Payroll Tax Deadlines for 2026

The next federal payroll tax deadlines are Thursday, October 15, 2026, when monthly depositors deposit taxes on September wages, and Monday, November 2, 2026, when the third-quarter Form 941 is due (October 31 falls on a Saturday) (IRS Pub 509). Tax year 2026 closes out on Monday, February 1, 2027, when W-2s, 1099-NECs, the fourth-quarter Form 941, and Form 940 are all due. Which deposit dates apply to you depends on your deposit schedule (monthly or semiweekly) and your return (quarterly Form 941 or annual Form 944).

What are all the federal payroll tax deadlines for 2026?

Monthly deposits are due the 15th of the next month, Form 941 the last day of the month after each quarter, and the year-end forms January 31, each moved to the next business day when it lands on a weekend or legal holiday.

*Computed, not yet published. The 2026 dates come from the IRS's 2026 Employer's Tax Calendar in Publication 509. Pub 509 for 2027 isn't out yet, so we computed the 2027 dates by applying the same due-date and weekend/holiday rules to the 2027 calendar. Only the W-2 date is published so far: the 2026 W-2 and W-3 instructions confirm February 1, 2027. The January 2027 deposit moves to February 16 because February 15, 2027 is Washington's Birthday, a federal holiday under 5 U.S.C. §6103.

The "extended" dates apply only if you deposited all the tax for the period on time and in full, and they extend the date to file, never the date to deposit or pay (Pub 509). Semiweekly depositors ignore the monthly rows and follow the payday rule below. Form 941 reports withheld income tax plus both halves of Social Security and Medicare (what each payroll tax is).

How do you know which deposit schedule you're on?

Your deposit schedule is set before each year from your tax liability in a "lookback period," not from how often you pay people (IRS Pub 15). For 2026, Form 941 filers add up the total tax reported on Form 941 for July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. $50,000 or less makes you a monthly depositor for 2026; more makes you semiweekly.

• New employers are monthly depositors for their first calendar year, because quarters before the business existed count as zero (Pub 15).
• If your undeposited tax reaches $100,000 or more on any day, deposit it by the next business day, whatever your schedule. A monthly depositor who hits that becomes semiweekly for the rest of the year and all of the next.

For the lookback math and edge cases, see how to find your deposit schedule.

Form 944, the annual version of Form 941, is only for employers with $1,000 or less in yearly employment tax who have written IRS approval, and the request window for 2026 closed April 1, 2026 (Form 944 instructions). Household employers paying a nanny or housekeeper generally file neither; they use Schedule H with their Form 1040 (Pub 509), covered in the nanny tax guide.

How does the semiweekly schedule work?

Semiweekly depositors deposit within a few days of each payday (Pub 15):

A Friday, May 29, 2026 payday, for example, is due Wednesday, June 3. Each legal holiday in the three weekdays after the period adds a day, which moves five of the remaining 2026 dates: paydays October 7–9 deposit by Thursday, October 15 (Columbus Day); November 7–10 by Monday, November 16 (Veterans Day); November 21–24 by Monday, November 30 (Thanksgiving); December 19–22 by Monday, December 28 (Christmas); and December 26–29 by Monday, January 4 (New Year's Day). Semiweekly depositors also attach Schedule B to each Form 941, and Pub 509's Table 2 lists every 2026 semiweekly date.

Can you pay with Form 941 instead of depositing?

Yes, if your total tax on Form 941 is under $2,500 for the current quarter or the prior quarter, and you had no $100,000 day in the current quarter (Pub 15). If you aren't sure the current quarter will stay under $2,500 and the prior quarter wasn't under it, the IRS says to deposit on schedule. Paying with the return when you were required to deposit costs 10%.

This rule matters most for a one-person S corp. An owner paying themselves $3,000 a quarter owes about $659 a quarter ($459 of Social Security and Medicare at 15.3%, plus, say, $200 of withheld income tax), so they can pay with each Form 941.

When are Form 940 and FUTA due?

The 2026 Form 940 is due Monday, February 1, 2027, or February 10 if you deposited all FUTA tax on time (the rule in the 2025 Form 940 instructions; the 2026 edition isn't out yet).

FUTA is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's 2026 wages, less a credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment tax paid in full and on time, for a net 0.6% or at most $42 per employee (Pub 15). If the amount owed, plus anything carried forward, is over $500 at the end of a quarter, deposit it by the last day of the next month (November 2 for the third quarter). If it's $500 or less, carry it forward. Employers in "credit reduction states" get a smaller credit: for 2025 the reductions were 1.2% for California and 4.5% for the U.S. Virgin Islands (Schedule A (Form 940) for 2025). For 2026, DOL projects 1.5% and 4.8% respectively, with California's reaching 5.3% if the estimated "BCR add-on" is not waived, as it was for 2025. DOL certifies the final rates after the November 10, 2026 repayment deadline, in time for the 2026 Form 940, so check your state on the DOL credit-reduction page before you file.

What is due on February 1, 2027?

