Instructions for Schedule B (2022)

Instructions for Schedule B

(Form 941)

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. June 2022)

Use with the January 2017 revision of Schedule B (Form 941)

Report of Tax Liability for Semiweekly Schedule Depositors

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code

unless otherwise noted.

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to

Schedule B and its instructions, such as legislation

enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/

Form941.

What’s New

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 941, line 11e, 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. Under some rare

circumstances, it may be possible for a premium payee to

become entitled to the COBRA premium assistance credit

after the first quarter of 2022. However, in those cases,

the credit must be claimed on a Form 941-X, Adjusted

Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for

Refund. For more information, see the Instructions for

Form 941 and the Instructions for Form 941-X. If you’re

filing Form 941-X to claim the COBRA premium

assistance credit, you may need to file an amended

Schedule B with Form 941-X to avoid or reduce a

failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty. See Tax decrease under

Form 941-X, later. If you need the instructions for

adjusting tax liability for the nonrefundable portion of the

COBRA premium assistance credit, see the March 2022

revision of the Instructions for Schedule B (Form 941).

Reminders

Schedule B is filed with Form 941 or Form 941-SS.

References to Form 941 in these instructions also apply to

Form 941-SS, Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax

Return (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of

the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin

Islands), unless otherwise noted.

Adjusting tax liability for nonrefundable credits

claimed on Form 941, lines 11a, 11b, and 11d. See

Adjusting Tax Liability for Nonrefundable Credits Claimed

on Form 941, Lines 11a, 11b, and 11d, later, for

instructions on how to report on Schedule B 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

May 31, 2022

family leave wages paid this quarter of 2022 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 this quarter of 2022 for leave

taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021.

Reporting prior period adjustments. Prior period

adjustments are reported on Form 941-X, Adjusted

Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for

Refund, or Form 944-X, Adjusted Employer's ANNUAL

Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, and aren’t taken

into account when figuring the tax liability for the current

quarter.

When you file Schedule B with your Form 941,

Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return, don’t

change your current quarter tax liability by adjustments

reported on any Form 941-X or 944-X.

Amended Schedule B. If you have been assessed a

failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty, you may be able to file an

amended Schedule B. See Correcting Previously

Reported Tax Liability, later.

General Instructions

Purpose of Schedule B

These instructions tell you about Schedule B. To

determine if you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor, see

section 11 of Pub. 15, Employer's Tax Guide, or section 8

of Pub. 80, Federal Tax Guide for Employers in the U.S.

Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Federal law requires you, as an employer, to withhold

certain taxes from your employees’ pay. Each time you

pay wages, you must withhold—or take out of your

employees’ pay—certain amounts for federal income tax,

social security tax, and Medicare tax. You must also

withhold Additional Medicare Tax from wages you pay to

an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year.

Under the withholding system, taxes withheld from your

employees are credited to your employees in payment of

their tax liabilities.

Federal law also requires employers to pay any liability

for the employer share of social security and Medicare

taxes. This share of social security and Medicare taxes

isn’t withheld from employees.

On Schedule B, list your tax liability for each day. Your

tax liability is based on the dates wages were paid. Your

liability includes:

• The federal income tax you withheld from your

employees' pay, and

Cat. No. 38683X

• Both the employer and employee share of social

security and Medicare taxes.

name and EIN shown on the attached Form 941 or Form

941-X.

Don’t use Schedule B to show federal tax deposits. The

IRS gets deposit data from electronic funds transfers.

Calendar Year

Enter the calendar year that applies to the quarter

checked.

The IRS uses Schedule B to determine if you’ve

deposited your federal employment tax liabilities

CAUTION on time. If you're a semiweekly schedule

depositor and you don’t properly complete and file your

Schedule B with Form 941, the IRS may propose an

“averaged” FTD penalty. See Deposit Penalties in section

11 of Pub. 15 or section 8 of Pub. 80 for more information.

!

Check the Box for the Quarter

Under Report for this Quarter at the top of Schedule B,

check the appropriate box of the quarter for which you’re

filing this schedule. Make sure the quarter checked on the

top of the Schedule B matches the quarter checked on

your Form 941 or Form 941-X.

Who Must File?

