11. Depositing Taxes(p20)

Rose Co. reported Form 941 taxes as follows:

2008 Lookback Period		2009 Lookback Period
3rd Quarter 2006	$12,000	3rd Quarter  2007	$12,000
4th Quarter 2006	$12,000	4th Quarter  2007	$12,000
1st Quarter 2007	$12,000	1st Quarter  2008	$12,000
2nd Quarter 2007	$12,000	2nd Quarter  2008	$15,000
	$48,000		$51,000

Rose Co. is a monthly schedule depositor for 2008 because its tax liability for the 4 quarters in its lookback period (third quarter 2006 through second quarter 2007) was not more than $50,000. However, for 2009, Rose Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor because the total taxes exceeded $50,000 for the 4 quarters in its lookback period (third quarter 2007 through second quarter 2008).

If a deposit is required to be made on a day that is not a banking day, the deposit is considered timely if it is made by the close of the next banking day. In addition to federal and state bank holidays, Saturdays and Sundays are treated as nonbanking days. For example, if a deposit is required to be made on a Friday and Friday is not a banking day, the deposit will be considered timely if it is made by the following Monday (if that Monday is a banking day).

Semiweekly schedule depositors have at least 3 banking days to make a deposit. That is, if any of the 3 weekdays after the end of a semiweekly period is a banking holiday, you will have 1 additional banking day to deposit. For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor accumulated taxes for payments made on Friday and the following Monday is not a banking day, the deposit normally due on Wednesday may be made on Thursday (allowing 3 banking days to make the deposit).

The terms "monthly schedule depositor" and "semiweekly schedule depositor" do not refer to how often your business pays its employees or even how often you are required to make deposits. The terms identify which set of deposit rules that you must follow when an employment tax liability arises. The deposit rules are based on the dates when wages are paid (for example, cash basis); not on when tax liabilities are accrued for accounting purposes.

Spruce Co. is a monthly schedule depositor with seasonal employees. It paid wages each Friday. During March it paid wages but did not pay any wages during April. Under the monthly deposit schedule, Spruce Co. must deposit the combined tax liabilities for the four March paydays by April 15. Spruce Co. does not have a deposit requirement for April (due by May 15) because no wages were paid and, therefore, it did not have a tax liability for April.

Green, Inc., which has a semiweekly deposit schedule, pays wages once each month on the last day of the month. Although Green, Inc., has a semiweekly deposit schedule, it will deposit just once a month because it pays wages only once a month. The deposit, however, will be made under the semiweekly deposit schedule as follows: Green, Inc.'s tax liability for the April 24, 2009 (Friday), payday must be deposited by April 29, 2009 (Wednesday). Under the semiweekly deposit schedule, liabilities for wages paid on Wednesday through Friday must be deposited by the following Wednesday.

If you accumulate $100,000 or more of taxes (that is, line 10 of Form 941 or line 9 of Form 944) on any day during a deposit period, you must deposit the tax by the next banking day, whether you are a monthly or semiweekly schedule depositor.

For purposes of the $100,000 rule, do not continue accumulating a tax liability after the end of a deposit period. For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor has accumulated a liability of $95,000 on a Tuesday (of a Saturday-through-Tuesday deposit period) and accumulated a $10,000 liability on Wednesday, the $100,000 next-day deposit rule does not apply. Thus, $95,000 must be deposited by Friday and $10,000 must be deposited by the following Wednesday.

However, once you accumulate at least $100,000 in a deposit period, stop accumulating at the end of that day and begin to accumulate anew on the next day. For example, Fir Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor. On Monday, Fir Co. accumulates taxes of $110,000 and must deposit this amount on Tuesday, the next banking day. On Tuesday, Fir Co. accumulates additional taxes of $30,000. Because the $30,000 is not added to the previous $110,000 and is less than $100,000, Fir Co. must deposit the $30,000 by Friday (following the semiweekly deposit schedule).

Elm, Inc., started its business on April 1, 2009. On April 11, it paid wages for the first time and accumulated a tax liability of $40,000. On Friday, April 17, 2009, Elm, Inc., paid wages and accumulated a liability of $60,000, bringing its accumulated tax liability to $100,000. Because this was the first year of its business, the tax liability for its lookback period is considered to be zero, and it would be a monthly schedule depositor based on the lookback rules. However, since Elm, Inc., accumulated a $100,000 liability on April 17, it became a semiweekly schedule depositor on April 18. It will be a semiweekly schedule depositor for the remainder of 2009 and for 2010. Elm, Inc., is required to deposit the $100,000 by Monday, April 20, the next banking day.

You are required to deposit 100% of your tax liability on or before the deposit due date. However, penalties will not be applied for depositing less than 100% if both of the following conditions are met.

• Any deposit shortfall does not exceed the greater of $100 or 2% of the amount of taxes otherwise required to be deposited and
• The deposit shortfall is paid or deposited by the shortfall makeup date as described below.

1. Monthly schedule depositor. Deposit the shortfall or pay it with your return by the due date of your return for the return period in which the shortfall occurred. You may pay the shortfall with your return even if the amount is $2,500 or more.
2. Semiweekly schedule depositor. Deposit by the earlier of:
   1. The first Wednesday or Friday (whichever comes first) that falls on or after the 15th of the month following the month in which the shortfall occurred or
   2. The due date of your return (for the return period of the tax liability).

For example, if a semiweekly schedule depositor has a deposit shortfall during July 2009, the shortfall makeup date is August 19, 2009 (Wednesday). However, if the shortfall occurred on the required April 1 (Wednesday) deposit due date for a March 27 (Friday) pay date, the return due date for the March 27 pay date (April 30) would come before the May 15 (Friday) shortfall makeup date. In this case, the shortfall must be deposited by April 30.

The two methods of depositing employment taxes, including Form 945 taxes, are discussed below. See Payment with return on page 21 for exceptions explaining when taxes may be paid with the tax return instead of being deposited.

You must make electronic deposits of all depository taxes (such as employment tax, excise tax, and corporate income tax) using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) in 2009 if:

• Your total deposits of depository taxes in 2007 were more than $200,000 or
• You were required to use EFTPS in 2008 or any prior year.

If you are required to use EFTPS and fail to do so, you may be subject to a 10% failure-to-deposit penalty. EFTPS is a free service provided by the Department of Treasury. If you are not required to use EFTPS, you may participate voluntarily. To get more information or to enroll in EFTPS, call 1-800-555-4477. You can also visit the EFTPS website at www.eftps.gov.

If you are a new employer that indicated a federal tax obligation when requesting an EIN, you will be pre-enrolled in EFTPS. You will receive information in your Employer Identification Number (EIN) Package about Express Enrollment and an additional mailing containing your EFTPS personal identification number (PIN) and instructions for activating your PIN. Call the toll-free number located in your "How to Activate Your Enrollment" brochure to activate your enrollment and begin making your payroll tax deposits. Be sure to tell your payroll provider about your EFTPS enrollment. Consider using EFTPS to make your other federal tax payments electronically as well. You should activate your EFTPS enrollment now even if you plan to deposit using FTD coupons (Form 8109) because it may take 5 to 6 weeks to receive the coupons and you may be required to make a deposit while waiting for them.

For deposits made by EFTPS to be on time, you must initiate the transaction at least 1 business day before the date that the deposit is due.

For your records, an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Trace Number will be provided with each successful payment. The number can be used as a receipt or to trace the payment.

If you fail to initiate a deposit transaction on EFTPS at least 1 business day before the date a deposit is due, you can still make your deposit on time by using the Federal Reserve-Electronic Tax Application (FR-ETA). If you ever need the same-day payment method, you will need to make arrangements with your financial institution ahead of time. FR-ETA allows you to initiate the transaction and have the funds transferred from your financial institution on the same day. Enrollment in EFTPS automatically enrolls you in FR-ETA. Instructions for using FR-ETA are included in your EFTPS enrollment package. Business taxpayers can use FR-ETA even if not enrolled, but may need help to have their financial institution use the proper format for making the payment. The guidelines for financial institutions for making payments using FR-ETA can be found at www.frbservices.org/files/serviceofferings/pdf/Sameday.pdf.

If you are not making deposits by EFTPS, use Form 8109 to make the deposits at an authorized financial institution.

For new employers, if you would like to receive a Federal Tax Deposit (FTD) coupon booklet, call 1-800-829-4933. Allow 5 to 6 weeks for delivery. Consider activating your enrollment in EFTPS now so that you can make timely deposits of payroll taxes while waiting for requested FTD coupons.

The IRS will keep track of the number of FTD coupons that you use and automatically will send you additional coupons when you need them. If you do not receive your resupply of FTD coupons, call 1-800-829-4933. You can have the FTD coupon books sent to a branch office, tax preparer, or service bureau that is making your deposits by showing that address on Form 8109-C, FTD Address Change, which is in the FTD coupon book. Filing Form 8109-C will not change your address of record; it will change only the address where the FTD coupons are mailed. The FTD coupons will be preprinted with your name, address, and EIN. They have entry boxes for indicating the type of tax and the tax period for which the deposit is made.

It is very important to clearly mark the correct type of tax and tax period on each FTD coupon. This information is used by the IRS to credit your account.

If you have branch offices depositing taxes, give them FTD coupons and complete instructions so that they can deposit the taxes when due.

