for Form 943 and the Instructions for Form amount, unless it is to correct an administrative error or
943-X for more information on how to report these adjust- section 3509 applies. An administrative error occurs if the
ments. amount you entered on Form 943 isn’t the amount that
you actually withheld. Examples include mathematical or
transposition errors. The administrative error adjustment
Current Year Adjustments corrects the amount reported on Form 943 to agree with
the amount actually withheld from employees.
In certain cases, amounts reported as social security and If a prior year error was a nonadministrative error, you
Medicare taxes on Form 943, lines 3, 5, and 7, must be may correct only the wages subject to Additional Medi-
adjusted to arrive at your correct tax liability. The most care Tax withholding.
common situation involves differences in cents totals due See the Instructions for Form 943-X for more informa-
to rounding. Other situations when current year adjust- tion about section 3509 and additional examples of ad-
ments may be necessary include third-party sick pay, ministrative and nonadministrative errors.
group-term life insurance for former employees, and the
uncollected employee share of social security and Medi- Social security and Medicare tax adjustments. Cor-
care taxes on tips. Current year adjustments are reported rect prior year social security and Medicare tax errors by
on Form 943, line 10. See section 13 of Pub. 15 for more making an adjustment on Form 943-X.
information on these adjustments. If you withheld no tax or less than the correct amount,
you may correct the mistake by withholding the tax from a
If you withhold an incorrect amount of federal income later payment to the same employee.
tax or Additional Medicare Tax from an employee, you If you withheld employee tax when no tax is due or if
may adjust the amount withheld in later pay periods during you withheld more than the correct amount, you must re-
the same year to compensate for the error. pay or reimburse the employee.

Prior Year Adjustments Collecting underwithheld taxes from employees. If
you withheld no federal income, social security, or Medi-
If you discover an error on a previously filed Form 943, care taxes or less than the correct amount from an em-
make the correction using Form 943-X. File a separate ployee's wages, you can make it up from later pay to that
Form 943-X for each prior year you’re correcting. File employee. But you’re the one who owes the underpay-
Form 943-X separately. Don't attach Form 943-X to your ment. Reimbursement is a matter for settlement between
current period Form 943. You must explain your error on you and the employee. Underwithheld federal income tax
Form 943-X, indicate when the error was discovered, and and Additional Medicare Tax must be recovered from the
provide the applicable certifications. employee on or before the last day of the calendar year.

When you discover that you underreported tax on a Refunding amounts incorrectly withheld from em-
previously filed return, you must file Form 943-X no later ployees. If you withheld more than the correct amount of
than the due date of the return for the period during which income, social security, or Medicare taxes from wages
you discovered the error. Pay the amount you owe by the paid, repay or reimburse the employee the excess. Any
time you file. For example, you discover on June 6, 2023, excess income tax or Additional Medicare Tax withholding
that you underreported $10,000 of social security and must be repaid or reimbursed to the employee before the
Medicare wages on your 2022 Form 943. You owe $1,530 end of the calendar year in which it was withheld. Keep in
on the 2022 Form 943. To qualify for an interest-free ad- your records the employee's written receipt showing the
justment, you must file Form 943-X by January 31, 2024, date and amount of the repayment or record of reimburse-
and pay $1,530 by the time you file. For more information, ment. If you didn't repay or reimburse the employee, you
see the Instructions for Form 943-X or go to IRS.gov/ must report and pay each excess amount when you file
CorrectingEmploymentTaxes. Form 943 for the year in which you withheld too much tax.

