Payroll Tax Calendar: Deposit Schedules and Filing Deadlines

A payroll tax calendar for federal employment taxes hinges on four fixed pieces: your assigned deposit schedule (monthly or semiweekly), quarterly Form 941 filings due at the end of the month after each quarter, annual Form 940 and W-2 filings due January 31, and a next-day rule that overrides everything if you accumulate $100,000 or more on a single day. Miss a deposit and penalties start at 2% after just one day late, climbing to 15% once the IRS sends a demand notice.

Are You a Monthly or Semiweekly Depositor

The IRS assigns your deposit frequency; you don’t choose it. The assignment comes from a “lookback period” that runs July 1 through June 30 of the year before the current calendar year, and the IRS totals the tax liability you reported on Form 941 during those four quarters.¹

If your lookback total was $50,000 or less, you deposit monthly. Above $50,000, you deposit semiweekly.¹ New employers without a filing history start out as monthly depositors. The IRS revisits the classification each year, so a growing payroll can move you to semiweekly for the following calendar year.

When Deposits Are Due

Monthly Schedule

Monthly depositors owe taxes accumulated during a calendar month by the 15th of the following month.² March wages, deposit by April 15. If the 15th lands on a weekend or federal holiday, the deadline slides to the next business day.

Semiweekly Schedule

Semiweekly deposits track your paydays, not the calendar. Pay employees on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday and the deposit is due the following Wednesday. Pay on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday and the deposit is due the following Friday.³ The weekend-and-holiday extension applies here too, and the rule guarantees at least three business days between payday and deposit.

The $100,000 Next-Day Rule

Any single day on which your accumulated tax liability reaches $100,000 or more triggers a next-business-day deposit, regardless of your normal schedule.² Large payroll runs and bonus payouts are the usual causes. Once you cross that line, a monthly depositor is reclassified as semiweekly for the remainder of the calendar year and the year after.

Quarterly Form 941 Deadlines

Form 941 reports federal income tax withheld plus both shares of Social Security and Medicare.⁴ Each return is due the last day of the month after the quarter ends:²

First quarter (January–March): April 30
Second quarter (April–June): July 31
Third quarter (July–September): October 31
Fourth quarter (October–December): January 31 of the following year

Two 2026 dates shift. October 31, 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the Q3 return is due Monday, November 2. January 31, 2026 is also a Saturday, moving the Q4 2025 deadline to February 2, 2026. If you deposited every dollar on time during the quarter, you get an extra 10 calendar days to file the return.²

Form 944 for the Smallest Employers

Employers whose total annual Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax liability is $1,000 or less may be allowed to file Form 944 once a year instead of quarterly.⁵ You can’t opt in on your own; the IRS has to notify you or approve a written request. Form 944 is due January 31 of the following year, with the same 10-day extension when all deposits were timely.

Annual Filings

Form 940 for Federal Unemployment

Form 940 reports federal unemployment tax and is due January 31 of the year after the tax period, or February 10 if you deposited all FUTA on time.⁶ The 2025 return therefore shifts from January 31, 2026 (a Saturday) to February 2, 2026.

Forms W-2 and W-3

Each employee gets a W-2, and copies go to the Social Security Administration under a W-3 transmittal. For the 2025 tax year, these are due to the SSA by February 2, 2026.⁷ The statutory deadline is January 31; the 2026 date shifts because January 31 is a Saturday. Employees need their W-2s to file their own returns, so getting worker copies out on time matters as much as filing with the SSA.

When FUTA Requires a Deposit Before Year End

FUTA applies to the first $7,000 in wages per employee. The statutory rate is 6.0%, reduced to an effective 0.6% for most employers after the state unemployment credit of up to 5.4%.⁶ Only employers pay FUTA; nothing comes out of employee wages.⁸

The deposit rule is simple: if your cumulative FUTA liability tops $500 at the end of any quarter, deposit it by the last day of the following month.⁹ Stay at $500 or below and you roll it into the next quarter. Many small employers never trip the threshold and end up depositing once a year alongside Form 940.

How to Submit Your Payments

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) is the IRS’s free portal for federal payroll tax payments.¹⁰ You can also pay by phone or through a payroll service or financial institution.¹¹ Every payment produces an acknowledgment number. Save it. If the IRS later questions when you paid or how much, that number is your proof.

Penalties for a Missed Deadline

Late Deposits

The failure-to-deposit penalty is tiered by how late the money arrives:¹²

1–5 days late: 2% of the unpaid deposit
6–15 days late: 5%
More than 15 days late: 10%
More than 10 days after the IRS’s first demand notice: 15%

The tiers don’t stack. A deposit 20 days late is penalized at 10%, not at 2% plus 5% plus 10%.¹² On a $10,000 deposit, even a one-day slip costs $200.

Late Returns

Filing a return late costs 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is overdue, capped at 25%. For returns due after December 31, 2024, the minimum penalty once a return is more than 60 days late is $510 or 100% of the tax due, whichever is less.¹³ A small quarterly bill can generate an outsized penalty if the return itself never gets filed.

Trust Fund Recovery Penalty

Federal income tax withholding and the employee share of Social Security and Medicare are trust fund taxes. If a responsible person willfully fails to pay them over to the IRS, the agency can assess a penalty equal to 100% of the unpaid trust fund amount against that person individually.¹⁴ A responsible person can be an owner, an officer, or anyone with authority over the company’s finances. The liability follows the individual, not just the business entity.

State and Local Deadlines Are Separate

The federal calendar is only part of what you owe. Most states run their own income tax withholding and unemployment insurance systems, each with its own deposit schedules, rates, and wage bases. Some localities add occupational, transit, or school district withholdings. Many state deadlines line up with federal quarterly dates, but some use different frequencies or thresholds. Check with your state’s department of labor or revenue and keep a separate tracker for these obligations, because state and local penalties accrue on their own timeline.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 931 – Deposit Requirements for Employment Taxes
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Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Due Dates
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Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 944
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Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 759, Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Depositing and Reporting Employment Taxes
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Internal Revenue Service. EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
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Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
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Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Deposit Penalty
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Internal Revenue Service. Information About Your Notice, Penalty and Interest
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 26 – 6672 Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax