Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return

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Instructions for Form 943-A

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. December 2023)

Use with the December 2020 revision of Form 943-A
Agricultural Employer's Record of Federal Tax Liability

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Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code
unless otherwise noted.

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to
Form 943-A and its instructions, such as legislation
enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/
Form943A.

What’s New

Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities. For tax years beginning
before January 1, 2023, a qualified small business may
elect to claim up to $250,000 of its credit for increasing
research activities as a payroll tax credit. The Inflation
Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA) increases the election
amount to $500,000 for tax years beginning after
December 31, 2022. The payroll tax credit election must
be made on or before the due date of the originally filed
income tax return (including extensions). The portion of
the credit used against payroll taxes is allowed in the first
calendar quarter beginning after the date that the qualified
small business filed its income tax return. The election
and determination of the credit amount that will be used
against the employer's payroll taxes are made on Form
6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities. The
amount from Form 6765, line 44, must then be reported
on Form 8974, Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit
for Increasing Research Activities.
Starting in the first quarter of 2023, the payroll tax credit
is first used to reduce the employer share of social
security tax up to $250,000 per quarter and any remaining
credit reduces the employer share of Medicare tax for the
quarter. Any remaining credit, after reducing the employer
share of social security tax and the employer share of
Medicare tax, is then carried forward to the next quarter.
Form 8974 is used to determine the amount of the credit
that can be used in the current year. The amount from
Form 8974, line 12 or, if applicable, line 17, is reported on
Form 943, line 12a. For more information about the payroll
tax credit, see the Instructions for Form 8974 and go to
IRS.gov/ResearchPayrollTC. Also see Adjusting Tax
Liability for Nonrefundable Credits Claimed on Form 943,
Lines 12a, 12b, and 12d, later.
Adjusting tax liability for the nonrefundable portion
of the COBRA premium assistance credit. The
instructions for adjusting tax liability for the nonrefundable
portion of the COBRA premium assistance credit reported
on Form 943, line 12e, have been deleted because the
first quarter of 2022 was the last quarter in which most
employers may have been eligible to claim the COBRA
premium assistance credit.
Sep 13, 2023

Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
(the ARP) provided for COBRA premium assistance in the
form of a full reduction in the premium otherwise payable
by certain individuals and their families who elected
COBRA continuation coverage due to a loss of coverage
as the result of a reduction in hours or an involuntary
termination of employment (assistance eligible
individuals). This COBRA premium assistance was
available for periods of coverage beginning on or after
April 1, 2021, through periods of coverage beginning on or
before September 30, 2021. A premium payee was
entitled to the COBRA premium assistance credit at the
time an eligible individual elected coverage. Therefore,
due to the COBRA notice and election period
requirements (generally, employers had 60 days to
provide notice and assistance eligible individuals had 60
days to elect coverage), the first quarter of 2022 was the
last quarter in which most employers may have been
eligible to claim the COBRA premium assistance credit.

Reminders

Adjusting tax liability for nonrefundable credits
claimed on Form 943, lines 12a, 12b, and 12d. See
Adjusting Tax Liability for Nonrefundable Credits Claimed
on Form 943, Lines 12a, 12b, and 12d, later, for
instructions on how to report on Form 943-A adjustments
to your tax liabilities for the qualified small business payroll
tax credit for increasing research activities; the
nonrefundable portion of the credit for qualified sick and
family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken after
March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021; and the
nonrefundable portion of the credit for qualified sick and
family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken after
March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021.
Reporting prior period adjustments. Prior period
adjustments are reported on Form 943-X, Adjusted
Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural
Employees or Claim for Refund, and aren’t taken into
account when figuring the tax liability for the current year.
When you file Form 943-A with your Form 943,
Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural
Employees, don’t change your current year tax liability by
adjustments reported on any Form 943-X.
Amended Form 943-A. If you have been assessed a
failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty, you may be able to file an
amended Form 943-A. See Correcting Previously
Reported Tax Liability, later.

Cat. No. 74487J

When Must You File?

General Instructions

Form 943-A is filed with Form 943. Therefore, the due date
of Form 943-A is the same as the due date for the
applicable Form 943. See the Instructions for Form 943 for
due dates. In some situations, Form 943-A may be filed
with Form 943-X. See Form 943-X, later, for details.

