New Form 944

If you owe less than $1,000 in payroll taxes (or about $4,000 in total annual wages), you may be eligible to pay your payroll taxes at the end of the year using the new Form 944 “Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return”, rather than filing the quarterly Form 941. The IRS has a special hotline dedicated to questions related to this form at 800-829-0115 .

Use Form 944 to report all the following items.

·         Payroll taxes (withheld federal income tax and both
employee and employer shares of social security
and Medicare taxes) for the year.

·         Current year's adjustments to social security and
Medicare taxes for fractions of cents, sick pay, tips,
and group-term life insurance.

·         Prior years' adjustments to payroll taxes (attach
Form 941c).

If the IRS notified you to file Form 944, then you must file Form 944 to report all the following amounts.

·         Wages you have paid.

·         Tips your employees have received.

·         Federal income tax you withheld.

·         Both the employer's and the employee's share of social
security and Medicare taxes.

·         Advance earned income tax credit (EIC) payments.

If you want more in-depth information about payroll tax topics, see Pub. 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, or visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov and type “Employment Tax” in the Search box.