Enter Your Tax Liability by Month

File Schedule B if you’re a semiweekly schedule

depositor. You’re a semiweekly schedule depositor if you

reported more than $50,000 of employment taxes in the

lookback period or accumulated a tax liability of $100,000

or more on any given day in the current or prior calendar

year. If you became a semiweekly schedule depositor

during the quarter, you must complete Schedule B for the

entire quarter. See section 11 of Pub. 15 or section 8 of

Pub. 80 for more information. 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.

Schedule B is divided into the 3 months that make up a

quarter of a year. Each month has 31 numbered spaces

that correspond to the dates of a typical 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.

For example, if your payroll period ended on June 30,

2022, and you paid the wages for that period on July 2,

2022, you would:

• Go to Month 1 (because July is the first month of the

quarter), and

• Enter your tax liability on line 2 (because line 2

represents the second day of the month).

See the Instructions for Form 941 if you became a

semiweekly schedule depositor for 2022 under the

$100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule solely as a result of the

relief provided in Notice 2021-65, 2021-51 I.R.B. 880,

available at IRS.gov/irb/2021-51_IRB#NOT-2021-65,

regarding the early termination of the employee retention

credit for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Make sure you have checked the appropriate box

TIP in Part 2 of Form 941 to show that you’re a

semiweekly schedule depositor.

Example 1. Cedar Co. is a semiweekly schedule

depositor that pays wages for each month on the last day

of the month. On December 24, 2022, Cedar Co. also

paid its employees year-end bonuses (subject to

employment taxes). Cedar Co. must report employment

tax liabilities on Schedule B for the fourth quarter

(October, November, December) as follows.

Don’t complete Schedule B if you have a tax

liability on Form 941, line 12, that is less than

CAUTION $2,500 during the quarter.

!

When Must You File?

Month

1 (October)

2 (November)

3 (December)

3 (December)

Schedule B is filed with Form 941. Therefore, the due date

of Schedule B is the same as the due date for the

applicable Form 941. In some situations, Schedule B may

be filed with Form 941-X. See Form 941-X, later, for

details.

Lines for dates wages were paid

line 31 (pay day, last day of the month)

line 30 (pay day, last day of the month)

line 24 (bonus paid December 24, 2022)

line 31 (pay day, last day of the month)

Example 2. Fir Co. is a semiweekly schedule depositor

that pays employees every other Friday. Fir Co.

accumulated a $20,000 employment tax liability on each

of these pay dates: April 1, 2022; April 15, 2022; April 29,

2022; May 13, 2022; May 27, 2022; June 10, 2022; and

June 24, 2022. Fir Co. must report employment tax

liabilities on Schedule B as follows.

Don’t file Schedule B as an attachment to Form 944,

Employer's ANNUAL Federal Tax Return. Instead, if

you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor that is required to

file a report of tax liability with Form 944, use Form 945-A,

Annual Record of Federal Tax Liability.

Specific Instructions

Completing Schedule B

Month

1 (April)

2 (May)

3 (June)

Enter Your Business Information

Carefully enter your employer identification number (EIN)

and name at the top of the schedule. 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

Lines for dates wages were paid

lines 1, 15, and 29

lines 13 and 27

lines 10 and 24

Example 3. Elm Co. is a new business and monthly

schedule depositor for 2022. Elm Co. paid wages every

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Instructions for Schedule B (Form 941) (Rev. 6-2022)

employer share of social security tax starting with the first

payroll payment of the quarter that includes payments of

wages subject to social security tax to your employees.

The credit may be taken to the extent of the employer

share of social security tax on wages associated with the

first payroll payment, and then to the extent of the

employer share of social security tax associated with

succeeding payroll payments in the quarter until the credit

is used. Consistent with the entries on Schedule B, 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 the employer share of

social security 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, Medicare tax, or the employee

share of social security tax. Also, the remaining payroll tax

credit may not be carried back and taken as a credit

against wages paid from preceding quarters. For more

information about the payroll tax credit, go to IRS.gov/

ResearchPayrollTC.

Friday and accumulated a $2,000 employment tax liability

on April 22, 2022. On April 29, 2022, and on every

subsequent Friday during 2022, Elm Co. accumulated a

$110,000 employment tax liability. Under the deposit

rules, employers become semiweekly schedule

depositors on the day after any day they accumulate

$100,000 or more of employment tax liability in a deposit

period. Elm Co. became a semiweekly schedule depositor

on April 30, 2022, because Elm Co. had a total

accumulated employment tax liability of $112,000 on April

29, 2022. For more information, see section 11 of Pub. 15

or section 8 of Pub. 80.