Purpose of Form 943-A
These instructions tell you about Form 943-A. Use Form
943-A to report your tax liability if you're a semiweekly
schedule depositor. To determine if you're a semiweekly
schedule depositor, see section 7 of Pub. 51, Agricultural
Employer's Tax Guide.

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Specific Instructions

On Form 943-A, list your tax liability for each day. Your
tax liability is based on the dates wages were paid. Your
liability includes:

Completing Form 943-A

Enter Your Business Information

• The federal income tax you withheld from your

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 943 or Form
943-X.

employees' pay, and
• Both the employer and employee share of social
security and Medicare taxes.

Don’t use Form 943-A to show federal tax deposits.
The IRS gets deposit data from electronic funds transfers.

Calendar Year

Don't report taxes on wages paid to nonfarm workers
on this form. Taxes on wages paid to nonfarm workers are
reported on Form 941/941-SS, Employer’s QUARTERLY
Federal Tax Return; or Form 944, Employer’s ANNUAL
Federal Tax Return. Don't attach Form 943-A to your Form
941/941-SS or Form 944. Instead, use Schedule B (Form
941) or Form 945-A, Annual Record of Federal Tax
Liability (with Form 944).

Enter the calendar year of the Form 943 or Form 943-X to
which Form 943-A is attached.

Enter Your Tax Liability by Month

Enter your tax liabilities in the spaces that correspond to
the dates you paid wages to your employees, not the date
payroll liabilities were accrued or deposits were made.
The total tax liability for the year (line M) must equal total
taxes after adjustments and nonrefundable credits on
Form 943 (line 13). 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.

The IRS uses Form 943-A to determine if you’ve
deposited your Form 943 tax liabilities on time. If
CAUTION you're a semiweekly schedule depositor and you
don’t properly complete and file your Form 943-A with
Form 943, the IRS may propose an “averaged” FTD
penalty. See Deposit Penalties in section 7 of Pub. 51 for
more information.

!

For example, if your payroll period ended on December
31, 2022, and you paid the wages for that period on
January 6, 2023, you would:
• Go to January on Form 943-A filed with your 2023 Form
943, and
• Enter your tax liability on line 6 because line 6
represents the sixth day of the month.

Who Must File?
File Form 943-A if you’re a semiweekly schedule
depositor. Monthly schedule depositors who accumulate
$100,000 or more of tax liability on any day of a calendar
month become semiweekly schedule depositors on the
next day and remain so for at least the remainder of the
year and for the next year, and must also complete and file
Form 943-A for the entire year. The $100,000 tax liability
threshold requiring a next-day deposit is determined
before you consider any reduction of your liability for
nonrefundable credits. For more information, including an
example, see frequently asked question 17 at IRS.gov/
ETD.

Make sure you have checked the appropriate box

TIP above line 17 of Form 943 to show that you're a
semiweekly schedule depositor.

Example 1. Fir Co. is a semiweekly schedule
depositor. Fir Co. accumulated a federal tax liability of
$3,000 on its January 11 and January 25 paydays. In the
January column, Fir Co. must enter $3,000 on lines 11
and 25.
Example 2. Cedar Co. is a semiweekly schedule
depositor that paid wages in October, November, and
December on the last day of the month. On December 25,
2023, Cedar Co. also paid its employees year-end
bonuses (subject to employment taxes). Because Cedar
Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor, it must record
employment tax liabilities on Form 943-A.

The deposit rules, including the $100,000 Next-Day
Deposit Rule, are explained in section 7 of Pub. 51 and in
the Instructions for Form 943.
Don't complete Form 943-A if your net tax liability
for the year (Form 943, line 13) is less than
CAUTION $2,500. Don't file this form if you're a monthly
schedule depositor unless you accumulated a tax liability
of $100,000 during any month of the year.

!

If you use Form 943-A, don’t complete Form 943,

TIP line 17.