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Filing corrections to Forms W-2 and W-3. When ad- FUTA tax rate. The FUTA tax rate is 6.0% for 2023. The
justments are made to correct wages and social security tax applies to the first $7,000 you pay to each employee
and Medicare taxes because of a change in the wage to- as wages during the year. The $7,000 is the federal wage
tals reported for a previous year, you also need to file base. Your state wage base may be different.
Form W-2c and Form W-3c. Forms W-2c may be created Generally, you can take a credit against your FUTA tax
and submitted to the SSA over the Internet. For more in- for amounts you paid into state unemployment funds. The
formation, go to the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instruc- credit may be as much as 5.4% of FUTA taxable wages. If
tions & Information website at SSA.gov/employer. you’re entitled to the maximum 5.4% credit, the FUTA tax
For additional information about the procedure for ad- rate after credit is 0.6%. You’re entitled to the maximum
justing employment taxes, see the Instructions for Form credit if you paid your state unemployment taxes in full, on
943-X or go to IRS.gov/CorrectingEmploymentTaxes. time, and on all the same wages as are subject to FUTA
Also see Treasury Decision 9405, 2008-32 I.R.B. 293, tax, and as long as the state isn't determined to be a credit
available at IRS.gov/irb/2008-32_IRB#TD-9405. reduction state. See the Instructions for Form 940 to de-
termine the credit.
Note. Current period adjustments for fractions of cents, In some states, the wages subject to state unemploy-
sick pay, and group-term life insurance are reported on ment tax are the same as the wages subject to FUTA tax.
your Form 943. However, certain states exclude some types of wages
from state unemployment tax, even though they're subject
to FUTA tax (for example, wages paid to corporate offi-
10. Federal Unemployment cers, certain payments of sick pay by unions, and certain
fringe benefits). In such a case, you may be required to
(FUTA) Tax deposit more than 0.6% FUTA tax on those wages. See
the Instructions for Form 940 for further guidance.
The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), with state
unemployment systems, provides for payments of unem- Successor employer. If you acquired a business from
ployment compensation to workers who have lost their an employer who was liable for FUTA tax, you may be
jobs. Most employers pay both a federal and a state un- able to count the wages that employer paid to the employ-
employment tax. For a list of state unemployment agen- ees who continue to work for you when you figure the
cies, go to the U.S. Department of Labor's website at $7,000 FUTA tax wage base. See the Instructions for
oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/agencies.asp. Only the em- Form 940.
ployer pays FUTA tax; it isn't withheld from the employ-
Deposit rules for FUTA tax. For deposit purposes, fig-
ees' wages. For more information, see the Instructions for
ure FUTA tax quarterly. Determine your FUTA tax liability
Form 940.
by multiplying the amount of taxable wages paid during
For 2023, you must file Form 940 if you: the quarter by 0.6%. This amount may need to be adjus-
• Paid cash wages of $20,000 or more to farmworkers ted, however, depending on your entitlement to the credit
during any calendar quarter in 2022 or 2023, or for state unemployment contributions. See the Instructions
for Form 940. When an employee's wages reach $7,000
• Employed 10 or more farmworkers during at least for the calendar year, don't figure any additional FUTA tax
some part of a day (whether or not at the same time) for that employee.
during any 20 or more different weeks in 2022 or 20 or If your total FUTA tax for the quarter (plus any unde-
more different weeks in 2023. posited FUTA tax from prior quarters) is more than $500,
To determine whether you meet either test above, you you must deposit the FUTA tax by EFT, as explained in
must count wages paid to aliens admitted on a temporary section 7, by the last day of the month following the end of
basis to the United States to perform farmwork, also the quarter. If the amount is $500 or less, you don't have
known as H-2A visa workers. However, wages paid to to deposit it, but you must add it to the amount of tax for
H-2A visa workers aren't subject to the FUTA tax. the next quarter to determine whether a deposit is re-
quired for that quarter.
Generally, farmworkers supplied by a crew leader, as If your liability for the fourth quarter (plus any undepos-
defined earlier in section 2, are considered employees of ited amount from any earlier quarter) is over $500, deposit
the farm operator for purposes of the FUTA tax unless (a) the entire amount by the due date of Form 940 (January
the crew leader is registered under the Migrant and Sea- 31). If it is $500 or less, you can make a deposit, pay the
sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; or (b) substan- tax with a credit card or debit card, or pay the tax with a
tially all of the workers supplied by the crew leader oper- check or money order with your Form 940 by January 31.
ate or maintain tractors, harvesting or crop-dusting If you file Form 940 electronically, you can e-file and use
machines, or other machines provided by the crew leader. EFW to pay the balance due. For more information on
Therefore, if (a) or (b) applies, the farmworkers are gener- paying your taxes with a credit or debit card or using EFW,
ally employees of the crew leader. go to IRS.gov/Payments.
You must deposit FUTA tax by EFT. The deposit rules
for FUTA tax are different from those for income, social Filing Form 940. File your 2022 Form 940 by January
security, and Medicare taxes. See Deposit rules for FUTA 31, 2023. If you make deposits on time in full payment of
tax, later in this section.

