Form 945-A Annual Record of Federal Tax Liability

Form

945-A

(Rev. October 2012)

Annual Record of Federal Tax Liability

OMB No. 1545-1430

Information about Form 945-A and its instructions is at www.irs.gov/form945.
▶ File with Form 945, 945-X, CT-1, CT-1 X, 944, or 944-X.
Calendar Year
Name (as shown on Form 945, 945-X, CT-1, CT-1 X, 944, or 944-X)
Employer identification number (EIN)
▶

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

You must complete this form if you are required to deposit on a semiweekly schedule or if your tax liability during any month was $100,000 or more.
Show tax liability here, not deposits. (The IRS gets deposit data from electronic funds transfers.) DO NOT change your tax liability by adjustments
reported on any Form 945-X, 944-X, or CT-1 X.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
A

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
D

January Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Total for month ▶

April Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Total for month ▶

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 4.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

February Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29

B Total for month ▶

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

March Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

C Total for month ▶

May Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

E Total for month ▶

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

June Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

F Total for month ▶
Cat. No. 14733M

Form 945-A (Rev. 10-2012)

Page 2

Form 945-A (Rev. 10-2012)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
G

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
J

July Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Total for month ▶

October Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Total for month ▶

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

August Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

H Total for month ▶

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

November Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

K Total for month ▶

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
I

September Tax Liability
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Total for month ▶

December Tax Liability

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

L Total for month ▶

M Total tax liability for the year (add lines A through L). This should equal line 3 on Form 945 (line 13
on Form CT-1, line 7 on Form 944.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

▶
Form 945-A (Rev. 10-2012)

Page 3

Form 945-A (Rev. 10-2012)

Future Developments
For the latest information about developments related to Form
945-A and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they
were published, go to www.irs.gov/form945.

Reminders
Reporting prior period adjustments. Prior period adjustments are
reported on Form 945-X, Adjusted Annual Return of Federal Income
Tax or Claim for Refund; Form CT-1 X, Adjusted Employer’s Annual
Railroad Retirement Tax Return or Claim for Refund; and Form
944-X, Adjusted Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return or Claim
for Refund; respectively, and are not taken into account when
figuring the tax liability for the current year.
When you file Form 945-A with your Form 945, CT-1, or 944, do
not change your tax liability by adjustments reported on any Form
945-X, CT-1 X, or 944-X.
Amended Form 945-A. If you have been assessed a
failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty, you may be able to file an amended
Form 945-A. For more information, see Amending a Previously Filed
Form 945-A, later.

General Instructions
Purpose of form. Use Form 945-A to report your federal tax liability
(based on the dates payments were made or wages were paid) for
the following tax returns.
• Forms 945 and 945-X for federal income tax withholding on
nonpayroll payments. Nonpayroll withholding includes backup
withholding and federal income tax withholding on pensions,
annuities, IRAs, Indian gaming profits, gambling winnings, and
military retirement.
• Forms CT-1 and CT-1 X for both employee and employer Tier I
taxes and employer Tier II taxes.
• Forms 944 and 944-X for federal income tax withheld plus both
employee and employer social security and Medicare taxes.
Forms 944(SP), 944-X (SP), and 944-X (PR). If you are a
semiweekly schedule depositor who files Formulario 944(SP),
Declaración Federal ANUAL de Impuestos del Patrono o
Empleador, you should use Formulario 943A-PR, Registro de la
Obligación Contributiva Federal del Patrono Agrícola, to report your
tax liability. You should also file Form 943A-PR if you file
Form 944-X(SP) or Form 944-X(PR) and you need to amend a
previously filed Form 943A-PR.
Who must file. Semiweekly schedule depositors must complete
and file Form 945-A with their tax return. Do not file Form 945-A if
your tax liability for the return period is less than $2,500. Do not file
this form if you are a monthly schedule depositor unless you
accumulated a tax liability of $100,000 during any month of the
year. Monthly schedule depositors who accumulate $100,000
become semiweekly schedule depositors for the remainder of the
year (and the next year) and must complete Form 945-A for the
entire year.
The deposit rules, including the $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule,
are explained in section 11 of Pub. 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax
Guide, and in the instructions for your tax return.
Caution. IRS uses Form 945-A to match the tax liability you
reported on the returns indicated above with your deposits. The IRS
also uses Form 945-A to determine if you have deposited your tax
liabilities on time. Unless Form 945-A is properly completed and
filed (if applicable) with your tax return, the IRS may propose an
“averaged” failure-to-deposit penalty. See Deposit Penalties in
section 11 of Pub. 15 (Circular E) for more information.

Specific Instructions
If you must report your tax liabilities on Form 945-A as discussed
above, file it with your tax return. Each numbered space on Form
945-A corresponds to a date during the year. Report your tax
liabilities in the spaces that correspond to the dates you made
payments, not the date tax deposits were made. For example, if you
became liable for a pension distribution on December 31, 2011, but
did not make the distribution until January 3, 2012, the federal
income tax withholding liability for the distribution must be reported
on Form 945-A for 2012, on line 3 under January Tax Liability.
Enter your business information. Carefully enter your employer
identification number (EIN) and name at the top of the form. Make
sure that they exactly match the name of your business and the EIN
that the IRS assigned to your business and also agree with the
name and EIN shown on the attached Form 945, 945-X, CT-1,
CT-1 X, 944, or 944-X.
Calendar year. Enter the calendar year of the Form 945, 945-X,
CT-1, CT-1 X, 944, or 944-X to which Form 945-A is attached.
Form 945 filers. Do not complete entries A through M of the
Monthly Summary of Federal Tax Liability (Form 945, line 7). Be sure
to mark the semiweekly schedule depositor checkbox above line 7
on Form 945.
Form CT-1 filers. Do not complete the Monthly Summary of
Railroad Retirement Tax Liability (Form CT-1).
Form 944 filers. On Form 944, check the box for “Line 7 is $2,500
or more” at line 13, and leave blank lines 13a–13m.
Enter your tax liability by month. Enter your tax liabilities in the
spaces that correspond to the dates you paid wages to your
employees or made nonpayroll payments, not the date deposits
were made. The total tax liability for the year (line M) must equal net
taxes on Form 945 (line 3), Form 944 (line 7) or Form CT-1 (line 13).
Report your tax liabilities on this form corresponding to the dates of
each wage payment or nonpayroll payment, not to when the
liabilities are accrued. Enter the monthly totals on lines A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, H, I, J, K, and L. Enter the total for the year on line M.
For example, if you are a Form 945 filer, your payroll period ended
on December 31, 2011, and you paid the nonpayroll payments for
that period on January 6, 2012, you would:
• Go to January (on Form 945-A filed with your 2012 return), and
• Enter your tax liability on line 6 (because line 6 represents the sixth
day of the month).

TIP

Make sure you have checked the appropriate box below
line 6 of Form 945 to show that you are a semiweekly
schedule depositor.

Example 1. Cedar Co., which has a semiweekly deposit schedule,
makes periodic payments on gambling winnings on the 15th day of
each month. On December 24, 2012, in addition to its periodic
payments, it withheld from a payment on gambling winnings under
the backup withholding rules. Since Cedar Co. is a semiweekly
schedule depositor, it must record these nonpayroll withholding
liabilities on Form 945-A. It must report tax liabilities on line 15 for
each month and line 24 for December.
Cedar Co. enters the monthly totals on lines A through L. It adds
these monthly subtotals and enters the total tax liability for the year
on line M. The amount on line M should equal Form 945, line 3.
Example 2. Fir Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor. During
January, it withheld federal income tax on pension distributions as
follows: $52,000 on January 10; $35,000 on January 24. Since Fir
Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor, it must record its federal
income tax withholding liabilities on Form 945-A. It must record
$52,000 on line 10 and $35,000 on line 24 for January.