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Instructions for Form 943-A (Rev. 12-2023)

Month
October
November
December
December

includes payments of wages subject to social security tax
to your employees until you use up to $250,000 of credit
against the employer share of social security tax and you
then take into account any remaining payroll tax credit
against the liability for the employer share of Medicare tax
starting with the first payroll payment of the quarter that
includes payments of wages subject to Medicare tax to
employees. Consistent with the entries on Form 943-A,
the payroll tax credit should be taken into account in
making deposits of employment tax. If any payroll tax
credit is remaining at the end of the quarter that hasn't
been used completely because it exceeds $250,000 of
the employer share of social security tax and the employer
share of Medicare tax for the quarter, the excess credit
may be carried forward to the succeeding quarter and
allowed as a payroll tax credit for the succeeding quarter.
The payroll tax credit may not be taken as a credit against
income tax withholding, the employee share of social
security tax, or the employee share of Medicare tax.
Also, the remaining payroll tax credit may not be carried
back and taken as a credit against wages paid from
preceding quarters that are reported on the same Form
943 or on Forms 943 for preceding years. If an amount of
payroll tax credit is unused at the end of the calendar year
because it is in excess of the applicable employer share of
social security tax and employer share of Medicare tax on
wages paid during the applicable quarters in the calendar
year, the remaining payroll tax credit may be carried
forward to the first quarter of the succeeding calendar
year as a payroll tax credit against the applicable
employer share of social security tax and employer share
of Medicare tax paid on wages paid in that quarter. For
more information about the payroll tax credit, go to
IRS.gov/ResearchPayrollTC.
Example. Rose Co. is an employer with a calendar tax
year that filed its timely 2022 income tax return on April
18, 2023. Rose Co. elected to take the qualified small
business payroll tax credit for increasing research
activities on Form 6765. The third quarter of 2023 is the
first quarter that begins after Rose Co. filed the income tax
return making the payroll tax credit election. Therefore, the
payroll tax credit applies against Rose Co.'s share of
social security tax (up to $250,000) and Medicare tax on
wages paid to employees in the third quarter of 2023.
Rose Co. completes Form 943-A by reducing the amount
of liability entered for the first payroll payment in the third
quarter of 2023 that includes wages subject to social
security tax by the lesser of (1) its share of social security
tax (up to $250,000) on the wages, or (2) the available
payroll tax credit. If the payroll tax credit elected is more
than Rose Co.'s share of social security tax on the first
payroll payment of the quarter, the excess payroll tax
credit would be carried forward to succeeding payroll
payments in the third quarter until it is used against up to
$250,000 of Rose Co.'s share of social security tax for the
quarter. If the amount of the payroll tax credit exceeds
Rose Co.'s share of social security tax (up to $250,000) on
wages paid to its employees in the third quarter, any
remaining credit is used against Rose Co.'s share of
Medicare tax on the first payroll payment of the quarter
and then the excess payroll tax credit would be carried
forward to succeeding payroll payments in the third
quarter until it is used against Rose Co.'s share of

Lines for dates wages were paid
line 31 (payday, last day of the month)
line 30 (payday, last day of the month)
line 25 (bonus paid December 25, 2023)
line 31 (payday, last day of the month)

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Example 3. Elm Co. is a new business and monthly
schedule depositor for 2023. Elm Co. pays wages every
Friday. Elm Co. incurred a $2,000 employment tax liability
on October 6, 2023. Elm Co. incurred a $110,000 tax
liability on October 13, 2023, and on every subsequent
Friday during 2023. Under the deposit rules, employers
become semiweekly schedule depositors on the day after
any day they accumulate $100,000 or more of tax liability
in a deposit period.

Because Elm Co. had an accumulated tax liability of
$112,000 on October 13, 2023, it became a semiweekly
schedule depositor on October 14, 2023, and must
complete Form 943-A and file it with Form 943. No entries
should be made on Form 943, line 17, even though Elm
Co. was a monthly schedule depositor until October 14,
2023.
Month
October
October
November
December

Lines for dates wages were paid
line 6
lines 13, 20, and 27
lines 3, 10, 17, and 24
lines 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29

Amount to report
$2,000
$110,000
$110,000
$110,000

Your total liability for the year must equal line 13
on Form 943; therefore, don't reduce your total
CAUTION liability reported on Form 943-A by the refundable
portion of the credit for qualified sick and family leave
wages. See the Instructions for Form 943 for more
information.

!