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the tax due for the year, you may file Form 940 by Febru- 8. Be sure the amounts on Form W-3 are the total of
ary 10. amounts from Forms W-2.
9. Reconcile Form W-3 with your Form 943 by compar-
ing amounts reported for the following items.
11. Reconciling Wage
a. Federal income tax withheld.
Reporting Forms b. Social security and Medicare wages.
When there are discrepancies between amounts reported c. Social security and Medicare taxes. Generally, the
on Form 943 filed with the IRS and Forms W-2 and W-3 amounts shown on Form 943, including current
filed with the SSA, the IRS or the SSA may contact you to year adjustments, should be approximately twice
resolve the discrepancies. the amounts shown on Form W-3 because Form
943 reports both the employer and employee so-
Take the following actions to help reduce discrepan-
cial security and Medicare taxes while Form W-3
cies.
reports only the employee taxes.
1. Report bonuses as wages and as social security and
Amounts reported on Forms W-2, W-3, and 943 may
Medicare wages on Forms W-2 and 943.
not match for valid reasons. For example, if you withheld
2. Report both social security and Medicare wages and any Additional Medicare Tax from your employee's wa-
taxes separately on Forms W-2, W-3, and 943. ges, the amount of Medicare tax that is reported on Form
943, line 5, won't be twice the amount of the Medicare tax
3. Report the employee share of social security taxes on
withheld that is reported in box 6 of Form W-3 because
Form W-2 in the box for social security tax withheld
the Additional Medicare Tax is only imposed on the em-
(box 4), not as social security wages.
ployee; there is no employer share of Additional Medicare
4. Report the employee share of Medicare taxes on Tax. If they don't match, you should determine that the
Form W-2 in the box for Medicare tax withheld reasons are valid. Keep your reconciliation so that you’ll
(box 6), not as Medicare wages. have a record of why amounts didn't match in case there
are inquiries from the IRS or the SSA.
5. Make sure that social security wages for each em-
ployee don't exceed the annual social security wage When reconciling Forms W-2 and W-3 to Form
base limit ($160,200 for 2023). ! 943, you should consider that qualified sick leave
CAUTION wages and qualified family leave wages for leave
6. Don't report noncash wages that aren't subject to so-
taken after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021,
cial security or Medicare taxes, as discussed earlier in
aren't subject to the employer share of social security tax.
section 3, as social security or Medicare wages.
7. If you used an EIN on any Form 943 for the year that
is different from the EIN reported on Form W-3, enter
the other EIN on Form W-3 in the box for “Other EIN
used this year” (box h).

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12. How Do Employment Taxes

Apply to Farmwork?
Income Tax Withholding, Social
Security, and Medicare (including
Additional Medicare Tax when
wages are paid in excess of
Type of Employment $200,000) Federal Unemployment Tax
Farm Employment Includes:
1. Cultivating soil; raising or harvesting any Taxable if $150 test or $2,500 test is Taxable if either test in section 10 is
agricultural or horticultural commodity; the care met. See section 4. met.
of livestock, poultry, bees, fur-bearing animals,
or wildlife on a farm.
2. Work on a farm if major farm duties are in
management or maintenance, etc., of farm
tools or equipment or salvaging timber, or
clearing brush or other debris, left by hurricane.
3. Work in connection with the production and
harvesting of turpentine and other oleoresinous
products.
4. Cotton ginning.
5. Operation or maintenance of ditches,
reservoirs, canals, or waterways used only for
supplying or storing water for farming purposes
and not owned or operated for profit.
6. Processing, packaging, etc., any commodity in
its unmanufactured state if employed by farm
operator who produced over half of commodity
processed or by group of up to 20
unincorporated farm operators if they produced
all the commodity.*
7. Hatching poultry on a farm.
8. Production or harvesting of maple syrup on a
farm.