Page 4

Form 945-A (Rev. 10-2012)

Example 3. Because Elm Co. is a new business, it is a monthly
schedule depositor at the beginning of 2012. During January, it
withheld federal income tax on nonpayroll payments as follows:
$2,000 on January 10; $99,000 on January 24. The deposit rules
require that a monthly schedule depositor begin depositing on a
semiweekly deposit schedule when a $100,000 or more tax liability
is accumulated on any day within a month (see section 11 of Pub.
15 (Circular E) for details). Since Elm Co. accumulated $101,000
($2,000 + $99,000) on January 24, 2012, it became a semiweekly
schedule depositor on January 25, 2012. Elm Co. must complete
Form 945-A and file it with Form 945. It must record $2,000 on line
10 and $99,000 on line 24 for January. No entries should be made
on Form 945, line 7, although Elm Co. was a monthly schedule
depositor until January 25.

Amending a Previously Filed Form 945-A
Semiweekly schedule depositors. If you have been assessed a
failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty and you made an error on Form
945-A and the correction will not change the total liability you
reported on Form 945-A, you may be able to reduce your penalty by
filing an amended Form 945-A.
Example. You reported a liability of $3,000 on January 1.
However, the liability was actually for March. Prepare an amended
Form 945-A showing the $3,000 liability on March 1. Also, you must
enter the liabilities previously reported for the year that did not
change. Write “Amended” at the top of Form 945-A. The IRS will
refigure the penalty and notify you of any change in the penalty.

Tax increase—Form 945-X, CT-1 X, or 944-X filed timely. If you
are filing a timely Form 945-X, CT-1 X, or 944-X showing a tax
increase, do not file an amended Form 945-A, unless you were
assessed an FTD penalty caused by an incorrect, incomplete, or
missing Form 945-A. Do not include the tax increase reported on
Form 945-X, CT-1 X, or 944-X on an amended Form 945-A you file.
Tax increase—Form 945-X, CT-1 X, or 944-X filed late. If you
owe tax and are filing late, that is, after the due date of the return for
the filing period in which you discovered the error, you must file the
form with an amended Form 945-A. Otherwise, IRS may assess an
“averaged” FTD penalty.
The total tax reported on line M of Form 945-A must match the
corrected tax (Form 945, line 3; Form 944, line 7 (line 9 for years
before 2011); Form CT-1, line 13) combined with any correction
reported on Form 945-X, line 5 (Form 944-X, line 16 minus any
advance EIC reported on Form 944-X, line 17; Form CT-1X, line 18)
for the year, less any previous abatements and interest-free tax
assessments.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on
this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United
States. You are required to give us the information. We need it to
ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow us to
figure and collect the right amount of tax.

Monthly schedule depositors. You can also file an amended Form
945-A if you have been assessed an FTD penalty and you made an
error on the monthly tax liability section of Form 945. When
completing Form 945-A, only enter the monthly totals. The daily
entries are not required.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a
form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form
displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a
form or its instructions must be retained as long as their contents
may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue
law. Generally, tax returns and return information are confidential,
as required by Code section 6103.

Where to file. File your amended Form 945-A at the address
provided in the penalty notice you received. You do not have to
submit your original Form 945-A.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary
depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average
time is:

Forms 945-X, CT-1 X, and 944-X
Tax decrease. If you are filing Form 945-X, CT-1 X, or 944-X, you
can file an amended Form 945-A with the form if both of the
following apply.
1. You have a tax decrease.
2. You were assessed an FTD penalty.
File your amended Form 945-A with Form 945-X, CT-1 X, or
944-X. The total liability reported on your amended Form 945-A
must equal the corrected amount of tax reported on Form 945-X,
CT-1 X, or 944-X. If your penalty is decreased, the IRS will include
the penalty decrease with your tax decrease.

Recordkeeping .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

. 6 hr., 27 min.

Learning .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

. . 6 min.

Preparing and sending
the form to the IRS . .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

. 12 min.

.

.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time
estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be
happy to hear from you. You can write to the IRS at the address
listed in the Privacy Act Notice for your tax return.