Adjusting Tax Liability for Nonrefundable
Credits Claimed on Form 943, Lines 12a, 12b,
and 12d

Semiweekly schedule depositors must account for
nonrefundable credits claimed on Form 943, lines 12a,
12b, and 12d, when reporting their tax liabilities on Form
943-A. The total tax liability for the year must equal the
amount reported on Form 943, line 13. Failure to account
for the nonrefundable credits on Form 943-A may cause
Form 943-A to report more than the total tax liability
reported on Form 943, line 13. Don't reduce your daily tax
liability reported on Form 943-A below zero.
Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities (line 12a). Beginning with
the first quarter of 2023, the qualified small business
payroll tax credit for increasing research activities is first
used to reduce the employer share of social security tax
(up to $250,000) for the quarter and any remaining credit
is then used to reduce the employer share of Medicare tax
for the quarter until it reaches zero. In completing Form
943-A, you take into account the payroll tax credit against
the liability for the employer share of social security tax
starting with the first payroll payment of the quarter that
Instructions for Form 943-A (Rev. 12-2023)

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leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1,
2021, is limited to the employer share of Medicare tax on
wages paid during the year that is remaining after that
share is first reduced by any credit claimed against the
employer share of Medicare tax on Form 8974, line 16, for
the qualified small business payroll tax credit for
increasing research activities. In completing Form 943-A,
you take into account the nonrefundable portion of the
credit for qualified sick and family leave wages paid in
2023 against the liability for the first payroll payment of the
year, but not below zero. Then reduce the liability for each
successive payroll payment in the year until the
nonrefundable portion of the credit is used. Any credit for
qualified sick and family leave wages paid in 2023 for
leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1,
2021, that is remaining at the end of the year because it
exceeds the employer share of Medicare tax for the year is
claimed on Form 943, line 14f, as a refundable credit. The
refundable portion of the credit doesn't reduce the liability
reported on Form 943-A. For more information about the
credit for qualified sick and family leave wages, go to
IRS.gov/PLC.

Medicare tax for the quarter. If Rose Co. still has credit
remaining after reducing its share of social security tax (up
to $250,000) and Medicare tax for the third quarter, the
remainder would be treated as a payroll tax credit against
its share of social security tax (up to $250,000) and
Medicare tax on wages paid in the fourth quarter. If the
amount of the payroll tax credit remaining exceeded Rose
Co.'s share of social security tax (up to $250,000) and
Medicare tax on wages paid in the fourth quarter, it could
be carried forward and treated as a payroll tax credit for
the first quarter of 2024.

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Nonrefundable portion of credit for qualified sick and
family leave wages for leave taken after March 31,
2020, and before April 1, 2021 (Form 943, line 12b).
The nonrefundable portion of the credit for qualified sick
and family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken after
March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, is limited to the
employer share of social security tax on wages paid
during the year that is remaining after that share is first
reduced by any credit claimed against the employer share
of social security tax on Form 8974, line 12, for the
qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing
research activities; any credit to be claimed on Form
5884-C, line 11, for the work opportunity credit for
qualified tax-exempt organizations hiring qualified
veterans; and/or any credit to be claimed on Form 5884-D
for the disaster credit for qualified tax-exempt
organizations. In completing Form 943-A, you take into
account the nonrefundable portion of the credit for
qualified sick and family leave wages paid in 2023 against
the liability for the first payroll payment of the year, but not
below zero. Then reduce the liability for each successive
payroll payment in the year until the nonrefundable portion
of the credit is used. Any credit for qualified sick and
family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken after
March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, that is
remaining at the end of the year because it exceeds the
employer share of social security tax for the year is
claimed on Form 943, line 14d, as a refundable credit. The
refundable portion of the credit doesn’t reduce the liability
reported on Form 943-A. For more information about the
credit for qualified sick and family leave wages, go to
IRS.gov/PLC.
Example. Maple Co. is a semiweekly schedule
depositor that pays employees every Friday. Maple Co.
had pay dates every Friday of 2023 starting January 6,
2023. Maple Co. paid qualified sick and family leave
wages on March 10 and March 17 for leave taken after
March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021. The
nonrefundable portion of the credit for qualified sick and
family leave wages for the year is $10,000. On Form
943-A, Maple Co. will use the $10,000 to reduce the
liability for the January 6 pay date, but not below zero. If
any nonrefundable portion of the credit remains, Maple
Co. applies it to the liability for the January 13 pay date,
then the January 20 pay date, and so forth until the entire
$10,000 is used.