Farm Employment Doesn't Include:
1. Handling or processing commodities after Taxable under general employment Taxable under general FUTA rules.
delivery to terminal market for commercial rules. Farm rules don't apply. Farm rules don't apply.
canning or freezing.
2. Operation or maintenance of ditches, canals,
reservoirs, or waterways not meeting tests in
(5) above.
3. Processing, packaging, delivering, etc., any
commodity in its unmanufactured state if group
of farm operators doesn't meet the tests in (6)
above.
4. Household employment.
Special Employment Situations:
1. Services not in the course of employer's trade or Taxable if $150 test or $2,500 test is Taxable only if $50 or more is paid in a
business on farm operated for profit (cash met (see section 4), unless performed quarter and employee works on 24 or
payments only). by parent employed by child. more different days in current or prior
quarter.
2. Workers admitted under section 101(a)(15)(H)
(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act on a Exempt. Exempt.
temporary basis to perform agricultural labor
(H-2A workers).
Exempt from social security and Exempt if services performed by
Medicare tax for employer's child employer's parent or spouse or by
3. Family employment of a child if the farm is a under age 18, but counted for $150 employer's child under age 21.
sole proprietorship or a partnership in which test or $2,500 test. The wages are
each partner is a parent of the child.** subject to federal income tax
withholding if they're subject to social
security and Medicare taxes.
Taxable for spouse of employer.
* For federal unemployment tax, farmwork includes workers employed by a group of operators if they produce more than one-half of the
commodity.
** Payments for the services of your child or spouse are subject to federal income tax withholding as well as social security, Medicare, and FUTA
taxes if they work for a corporation, even if it is controlled by you; a partnership, even if you’re a partner (this doesn't apply to wages paid to your
child if each partner is a parent of the child); or an estate, even if it is the estate of a deceased parent. In these situations, the child or spouse is
considered to work for the corporation, partnership, or estate, not you.

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formation with you. Don’t post your social security number
(SSN) or other confidential information on social media
How To Get Tax Help sites. Always protect your identity when using any social
networking site.
If you have questions about a tax issue; need help prepar- The following IRS YouTube channels provide short, in-
ing your tax return; or want to download free publications, formative videos on various tax-related topics in English,
forms, or instructions, go to IRS.gov to find resources that Spanish, and ASL.
can help you right away.
• Youtube.com/irsvideos.
Preparing and filing your tax return. Go to IRS.gov/
• Youtube.com/irsvideosmultilingua.
EmploymentEfile for more information on filing your em-
ployment tax returns electronically. • Youtube.com/irsvideosASL.

Getting answers to your tax questions. On Watching IRS videos. The IRS Video portal
IRS.gov, you can get up-to-date information on (IRSVideos.gov) contains video and audio presentations
current events and changes in tax law. for individuals, small businesses, and tax professionals.
• IRS.gov/Help: A variety of tools to help you get an-
swers to some of the most common tax questions. Online tax information in other languages. You can
find information on IRS.gov/MyLanguage if English isn’t
• IRS.gov/Forms: Find forms, instructions, and publica- your native language.
tions. You will find details on the most recent tax
changes and interactive links to help you find answers Free Over-the-Phone Interpreter (OPI) Service. The
to your questions. IRS is committed to serving our multilingual customers by
• You may also be able to access tax law information in offering OPI services. The OPI Service is a federally fun-
your electronic filing software. ded program and is available at Taxpayer Assistance
Centers (TACs), other IRS offices, and every VITA/TCE
return site. The OPI Service is accessible in more than
Need someone to prepare your tax return? There are 350 languages.
various types of tax return preparers, including enrolled
agents, certified public accountants (CPAs), accountants, Accessibility Helpline available for taxpayers with
and many others who don’t have professional credentials. disabilities. Taxpayers who need information about ac-
If you choose to have someone prepare your tax return, cessibility services can call 833-690-0598. The Accessi-
choose that preparer wisely. A paid tax preparer is: bility Helpline can answer questions related to current and
future accessibility products and services available in al-
• Primarily responsible for the overall substantive accu- ternative media formats (for example, braille, large print,
racy of your return, audio, etc.). The Accessibility Helpline doesn’t have ac-
• Required to sign the return, and cess to your IRS account. For help with tax law, refunds,
• Required to include their preparer tax identification or account-related issues, go to IRS.gov/LetUsHelp.

number (PTIN). Disasters. Go to Disaster Assistance and Emergency
Although the tax preparer always signs the return, Relief for Individuals and Businesses to review the availa-
you're ultimately responsible for providing all the informa- ble disaster tax relief.
tion required for the preparer to accurately prepare your
return. Anyone paid to prepare tax returns for others Getting tax forms and publications. Go to IRS.gov/
should have a thorough understanding of tax matters. For Forms to view, download, or print most of the forms, in-
more information on how to choose a tax preparer, go to structions, and publications you may need. Or, you can go
Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer on IRS.gov. to IRS.gov/OrderForms to place an order.