Please use only your FTD coupons. If you use anyone else's FTD coupon, you may be subject to a failure-to-deposit penalty. This is because your account will be underpaid by the amount of the deposit credited to the other person's account. See Deposit Penalties later for penalty amounts.

Mail or deliver each FTD coupon and a single payment covering the taxes to be deposited to an authorized depositary. An authorized depositary is a financial institution (for example, a commercial bank) that is authorized to accept federal tax deposits. Follow the instructions in the FTD coupon book. Make your check or money order payable to the depositary. To help ensure proper crediting of your account, include your EIN, the type of tax (for example, Form 941), and the tax period to which the payment applies on your check or money order.

Authorized depositaries must accept cash, a postal money order drawn to the order of the depositary, or a check or draft drawn on and to the order of the depositary. You may deposit taxes with a check drawn on another financial institution only if the depositary is willing to accept that form of payment. Be sure that the financial institution where you make deposits is an authorized depositary. Deposits made at an unauthorized institution may be subject to the failure-to-deposit penalty.

If you prefer, you may mail your coupon and payment to: Financial Agent, Federal Tax Deposit Processing, P.O. Box 970030, St. Louis, MO 63197. Make your check or money order payable to "Financial Agent."

The Financial Agent cannot process foreign checks. If you send a check written on a foreign bank to pay a federal tax deposit, you generally will be charged a deposit penalty and will receive a bill in the mail. A foreign bank is a financial institution that is not incorporated under the laws of the United States, any U.S. state, any U.S. possession, or the District of Columbia.

You may enroll in the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), which will allow you to make electronic payments at no charge to you. Instructions for enrollment are available at www.eftps.gov.

You may also make the payments by wire transfer, through EFTPS, without being enrolled. A same day payment is initiated by your financial institution and can be used by businesses for making EFTPS tax payments. Please check with your financial institution regarding availability, deadlines, and costs. Generally, your bank will charge you a fee for payments made this way.

The IRS determines whether deposits are on time by the date that they are received by an authorized depositary. To be considered timely, the funds must be available to the depositary on the deposit due date before the institution's daily cutoff deadline. Contact your local depositary for information concerning check clearance and cutoff schedules. However, a deposit received by the authorized depositary after the due date will be considered timely if the taxpayer establishes that it was mailed in the United States in a properly addressed, postage prepaid envelope at least 2 days before the due date.

If you have applied for an EIN but have not received it and you must make a deposit, make the deposit with the IRS. Do not make the deposit at an authorized depositary. Make it payable to the "United States Treasury" and show on it your name (as shown on Form SS-4), address, kind of tax, period covered, and date you applied for an EIN. Send your deposit with an explanation to the IRS office where you will file your return. IRS office addresses are in the instructions for your return and on the IRS website at www.irs.gov/businesses under "Where To File." Use the "Without a payment" address. Do not use Form 8109-B, Federal Tax Deposit Coupon, in this situation.

If you have an EIN but do not have a preprinted Form 8109, you may use Form 8109-B to make deposits. Form 8109-B is an over-the-counter FTD coupon that is not preprinted with your identifying information. You may get this form by visiting an IRS taxpayer assistance center. Be sure to have your EIN with you. You will not be able to obtain Form 8109-B by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM.

Use Form 8109-B to make deposits only if:

• You are a new employer and you have been assigned an EIN, but you have not received your initial supply of Forms 8109 or
• You have not received your resupply of preprinted Forms 8109.

For your records, a stub is provided with each FTD coupon in the coupon book. The FTD coupon itself will not be returned. It is used to credit your account. Your cancelled check, bank receipt, or money order receipt is your deposit record.

If you deposited more than the right amount of taxes for a quarter, you can choose on Form 941 for that quarter (or on Form 944 for that year) to have the overpayment refunded or applied as a credit to your next return. Do not ask the depositary or EFTPS to request a refund from the IRS for you.

Penalties may apply if you do not make required deposits on time, if you make deposits for less than the required amount, or if you do not use EFTPS when required. The penalties do not apply if any failure to make a proper and timely deposit was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. The IRS may also waive penalties if you inadvertently fail to deposit in the first quarter that you were required to deposit any employment tax, or in the first quarter during which your frequency of deposits changed, if you timely filed your employment tax return.

For amounts not properly or timely deposited, the penalty rates are as follows.

2%	-	Deposits made 1 to 5 days late.
5%	-	Deposits made 6 to 15 days late.
10%	-	Deposits made 16 or more days late. Also applies to amounts paid within 10 days of the date of the first notice the IRS sent asking for the tax due.
10%	-	Deposits made at an unauthorized financial institution, paid directly to the IRS, or paid with your tax return. But see Depositing without an EIN earlier and Payment with return on page 21 for exceptions.
10%	-	Amounts subject to electronic deposit requirements but not deposited using EFTPS.
15%	-	Amounts still unpaid more than 10 days after the date of the first notice that the IRS sent asking for the tax due or the day on which you received notice and demand for immediate payment, whichever is earlier.