You may reduce your deposits by the amount of

TIP the nonrefundable and refundable portions of the

credit for qualified sick and family leave wages.
For more information on reducing deposits, see Notice
2020-22, 2020-17 I.R.B. 664, available at IRS.gov/irb/
2020-17_IRB#NOT-2020-22; and Notice 2021-24,
2021-18 I.R.B. 1122, available at IRS.gov/irb/
2021-18_IRB#NOT-2021-24.

Correcting Previously Reported Tax Liability
Semiweekly schedule depositors. If you’ve been
assessed an FTD penalty and you made an error on Form
943-A and the correction won’t change the total liability for
the year you reported on Form 943-A, you may be able to
reduce your penalty by filing an amended Form 943-A.
Example. You reported a liability of $3,000 on January
1. However, the liability was actually for March. Prepare an
amended Form 943-A showing the $3,000 liability on
March 1. Also, you must enter the liabilities previously
reported for the year that didn’t change. Write “Amended”
at the top of Form 943-A. The IRS will refigure the penalty
and notify you of any change in the penalty.
Monthly schedule depositors. You can file Form 943-A
if you have been assessed an FTD penalty and you made
an error on the monthly tax liability section of Form 943.
When completing Form 943-A for this situation, only enter
the monthly totals. The daily entries aren't required.
Where to file. File your amended Form 943-A or, for
monthly schedule depositors, your original Form 943-A at
the address provided in the penalty notice you received. If
you're filing an amended Form 943-A, you don't have to
submit your original Form 943-A.

Form 943-X

Nonrefundable portion of credit for qualified sick and
family leave wages for leave taken after March 31,
2021, and before October 1, 2021 (Form 943,
line 12d). The nonrefundable portion of the credit for
qualified sick and family leave wages paid in 2023 for

You may need to file an amended Form 943-A with Form
943-X to avoid or reduce an FTD penalty.

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Instructions for Form 943-A (Rev. 12-2023)

Revenue laws of the United States. You’re required to give
us the information. We need it to ensure that you’re
complying with these laws and to allow us to figure and
collect the right amount of tax.

Tax decrease. If you're filing Form 943-X, you can file an
amended Form 943-A with Form 943-X if both of the
following apply.
1. You have a tax decrease.
2. You were assessed an FTD penalty.

You’re 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.

File your amended Form 943-A with Form 943-X. The total
liability reported on your amended Form 943-A must equal
the corrected amount of tax reported on Form 943-X. If
your penalty is decreased, the IRS will include the penalty
decrease with your tax decrease.

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Tax increase—Form 943-X filed timely. If you're filing a
timely Form 943-X showing a tax increase, don't file an
amended Form 943-A, unless you were assessed an FTD
penalty caused by an incorrect, incomplete, or missing
Form 943-A. If you're filing an amended Form 943-A, don't
include the tax increase reported on Form 943-X.

The time needed to complete and file Form 943-A will
vary depending on individual circumstances. The
estimated average time is:
Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learning about the law or the form. . . . . . . .
Preparing and sending the form to the IRS . .

Tax increase—Form 943-X filed late. If you owe tax and
are filing a late Form 943-X, that is, after the due date of
the Form 943 for the year in which you discovered the
error, you must file an amended Form 943-A with Form
943-X. Otherwise, the IRS may assess an “averaged” FTD
penalty.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of
these time estimates or suggestions for making Form
943-A simpler, we would be happy to hear from you. You
can send us comments from IRS.gov/FormComments. Or
you can send your comments to Internal Revenue Service,
Tax Forms and Publications Division, 1111 Constitution
Ave. NW, IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224. Don't send
Form 943-A to this address. Instead, see Where Should
You File? in the Form 943 instructions.

The total tax reported on line M of the amended Form
943-A must match the corrected tax (Form 943, line 13,
combined with any correction reported on Form 943-X,
line 20) for the year, less any previous abatements and
interest-free tax assessments.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the
information on Form 943-A to carry out the Internal

Instructions for Form 943-A (Rev. 12-2023)

6 hr., 42 min.
6 min.
16 min.

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