Taxes

Form 941, explained for people who never wanted to learn it

Jordan Whitfield · August 4, 2026

Form 941 is the Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Four times a year it tells the IRS how much you paid your employees, how much federal income tax you withheld, and how much Social Security and Medicare tax you and your employees owe.

Why it has to match your deposits

You don't pay payroll taxes when you file the 941. You pay them as you go, through deposits on a monthly or semiweekly schedule. The 941 is the reconciliation: the IRS compares the liability you report with the deposits you made. If they don't match, you get a notice, and often a penalty.

The three mistakes we see most

Reporting bonuses in the wrong quarter

Wages count in the quarter they're paid, not the quarter they were earned. A Q4 bonus paid on January 3 belongs on the Q1 return.

Forgetting the sick-pay adjustment

If a third-party insurer paid short-term disability, their share of FICA is reported seperately on line 8. Leave it off and your numbers won't tie out.

Using the wrong deposit schedule

Your schedule is set by your total liability during a lookback period, not by how often you run payroll. New employers are monthly depositors until their liability grows.

When it's due

April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. If you made every deposit on time, you get until the 10th of the following month.

Fernly prepares and files your 941 every quarter on every plan. See everything we file.