Caution:

These rules don’t apply to FUTA tax. See section 14 for information on depositing FUTA tax.

Lookback period.

If you’re a Form 941 filer, your deposit schedule for a calendar year is determined from the total taxes reported on Forms 941, line 12, in a 4-quarter lookback period. The lookback period begins July 1 and ends June 30 as shown next in Table 1. If you reported $50,000 or less of taxes for the lookback period, you’re a monthly schedule depositor; if you reported more than $50,000, you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor.

Table 1. Lookback Period for Calendar Year 2026*

July 1, 2024, Oct. 1, 2024, Jan. 1, 2025, Apr. 1, 2025, through through through through Sept. 30, 2024 Dec. 31, 2024 Mar. 31, 2025 June 30, 2025 * The lookback period for a 2026 Form 941 filer who filed Form 944 in either 2024 or 2025 is calendar year 2024.

If you’re a Form 943 or Form 944 filer for the current year or either of the preceding 2 years, your deposit schedule for a calendar year is determined from the total taxes reported during the second preceding calendar year (either on your Forms 941 for all 4 quarters of that year, your Form 943 for that year, or your Form 944 for that year). The lookback period for 2026 for a Form 943 or Form 944 filer is calendar year 2024. If you reported $50,000 or less of taxes for the lookback period, you’re a monthly schedule depositor; if you reported more than $50,000, you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor.

If you’re a Form 945 filer, your deposit schedule for a calendar year is determined from the total taxes reported on line 3 of your Form 945 for the second preceding calendar year. The lookback period for 2026 for a Form 945 filer is calendar year 2024.

Adjustments and the lookback rule.

Adjustments made on Form 941-X, Form 943-X, Form 944-X, and Form 945-X don’t affect the amount of tax liability for previous periods for purposes of the lookback rule.

Example.

An employer originally reported a tax liability of $45,000 for the lookback period. The employer discovered, during January 2026, that the tax reported for one of the lookback period quarters was understated by $10,000 and corrected this error by filing Form 941-X. This employer is a monthly schedule depositor for 2026 because the lookback period tax liabilities are based on the amounts originally reported, and they were $50,000 or less. The $10,000 adjustment is also not treated as part of the 2026 taxes.

Deposit period.

The term “deposit period” refers to the period during which tax liabilities are accumulated for each required deposit due date. For monthly schedule depositors, the deposit period is a calendar month. The deposit periods for semiweekly schedule depositors are Wednesday through Friday and Saturday through Tuesday.