Form 941, the employer’s quarterly federal tax return, is due on the last day of the month after each calendar quarter closes: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Those four dates apply to every employer that withholds federal income tax, Social Security, or Medicare from employee wages. Filing the return and depositing the taxes it reports are two separate obligations with separate deadlines, and the IRS can penalize you for missing either one.
The Four Quarterly Deadlines
Each return covers one calendar quarter and is due by the last day of the following month:
- Q1 (January through March): April 30
- Q2 (April through June): July 31
- Q3 (July through September): October 31
- Q4 (October through December): January 31 of the following year
If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.1Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Due Dates
The 10-Day Extension for On-Time Depositors
If you deposited all required payroll taxes on time during the quarter, the IRS automatically gives you until the 10th day of the second month after the quarter ends to file. That pushes April 30 to May 10, July 31 to August 10, October 31 to November 10, and January 31 to February 10. You don’t apply for the extension; it applies on its own if your deposits were all timely.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941 (03/2026) – Section: When Must You File?
Employers Who File a Different Return
Not every employer uses Form 941. If your total annual liability for withheld income tax, Social Security, and Medicare is $1,000 or less, you may qualify to file Form 944 once a year instead, but only after the IRS grants permission.3Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 944 Agricultural employers file Form 943 annually rather than Form 941.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 760, Form 943 – Reporting and Deposit Requirements for Agricultural Employers Household employers who pay a nanny or housekeeper $3,000 or more in cash wages during 2026 report those employment taxes on Schedule H with their personal Form 1040.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide If any of those apply to you, the quarterly Form 941 dates don’t.
Deposit Deadlines Are Separate
The quarterly return dates above are just the filing deadlines. The actual money usually has to reach the Treasury much earlier, through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) or an equivalent electronic method.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6302 – Mode or Time of Collection Your deposit schedule for a given calendar year is fixed by your total tax liability during a lookback period covering July 1 of the second preceding year through June 30 of the preceding year.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide
Monthly Depositors
If your lookback liability was $50,000 or less, taxes accumulated in a given month are due by the 15th of the following month. August withholding is due September 15. Weekend and holiday rollovers apply.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
Semi-Weekly Depositors
If your lookback liability exceeded $50,000, deposits track your payday:8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
- Payday on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday: deposit by the following Wednesday.
- Payday on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday: deposit by the following Friday.
You always get at least three business days after the pay period closes, and a weekday federal holiday inside that window adds another day.
The $100,000 Next-Day Rule
Accumulating $100,000 or more in liability on a single day overrides both schedules: the whole amount is due by the close of the next business day. Triggering it also moves you to semi-weekly depositor status for the rest of the current year and all of the following year.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
The $2,500 De Minimis Exception
If your total liability for the current quarter (or the prior quarter) is less than $2,500 and you haven’t triggered the $100,000 rule, you can skip separate deposits and pay the balance with your Form 941 when you file.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941 (03/2026) – Section: Must You Deposit Your Taxes?
The EFTPS Cutoff
When paying through EFTPS, your instruction must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the deposit due date. Payments settle on the next business day, so anything entered after that cutoff posts late.10Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Welcome to EFTPS Online New employers should enroll well before their first deposit is due, because after you submit enrollment information, the IRS mails a PIN that takes five to seven business days to arrive.
What Happens If You File or Deposit Late
Missing the return deadline and missing a deposit deadline draw separate penalties, and the IRS can assess both at once.
Late Filing
Filing Form 941 late (without qualifying for the 10-day extension) costs 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month the return is late, capped at 25%.11Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty Once a return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is the lesser of $525 (for returns required to be filed in 2026) or 100% of the tax due.12Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges The percentage is applied to what you still owe after credit for any timely deposits.
Late Deposits
Deposit penalties scale with how late the payment lands:13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 6656 – Failure to Make Deposit of Taxes
- 1 to 5 days late: 2% of the underpayment.
- 6 to 15 days late: 5%.
- More than 15 days late: 10%.
- Still unpaid more than 10 days after the first IRS delinquency notice: 15%.
Interest also accrues from the original due date until you pay.
Trust Fund Exposure
The federal income tax and employee share of Social Security and Medicare that you withhold are trust fund taxes. When a business fails to turn them over, the IRS can assess the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty personally against a responsible person, at 100% of the unpaid trust fund amount plus interest. That penalty reaches individual bank accounts, wages, and property, not just business assets.14Internal Revenue Service. Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Missing a deposit because cash was used to pay other creditors is enough for the IRS to treat the failure as willful.15Internal Revenue Service. Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) Overview and Authority
Getting a Late Penalty Removed
Two routes to relief exist. First Time Abate is the simpler one: if you filed the same return type for the previous three years and had no penalties during that period (or had any prior penalty removed for an acceptable reason), the IRS will typically waive a failure-to-file or failure-to-deposit penalty on request.16Internal Revenue Service. Administrative Penalty Relief – Section: How to Request First Time Abate If you don’t qualify, you can request reasonable cause relief, usually by filing Form 843, showing that the failure came from circumstances beyond ordinary control and that you exercised normal business care. The IRS does not grant relief for oversight or cash-flow problems.17Internal Revenue Service. About Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement
State Filings Run on Their Own Clock
Form 941 covers only federal employment taxes. Most states require separate filings for state income tax withholding and unemployment insurance, and while those deadlines generally mirror the federal quarterly schedule, some states allow annual filing for very small employers or household-only employers. Check with your state revenue or workforce agency for exact dates and payment methods.