Late deposit penalty amounts are determined using calendar days, starting from the due date of the liability.

If you filed Form 944 for the prior year and must file Forms 941 for the current year because your employment tax liability for the prior year exceeded the Form 944 eligibility requirement ($1,000 or less), the failure-to-deposit penalty will not apply to a late deposit of employment taxes for the first month of the current year if the taxes are deposited in full by March 15 of the current year.

Deposits generally are applied to the most recent tax liability within the quarter. If you receive a failure-to-deposit penalty notice, you may designate how your deposits are to be applied in order to minimize the amount of the penalty if you do so within 90 days of the date of the notice. Follow the instructions on the penalty notice that you received. For more information on designating deposits, see Revenue Procedure 2001-58. You can find Revenue Procedure 2001-58 on page 579 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 2001-50 at  
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb01-50.pdf.

Cedar, Inc. is required to make a deposit of $1,000 on June 15 and $1,500 on July 15. It does not make the deposit on June 15. On July 15, Cedar, Inc. deposits $2,000. Under the deposits rule, which applies deposits to the most recent tax liability, $1,500 of the deposit is applied to the July 15 deposit and the remaining $500 is applied to the June deposit. Accordingly, $500 of the June 15 liability remains undeposited. The penalty on this underdeposit will apply as explained above.

If federal income, social security, and Medicare taxes that must be withheld are not withheld or are not deposited or paid to the United States Treasury, the trust fund recovery penalty may apply. The penalty is the full amount of the unpaid trust fund tax. This penalty may apply to you if these unpaid taxes cannot be immediately collected from the employer or business.

The trust fund recovery penalty may be imposed on all persons who are determined by the IRS to be responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over these taxes, and who acted willfully in not doing so.

A responsible person can be an officer or employee of a corporation, a partner or employee of a partnership, an accountant, a volunteer director/trustee, or an employee of a sole proprietorship. A responsible person also may include one who signs checks for the business or otherwise has authority to cause the spending of business funds.

Willfully means voluntarily, consciously, and intentionally. A responsible person acts willfully if the person knows that the required actions are not taking place.

Separate accounting may be required if you do not pay over withheld employee social security, Medicare, or income taxes; deposit required taxes; make required payments; or file tax returns. In this case, you would receive written notice from the IRS requiring you to deposit taxes into a special trust account for the U.S. Government. You would also have to file monthly tax returns on Form 941-M, Employer's Monthly Federal Tax Return.

IRS may assess an "averaged" failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty of 2% to 10% if you are a monthly schedule depositor and did not properly complete line 15 of 2008 Form 941 (line 17 of 2009 Form 941) when your tax liability (line 10) shown on Form 941 equaled or exceeded $2,500.

The IRS may also assess an "averaged" FTD penalty of 2% to 10% if you are a semiweekly schedule depositor and your tax liability (line 10) shown on Form 941 equaled or exceeded $2,500 and you:

• Completed line 15 of 2008 Form 941 (line 17 of 2009 Form 941) instead of Schedule B (Form 941),
• Failed to attach a properly completed Schedule B (Form 941), or
• Improperly completed Schedule B (Form 941) by, for example, entering tax deposits instead of tax liabilities in the numbered spaces.

The FTD penalty is figured by distributing your total tax liability shown on line 10 of Form 941 equally throughout the tax period. As a result, your deposits and payments may not be counted as timely because the actual dates of your tax liabilities cannot be accurately determined.

You can avoid an "averaged" FTD penalty by reviewing your return before you file it. Follow these steps before submitting your Form 941.

• If you are a monthly schedule depositor, report your tax liabilities (not your deposits) in the monthly entry spaces on line 15 of 2008 Form 941 (line 17 of 2009 Form 941).
• If you are a semiweekly schedule depositor, report your tax liabilities (not your deposits) on Schedule B (Form 941) in the lines that represent the dates your employees were paid.
• Verify that your total liability shown on line 15 of 2008 Form 941 (line 17 of 2009 Form 941) or the bottom of Schedule B (Form 941) equals your tax liability shown on line 10 of Form 941.
• Do not show negative amounts on line 15 of 2008 Form 941 (line 17 of 2009 Form 941) or Schedule B (Form 941). If a prior period correction results in a decrease to your tax liability, reduce your liability for the day that you discovered the error by the tax decrease resulting from the error, but not below zero. Apply any remaining decrease to subsequent liabilities.
• For prior period errors discovered after December 31, 2008, do not adjust your tax liabilities reported on line 15 of 2008 Form 941 (line 17 of 2009 Form 941) or on Schedule B (Form 941).