Elm Co. must complete Schedule B as shown next and

file it with Form 941. Elm Co. won’t check the second box

on Form 941, line 16, even though Elm Co. was a monthly

schedule depositor until April 30, 2022. Instead, Elm Co.

must check the third box on Form 941, line 16.

Month

1 (April)

1 (April)

2 (May)

3 (June)

Lines for dates wages were paid

line 22

line 29

lines 6, 13, 20, and 27

lines 3, 10, 17, and 24

Amount to report

$2,000

$110,000

$110,000

$110,000

Example. Rose Co. is an employer with a calendar tax

year that filed its timely income tax return on April 15,

2022. Rose Co. elected to take the qualified small

business payroll tax credit for increasing research

activities on Form 6765. The third quarter of 2022 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 on wages paid to employees in the third

quarter of 2022. Rose Co. is a semiweekly schedule

depositor. Rose Co. completes Schedule B by reducing

the amount of liability entered for the first payroll payment

in the third quarter of 2022 that includes wages subject to

social security tax by the lesser of (1) its share of social

security tax 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. If the amount of the

payroll tax credit exceeds Rose Co.'s share of social

security tax on wages paid to its employees in the third

quarter, the excess credit would be treated as a payroll

tax credit against its share of social security 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 on wages paid in the fourth quarter, it could be

carried forward and treated as a payroll tax credit for the

first quarter of 2023.

Total Liability for the Quarter

To find your total liability for the quarter, add your monthly

tax liabilities.

Tax Liability for Month 1

+ Tax Liability for Month 2

+ Tax Liability for Month 3

Total Liability for the Quarter

Your total liability for the quarter must equal

line 12 on Form 941; therefore, don't reduce your

CAUTION total liability reported on Schedule B by the

refundable portion of the credit for qualified sick and

family leave wages.

!

Adjusting Tax Liability for Nonrefundable

Credits Claimed on Form 941, Lines 11a, 11b,

and 11d

Semiweekly schedule depositors must account for

nonrefundable credits claimed on Form 941, lines 11a,

11b, and 11d, when reporting their tax liabilities on

Schedule B. The total tax liability for the quarter must

equal the amount reported on Form 941, line 12. Failure to

account for the nonrefundable credits on Schedule B may

cause Schedule B to report more than the total tax liability

reported on Form 941, line 12. Don't reduce your daily tax

liability reported on Schedule B below zero.

Nonrefundable portion of credit for qualified sick and

family leave wages for leave taken after March 31,

2020, and before April 1, 2021 (Form 941, line 11b).

The nonrefundable portion of the credit for qualified sick

and family leave wages paid this quarter of 2022 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 in the quarter that is remaining after that share

is first reduced by any credit claimed on Form 941,

line 11a, for the qualified small business payroll tax credit

for increasing research activities; any credit to be claimed

Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities (Form 941, line 11a).

The qualified small business payroll tax credit for

increasing research activities is limited to the employer

share of social security tax on wages paid in the quarter

that begins after the income tax return electing the credit

has been filed. In completing Schedule B, you take into

account the payroll tax credit against the liability for the

Instructions for Schedule B (Form 941) (Rev. 6-2022)

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You may reduce your deposits by the amount of

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 Schedule B, you take into

account the entire quarter's nonrefundable portion of the

credit for sick and family leave wages against the liability

for the first payroll payment of the quarter, but not below

zero. Then reduce the liability for each successive payroll

payment in the quarter until the nonrefundable portion of

the credit is used. Any credit for qualified sick and family

leave wages paid this quarter of 2022 for leave taken after

March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, that is

remaining at the end of the quarter because it exceeds the

employer share of social security tax for the quarter is

claimed on Form 941, line 13c, as a refundable credit. The

refundable portion of the credit doesn’t reduce the liability

reported on Schedule B. For more information about the

credit for qualified sick and family leave wages, go to

IRS.gov/PLC.

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 for a quarter and you made an

error on Schedule B and the correction won’t change the

total liability for the quarter you reported on Schedule B,

you may be able to reduce your penalty by filing an

amended Schedule B.

Example. You reported a liability of $3,000 on day 1 of

month 1. However, the liability was actually for month 3.

