Form 941 has two separate due dates you need to keep straight. The return itself is filed quarterly, due the last day of the month after each quarter ends. The tax money, however, is deposited on a much tighter schedule — either monthly or semi-weekly — based on how much payroll tax you reported during a prior lookback period. So the answer to when Form 941 payment is due depends on which calendar applies to your business, and the two calendars rarely line up.
Form 941 Return Due Dates
The return covering each quarter is due by the last day of the following month:
- First quarter (January through March): April 30
- Second quarter (April through June): July 31
- Third quarter (July through September): October 31
- Fourth quarter (October through December): January 31
If any of these dates falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941
You get an extra 10 calendar days to file if every required deposit for the quarter was made on time and in full. A fully compliant first-quarter depositor, for example, has until May 10 instead of April 30.2Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Due Dates
How the IRS Decides Your Deposit Schedule
The IRS assigns you either a monthly or semi-weekly deposit schedule based on a lookback period: four consecutive quarters starting July 1 two years before the current year and ending June 30 of the prior year. For calendar year 2026, the lookback runs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.3IRS. Notice 931 – Deposit Requirements for Employment Taxes
- Reported $50,000 or less during the lookback: monthly depositor for the full calendar year.
- Reported more than $50,000: semi-weekly depositor for the full calendar year.
Your status locks in for the whole year. It doesn’t flex with current payroll size, though the $100,000 next-day rule can override it mid-year.3IRS. Notice 931 – Deposit Requirements for Employment Taxes
New Employers
If you have no filing history during the lookback period, your prior liability is treated as zero. That makes you a monthly depositor by default in your first calendar year, unless you hit the $100,000 threshold on a single day.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
When the Liability Is Created
Your deposit obligation attaches to the date wages are actually paid, not the date work was performed or payroll was accrued. A pay period that closes December 31 with checks issued January 6 produces a January liability.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule B (Form 941)
Monthly Deposit Due Dates
Monthly depositors send in all payroll taxes accumulated during a calendar month by the 15th of the following month. January liabilities are due February 15, February liabilities are due March 15, and so on. The number of pay periods in the month doesn’t matter.2Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Due Dates
If the 15th falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the deposit is due the next business day.
Semi-Weekly Deposit Due Dates
Semi-weekly depositors work from the day wages were paid:
- Wages paid Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday: deposit due the following Wednesday.
- Wages paid Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday: deposit due the following Friday.
Semi-weekly depositors are guaranteed at least three banking days to make each deposit. A federal holiday falling inside the window pushes the due date forward by one day per holiday.2Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Due Dates
Quarter boundaries don’t change anything. If a wage payment on the last day of one quarter creates a deposit obligation that lands in the next quarter, the normal semi-weekly timing still applies.
There’s a small margin for underpayment. A deposit that falls short by the greater of $100 or 2% of the required amount is not penalized if you make up the difference by the shortfall make-up date, which for semi-weekly depositors is the first Wednesday or Friday on or after the 15th of the month after the deposit was originally due.6eCFR. 26 CFR 31.6302-1 – Deposit Rules for Taxes Under FICA and Withheld Income Taxes
The $100,000 Next-Day Rule
Any day you accumulate $100,000 or more in federal payroll tax liability, you must deposit it by the close of the next business day. The rule applies whether you’re normally a monthly or semi-weekly depositor.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 – Employer’s Tax Guide
Triggering it has a lasting effect: you become a semi-weekly depositor for the remainder of the current calendar year and all of the next one.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
The $2,500 Rule: Paying With the Return
Very small employers can skip separate deposits altogether. If your total tax liability for the current quarter (or the prior quarter) is less than $2,500 and you haven’t triggered the $100,000 next-day rule, you can send the full amount with a timely filed Form 941.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 – Employer’s Tax Guide
Remember what counts toward that $2,500: the employer and employee shares of Social Security and Medicare plus withheld income tax, combined. It adds up faster than people expect.
How to Pay
Federal payroll tax deposits have to be made electronically. Free options include the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), IRS Direct Pay for businesses, and the IRS business tax account portal. Your bank can also send an ACH credit or same-day wire, though those typically cost a fee.8Internal Revenue Service. Depositing and Reporting Employment Taxes
Watch the EFTPS cutoff. Payments through EFTPS or the IRS online tools must be scheduled by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the due date. Anything you start after that is treated as a next-business-day payment.9EFTPS. Welcome to EFTPS Online
Same-Day Wire if You Miss the Cutoff
Miss the 8:00 p.m. EFTPS window on a deposit due the next day and a same-day wire through your bank can still get the payment there on time. Download the IRS same-day taxpayer worksheet, complete one for each tax period or form type, and take it to your bank. Confirm its own cutoff with the bank in advance.10Internal Revenue Service. Same-Day Wire Federal Tax Payments
Penalties for Missing a Deposit or the Return
Late deposit penalties scale with the number of days overdue:
- 1 to 5 days late: 2% of the unpaid amount
- 6 to 15 days late: 5%
- More than 15 days late: 10%
- Still unpaid 10 days after the first IRS delinquency notice: 15%
The percentage applies to the shortfall, not the entire quarterly liability.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6656 – Failure to Make Deposit of Taxes
Filing the return itself late is a separate 5% penalty on the unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is overdue, up to 25%.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6651 – Failure to File Tax Return or to Pay Tax
Interest also runs on unpaid balances. The underpayment rate is 7% per year for most businesses in the first quarter of 2026 and drops to 6% in the second quarter. Large corporate underpayments carry a rate 2 percentage points higher.13IRS. Bulletin No. 2026-8 – Rev. Rul. 2026-5
Unpaid Withholding Can Follow You Personally
Payroll taxes withheld from employee wages are trust fund taxes. They belong to the government the moment they’re withheld. If a business fails to pay them over, the IRS can assess the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against any individual who was responsible for the company’s tax obligations and willfully failed to deposit the funds. The penalty equals 100% of the unpaid trust fund portion, and it attaches to the person, not just the entity.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6672 – Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax
Owners, officers, bookkeepers, and payroll service contacts have all been held liable under this provision. The IRS must send a written notice at least 60 days before assessing the penalty, but anyone with authority over the company’s financial decisions can be reached.