What is IRS Form 940?

The day you hire your first W-2 employee and run payroll for your business, new responsibilities and complexities spring up. From payroll forms to employment taxes, there’s a lot to figure out—and if you looked to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for clarity, you probably left still feeling confused and unsure.

That's why we’re here to demystify all that goes into running payroll and taxes, and the forms that come along with them.

Here we’re explaining IRS Form 940, the Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return, including:

What Form 940 is
Why the IRS requires employers to file it
How to figure out if you need to file Form 940
When and how to fill out and file Form 940

What is Form 940?

If you’re in a rush, here’s the gist:

FUTA: stands for the Federal Unemployment Tax Act
What’s reported on Form 940: Federal unemployment tax
When it's filed: Annually
Who needs to file: Most employers in the U.S

Simply put, Form 940 is a document the IRS collects annually from employers. The form is designed to help both small businesses and the IRS get on the same page about the federal unemployment tax owed.

On the form, employers report the wages they paid to full-time and part-time (W-2) employees throughout the year. Although FUTA tax is only calculated up to $7,000 per employee, all wages must be reported. Then, the corresponding FUTA tax is calculated based on the wages subject to the tax, resulting in how much the business owes to the IRS.

How is Form 940 different from Form 941?

If you’re thinking, “Gee, that sounds a lot like Form 941,” you’re right. The two IRS forms are similar. However, Form 940 is filed annually and it only reports an employer’s FUTA taxes. Form 941, on the other hand, reports federal income tax withholding and Federal Insurance (FICA) taxes—and it’s filed every quarter.

The key difference here is that Form 941 is used to report withholding and shared taxes (those that are split 50/50 between the employee and employer). Form 940 reports FUTA tax, which is paid entirely by the employer.

How is Form 940 different from Form 944?

Similarly, Form 944 is an alternative to Form 941. It’s used instead of Form 941 by small employers whose annual FICA and withholding tax liability is less than $1,000 and that received written approval from the IRS to file annually. Like Form 940, it’s filed only once per year but it reports FICA and withholding taxes—not FUTA.

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Why the IRS requires employers to file Form 940

Employers in the United States are required to pay into Federal Unemployment benefits for their employees. This fund enables employees to collect unemployment compensation should they be laid off or let go for reasons unrelated to their performance.

To calculate how much FUTA tax an employer owes, the IRS uses Form 940 and requires the majority of employers to file it every year. The form helps both the IRS and individual employers understand and keep track of FUTA tax owed and paid throughout the year.

Wait, what’s FUTA tax anyway?

Let’s back up for a minute. You might be wondering what this “FUTA tax” actually means. When it comes to payroll and employment taxes, these are the two main types of tax:

Withholding taxes: These are taxes your employee’s pay on their income—but you’re responsible for withholding them from employee paychecks and depositing them to the correct tax authority.
Employer taxes: As the name implies, you, the employer, are responsible for paying the entirety of these taxes.

Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax falls under employer taxes, meaning you pay the full tax amount. FUTA tax is calculated based on a percentage (set by the federal government) of the wages you pay to each employee. For the past few years, the standard FUTA tax rate has been 6%. Additionally, often times employers are eligible for a FUTA credit reduction which can be up to 5.4% off of the standard 6% rate.

However, you only pay FUTA tax on the first $7,000 paid to each employee. After their pay surpasses that threshold, you won’t incur any additional FUTA liability.

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Do I need to submit Form 940?

Now that you have a better understanding of what Form 940 is and why it’s used, you might be wondering whether you have to file it. It’s important to note that not all employers in the U.S. are required to file Form 940—but most are.

If you’ve:

Paid $1,500 or more in wages to any W-2 employee (not a contractor) OR
Had one or more W-2 employees (full-time or part-time) for at least 20 weeks out of the past year

Then you’re required to pay FUTA tax and file Form 940.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce highlights the few exceptions to this rule, noting that “non-profits, religious organizations and other 501(c)(3) accredited firms are exempt from paying this tax.” The other exemption is for businesses that work exclusively with independent contractors and not W-2 employees.