Prepare an amended Schedule B showing the $3,000

liability on day 1 of month 3. Also, you must enter the

liabilities previously reported for the quarter that didn’t

change. Write “Amended” at the top of Schedule B. The

IRS will refigure the penalty and notify you of any change

in the penalty.

Example. Maple Co. is a semiweekly schedule

depositor that pays employees every other Friday. In the

second quarter of 2022, Maple Co. had pay dates of April

1, April 15, April 29, May 13, May 27, June 10, and June

24. Maple Co. paid qualified sick and family leave wages

on April 15 and April 29 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 quarter is $10,000. On Schedule B (Form 941), Maple

Co. will use the $10,000 to reduce the liability for the April

1 pay date, but not below zero. If any nonrefundable

portion of the credit remains, Maple Co. applies it to the

liability for the April 15 pay date, then the April 29 pay

date, and so forth until the entire $10,000 is used.

Monthly schedule depositors. You can file a

Schedule B if you have been assessed an FTD penalty for

a quarter and you made an error on the monthly tax

liability section of Form 941. When completing

Schedule B for this situation, only enter the monthly totals.

The daily entries aren’t required.

Where to file. File your amended Schedule B, or, for

monthly schedule depositors, your original Schedule B at

the address provided in the penalty notice you received. If

you're filing an amended Schedule B, you don’t have to

submit your original Schedule B.

Nonrefundable portion of credit for qualified sick and

family leave wages for leave taken after March 31,

2021, and before October 1, 2021 (Form 941,

line 11d). The nonrefundable portion of the credit for

qualified sick and family leave wages paid this quarter of

2022 for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before

October 1, 2021, is limited to the employer share of

Medicare tax on wages paid in the quarter. In completing

Schedule B, you take into account the entire quarter's

nonrefundable portion of the credit for qualified sick and

family leave wages paid this quarter of 2022 against the

liability for the first payroll payment of the quarter, but not

below zero. Then reduce the liability for each successive

payroll payment in the quarter until the nonrefundable

portion of the credit is used. Any credit for qualified sick

and family leave wages that is remaining at the end of the

quarter because it exceeds the employer share of

Medicare tax for the quarter is claimed on Form 941,

line 13e, as a refundable credit. The refundable portion of

the credit doesn't reduce the liability reported on

Schedule B. For more information about the credit for

qualified sick and family leave wages, go to IRS.gov/PLC.

Form 941-X

You may need to file an amended Schedule B with Form

941-X to avoid or reduce an FTD penalty.

Tax decrease. If you’re filing Form 941-X for a quarter,

you can file an amended Schedule B with Form 941-X if

both of the following apply.

1. You have a tax decrease.

2. You were assessed an FTD penalty.

File your amended Schedule B with Form 941-X. The total

liability for the quarter reported on your amended

Schedule B must equal the corrected amount of tax

reported on Form 941-X. If your penalty is decreased, the

IRS will include the penalty decrease with your tax

decrease.

Tax increase—Form 941-X filed timely. If you’re filing a

timely Form 941-X showing a tax increase, don’t file an

amended Schedule B, unless you were assessed an FTD

penalty caused by an incorrect, incomplete, or missing

Schedule B. If you’re filing an amended Schedule B, don’t

include the tax increase reported on Form 941-X.

Tax increase—Form 941-X filed late. If you owe tax

and are filing a late Form 941-X, that is, after the due date

of the return for the return period in which you discovered

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Instructions for Schedule B (Form 941) (Rev. 6-2022)

the error, you must file an amended Schedule B with Form

941-X. Otherwise, the IRS may assess an “averaged”

FTD penalty.

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.

The total tax reported on the “Total liability for the

quarter” line of the amended Schedule B must match the

corrected tax (Form 941, line 12, combined with any

correction reported on Form 941-X, line 23) for the

quarter, less any previous abatements and interest-free

tax assessments.

The time needed to complete and file Schedule B will

vary depending on individual circumstances. The

estimated average time is 2 hours, 53 minutes.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of this

time estimate or suggestions for making Schedule B

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

Schedule B to this address. Instead, see Where Should

You File? in the Form 941 instructions.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the

information on Schedule B to carry out the Internal

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.

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

Instructions for Schedule B (Form 941) (Rev. 6-2022)

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