Coronavirus. Go to IRS.gov/Coronavirus for links to in- Getting tax publications and instructions in eBook
formation on the impact of the coronavirus, as well as tax format. You can also download and view popular tax
relief available for individuals and families, small and large publications and instructions (including Pub. 51) on mo-
businesses, and tax-exempt organizations. bile devices as eBooks at IRS.gov/eBooks.

Employers can register to use Business Services On- Note. IRS eBooks have been tested using Apple's
line. The SSA offers online service at SSA.gov/employer iBooks for iPad. Our eBooks haven’t been tested on other
for fast, free, and secure online W-2 filing options to dedicated eBook readers, and eBook functionality may
CPAs, accountants, enrolled agents, and individuals who not operate as intended.
process Form W-2 and Form W-2c.
Getting a transcript of your return. You can get a
IRS social media. Go to IRS.gov/SocialMedia to see the copy of your tax transcript or a copy of your return by call-
various social media tools the IRS uses to share the latest ing 800-829-4933 or by mailing Form 4506-T (transcript
information on tax changes, scam alerts, initiatives, prod- request) or Form 4506 (copy of return) to the IRS.
ucts, and services. At the IRS, privacy and security are
our highest priority. We use these tools to share public in-

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Reporting and resolving your tax-related identity Understanding an IRS notice or letter you’ve re-
theft issues. ceived. Go to IRS.gov/Notices to find additional informa-
tion about responding to an IRS notice or letter.
• Tax-related identity theft happens when someone
steals your personal information to commit tax fraud. Contacting your local IRS office. Keep in mind, many
Your taxes can be affected if your EIN is used to file a questions can be answered on IRS.gov without visiting an
fraudulent return or to claim a refund or credit. IRS TAC. Go to IRS.gov/LetUsHelp for the topics people
• The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by ask about most. If you still need help, IRS TACs provide
email, text messages (including shortened links), tele- tax help when a tax issue can’t be handled online or by
phone calls, or social media channels to request or phone. All TACs now provide service by appointment, so
verify personal or financial information. This includes you’ll know in advance that you can get the service you
requests for personal identification numbers (PINs), need without long wait times. Before you visit, go to
passwords, or similar information for credit cards, IRS.gov/TACLocator to find the nearest TAC and to check
banks, or other financial accounts. hours, available services, and appointment options. Or,
on the IRS2Go app, under the Stay Connected tab,
• Go to IRS.gov/IdentityTheft, the IRS Identity Theft
choose the Contact Us option and click on “Local Offices.”
Central webpage, for information on identity theft and
data security protection for taxpayers, tax professio-
nals, and businesses. If your EIN has been lost or sto- The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS)
len or you suspect you’re a victim of tax-related iden- Is Here To Help You
tity theft, you can learn what steps you should take.
What Is TAS?
Making a tax payment. Go to IRS.gov/Payments for in-
formation on how to make a payment using any of the fol- TAS is an independent organization within the IRS that
lowing options. helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer rights. Their job is
to ensure that every taxpayer is treated fairly and that you
• Debit or Credit Card: Choose an approved payment
know and understand your rights under the Taxpayer Bill
processor to pay online or by phone.
of Rights.
• Electronic Funds Withdrawal: Schedule a payment
when filing your federal taxes using tax return prepara- How Can You Learn About Your Taxpayer
tion software or through a tax professional. Rights?
• Electronic Federal Tax Payment System: Best option
for businesses. Enrollment is required. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights describes 10 basic rights that
• Check or Money Order: Mail your payment to the ad- all taxpayers have when dealing with the IRS. Go to
dress listed on the notice or instructions. TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov to help you understand what
these rights mean to you and how they apply. These are
• Cash: You may be able to pay your taxes with cash at your rights. Know them. Use them.
a participating retail store.
• Same-Day Wire: You may be able to do same-day What Can TAS Do for You?
wire from your financial institution. Contact your finan-
cial institution for availability, cost, and time frames. TAS can help you resolve problems that you can’t resolve
with the IRS. And their service is free. If you qualify for
Note. The IRS uses the latest encryption technology to their assistance, you will be assigned to one advocate
ensure that the electronic payments you make online, by who will work with you throughout the process and will do
phone, or from a mobile device using the IRS2Go app are everything possible to resolve your issue. TAS can help
safe and secure. Paying electronically is quick, easy, and you if:
faster than mailing in a check or money order.
• Your problem is causing financial difficulty for you,
What if I can’t pay now? Go to IRS.gov/Payments for your family, or your business;
more information about your options. • You face (or your business is facing) an immediate
• Apply for an online payment agreement IRS.gov/ ( threat of adverse action; or
OPA) to meet your tax obligation in monthly install- • You’ve tried repeatedly to contact the IRS but no one
ments if you can’t pay your taxes in full today. Once has responded, or the IRS hasn’t responded by the
you complete the online process, you’ll receive imme- date promised.
diate notification of whether your agreement has been
approved. How Can You Reach TAS?
• Use the Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier to see if
you can settle your tax debt for less than the full TAS has offices in every state, the District of Columbia,
amount you owe. For more information on the Offer in and Puerto Rico. Your local advocate’s number is in your
Compromise program, go to IRS.gov/OIC. local directory and at TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov/
Contact-Us. You can also call them at 877-777-4778.

