What You Need to Know About Filing Yet Another New Form 941 for Q3

The IRS plans to publish the newest version of the Form 941-X in late September. The new Form will allow for corrections to the new lines added to the Quarter 2 Form 941 and allow for reporting related to the new Payroll Tax Holiday. Juggling the multitude of changes in these forms in 2020 is proving difficult for employers. While we’re waiting for the final version of the new forms to be published, it’s critical for employers filing now to use the right form:

  • If adjusting Quarter 1 or earlier, use the existing Form 941-X.
  • If adjusting Quarter 2 (or later) and not making any increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax or to any of the new COVID-related lines that were added to the Quarter 2 Form 941, the IRS strongly recommends waiting for the new Form 941-X revision to be released.
  • If adjusting Quarter 2 (or later) and making any increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax, or to any of the new COVID-related lines, use of the existing Form 941-X is prohibited and employers are mandated to wait for the new Form 941-X revision.
  • Do not send a Form 941 with “Amended” (or similar notation) written on the form.

If you have already submitted an adjustment for Q2 and made and increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax, or to any of the new COVID-related lines, using the existing Form 941-X OR you have submitted a Form 941 and notated “amended” on the form, please wait for correspondence from the IRS to find out if they were able to process the tax return or if it has been rejected. Given the backlog of unopened mail and correspondence due to COVID-19, the IRS is unable to estimate when any correspondence will be distributed.