Note that thresholds for filing requirements vary for different employer types, like Household or agriculture.

If you’re feeling unsure about whether or not you’re required to pay FUTA tax or file Form 940, it’s best to talk with a tax professional about your small business and its requirements.

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How to fill out Form 940

Assuming you aren’t one of the few businesses exempt from filing Form 940, let’s talk about how to do just that. To start, you’ll need to have a few key pieces of information at the ready:

Current FUTA tax rate: For 2022 (and the last few years), the FUTA tax rate is 6%, and the maximum credit reduction has been 5.4%.
Maximum FUTA threshold: You’ll only pay that 6% (less reduction) FUTA tax on the first $7,000 paid to each employee.
Number of employees you had during the year.
Total salary paid to each employee.
What you paid in state unemployment (SUTA) tax for the year.

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Credit for SUTA tax paid

In addition to FUTA tax, most employers are also responsible for paying state unemployment (SUTA) tax, too. Before you get overwhelmed, know this: You can typically claim any SUTA tax paid as a credit off of your FUTA tax bill. Often times, employers can claim the full credit reduction of 5.4% off of the 6% tax rate.

Note that credit amounts and eligibility vary across states and business types. Always check with your state for the most up to date credit reduction news.

You’ll claim SUTA tax via lines 1a and 1b on Form 940, by entering the abbreviation of all states to which you paid SUTA tax.

On line 8, you’ll notice that your total taxable FUTA wages are multiplied by 0.6%—crediting you for up to 5.4% in SUTA taxes.

When to submit Form 940

IRS Form 940 is an annual filing, meaning you only have to complete and file it once per year. For the majority of small businesses, the form for the prior year is due on January 31 of each year.

However, It’s important to remember that Form 940 taxes must be paid quarterly if you owe $500 or more in FUTA tax for that quarter (or cumulatively for the year). If your quarterly liability is less than $500, you can carry that balance over to the following quarter, until the total liability surpasses that $500 threshold. Once that happens, you’ll need to pay the full balance in that quarter.

Quarterly payment deadlines fall on the last day of the month following each quarter—so January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31.

How to submit Form 940 and make your FUTA tax payments

When it comes to submitting Form 940 and making your FUTA tax payments, small businesses have a few options to choose from. You can:

E-file and pay online
Mail in your form and payments
Work with an accountant to file for you
Any combination of the above

E-file and pay online

As the IRS explains it, the chief benefits of e-filing are:

Speed
Security and accuracy
Acknowledgement of tax form acceptance within 24 hours

To file Form 940 (or any other IRS form) online, you’ll need to either use tax software or work with an authorized e-file tax professional. The IRS provides a list of their approved software and a database of authorized e-file providers for you to choose from.

To pay your full FUTA tax balance or make quarterly deposits online, you’ll use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (or EFTPS).

If you’re working with a tax software or professional, you can also choose to make your payments via Electronic Funds Withdrawal (or EFW). With this option, you can both e-file and authorize payment in one step.

Mail in your form and payment

Small businesses also have the option of mailing in Form 940 and their FUTA tax payments. However, if your FUTA balance is more than $500 during the fourth quarter, you’ll need to pay electronically.

To mail in your form and payment, print both Form 940 and Form 940-V, the payment voucher. Mail these, along with your payment, to the address listed for your state. You can find the correct mailing address on pages 4 and 5 of the Instructions for Form 940.

Work with an accountant to file for you

Your last option for filing Form 940 and making corresponding payments or deposits is to work with an accountant or other tax professional who can file both the form and payment for you. Typically, this is done via the Electronic Funds Withdrawal (EFW) system we mentioned above.

Wrapping up

To wrap up, these are the basics and the main takeaways the average small business owner and employer needs to know about IRS Form 940:

Form 940 reports the amount of Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) an employer must pay
Employers who’ve paid $1,500 or more to any W-2 employee OR had at least 1 employee for 20 or more weeks of the year must file Form 940