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How Else Does TAS Help Taxpayers?                            TAS for Tax Professionals

TAS  works  to  resolve  large-scale  problems  that  affect TAS can provide a variety of information for tax professio-
many taxpayers. If you know of one of these broad issues,    nals,  including  tax  law  updates  and  guidance,  TAS  pro-
report it to them at IRS.gov/SAMS.                           grams,  and  ways  to  let  TAS  know  about  systemic  prob-
                                                             lems you’ve seen in your practice.

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                      To help us develop a more useful index, please let us know if you have ideas for index entries.
Index                 See “Comments and Suggestions” in the “Introduction” for the ways you can reach us.
 
                                        Defined 9                          Private delivery services (PDSs)              5
A                                     Federal unemployment (FUTA) taxes 23 Publications (See Tax help)
Accuracy of Deposits Rule   19        Forms:
Additional Medicare Tax   11            843 22                             R
Adjustments  22                         940 23                             Reconciling Forms W-2, W-3, and 943              24
Aliens, nonresident  13                 943 21                             Reconciling wage reporting forms               24
Assistance (See Tax help)               943-X 22                           Recordkeeping   5
                                        I-9 4
C                                       Schedule H (Form 1040)   21        S
                                        Schedule R (Form 943)   3
Calendar 5                              W-2  4 23,                         Share farmers 10
Certified professional employer         W-4  4 13,                         Social security and Medicare 
  organizations (CPEOs)     2           W-4(SP) 4 13,                       withholding  11
Change of address    4                                                     Social security number (SSN)    8
Commodity wages     10                                                     Spouses who own and operate a 
Correcting employment taxes    22     H                                     business together  9
Crew leaders 9                        H-2A visa holders 10                 Supplemental wages  15
Criminal prosecution   21             Household employees:
                                        Employment tax withholding  10     T
D                                                                          Tax help 26
Deposit:                              I                                    Taxpayer identification number (TINs)            7
  Penalties 20                        Income tax withholding:              Trust fund recovery penalty   20
Deposit rules:                          How to figure 15
  Electronic funds transfer 16          Who must withhold 12               U
  Legal holiday 18                    Independent contractor  9            Unemployment tax, federal     23
  Lookback period   17
  Monthly deposit schedule  17        L                                    W
  Semiweekly deposit schedule  18     Legal holiday 18                     Withholding:
Differential wage payments   3        Lookback period  17                   Income tax   12
Disaster tax relief 2
                                                                            Nonresident aliens 13
                                      M                                     Supplemental wages 15
E                                     Marriage, definition of 3            Work opportunity tax credit   3
E-file 3
Electronic deposits  19               N                                    Z
Electronic filing 3
                                      New employees   4
Electronic payment   3                                                     Zero wage return  5
                                      Noncash wages   10
Employee defined    9
Employer identification number (EIN) 7
Employers of farmworkers    9         O
Exemption from withholding     13     Outsourcing payroll duties 2

F                                     P
Farmworkers:                          Penalties 20
  Crew leaders  9                     Prior year adjustments  22

Publication 51 (2023)                                                                                        Page 29

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