Everything that closes out 2026 is due Monday, February 1, 2027, because January 31 is a Sunday: W-2s to employees and to the Social Security Administration with Form W-3 (W-2/W-3 instructions), 1099-NECs to contractors and the IRS (1099-NEC instructions), the Q4 Form 941, and Form 940 (or Form 944). For payments made in 2026, a contractor needs a 1099-NEC only if you paid them $2,000 or more, up from $600 (Pub 15).

If you file 10 or more information returns in total, W-2s and 1099s counted together, you must e-file (General Instructions for Certain Information Returns). SSA's Business Services Online e-files W-2s for free. See how to file W-2s and 1099-NECs.

How do you make a federal tax deposit?

Every federal payroll tax deposit has to be made electronically, and EFTPS, IRS Direct Pay, and your IRS business tax account are free (Pub 15). If you said you'd have federal tax obligations when you got your EIN, you're already enrolled in EFTPS, and your PIN comes in a separate mailing that you activate before your first deposit.

Schedule each EFTPS payment by 8 p.m. Eastern the day before it's due, the rule EFTPS.gov still gives. Pub 15 for 2026 says EFTPS also accepts same-day payments of $1 million or less before 3 p.m. Eastern on a business day; keep that as a fallback.

What happens if you miss a deadline?

A late deposit costs a percentage of the amount, based on calendar days late (IRS Failure to Deposit Penalty; Pub 15):

The tiers don't add up: 20 days late is 10% total. A late return adds a failure-to-file penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax per month (up to 25%), plus interest (Pub 15). You can ask for relief for reasonable cause, for an inadvertent miss in the first quarter you had to deposit, or under First Time Abate if your record is clean. Unpaid withheld taxes are the bigger risk, because they can become a personal liability for owners.

Worked example: a café with four employees

A café pays four employees a total of $16,000 a month and withholds about $1,500 of federal income tax. Its lookback total is under $50,000, so it's a monthly depositor for 2026.

The quarter is well over $2,500, so the café can't pay with the return. It deposits September's taxes by Thursday, October 15 and files the Q3 Form 941 by Monday, November 2, or Tuesday, November 10 if its August 17, September 15, and October 15 deposits were all on time and in full.

FUTA for the year is 4 × $7,000 × 0.6% = $168, assuming no credit reduction. That never tops $500, so the café can pay it all with Form 940 by February 1, 2027.

What about state payroll tax deadlines?

States set their own deadlines for unemployment insurance and, where there's a state income tax, withholding. Many follow the Form 941 pattern of the last day of the month after each quarter.

• Texas: unemployment wage reports and payments are due the last day of the month after the quarter (Texas Workforce Commission).
• New York: Form NYS-45 is due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31, moved to the next business day on a weekend (so November 2 this year), with no extensions (NY Department of Taxation and Finance).
• California: third-quarter DE 9 and DE 9C returns are delinquent after November 2, 2026 (California EDD).

Find your state in the Department of Labor's state UI tax directory. You need a state account number first; see registering for state payroll taxes.

What to do next

1. Confirm your deposit schedule by adding up line 12 of your Forms 941 for July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
2. Log in to EFTPS and check that your PIN works before October 15.
3. Put October 15, November 2, November 16, December 15, January 15, and February 1 on your calendar, or subscribe to the IRS tax calendar.
4. List every contractor you've paid $2,000 or more in 2026 so their 1099-NECs are ready by February 1.
5. If you'd rather not track this by hand, CheckMate emails reminders ahead of each pay date and quarterly Form 941 deadline, with what to remit and where, and generates your Form 941, W-2, and 1099-NEC PDFs. It doesn't file or pay the taxes; you still make the deposits and file the returns.

FAQ

Do I have to file Form 941 if I paid no wages this quarter? Yes, unless you filed a final return, the IRS put you on Form 944, or you're a seasonal employer who checks line 18 (Form 941 instructions).

What if a deposit date falls on a weekend or holiday? It moves to the next business day. Only District of Columbia legal holidays count, not your state's, and that includes DC Emancipation Day, April 16 (Pub 15).

Does a mailed return count as on time? Yes, if it's properly addressed and postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service (or an IRS-designated private delivery service) by the due date (Form 941 instructions).

What's the late-filing penalty for 2026 W-2s? $60 per form if filed correctly within 30 days, $130 if later but by August 1, and $340 after that or if never filed (W-2/W-3 instructions).

Sources

1. IRS, Publication 509 (2026), Tax Calendars
2. IRS, Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide
3. IRS, Instructions for Form 941 (03/2026)
4. IRS, Instructions for Form 944 (2025)
5. IRS, Instructions for Form 940 (2025)
6. IRS, Schedule A (Form 940) for 2025
7. IRS, General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)
8. IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (12/2026)
9. IRS, General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
10. IRS, Failure to Deposit Penalty
11. IRS, Penalty Relief Due to First Time Abate or Other Administrative Waiver
12. IRS, Payments
13. IRS, Tax Calendar
14. U.S. Treasury, Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)
15. Social Security Administration, Business Services Online
16. 5 U.S.C. §6103, Holidays
17. Texas Workforce Commission, Tax Report and Payment Due Dates
18. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Withholding Tax Due Dates
19. California EDD, Payroll Taxes Due Dates Calendar
20. U.S. Department of Labor, Contacts for State UI Tax Information and Assistance
21. U.S. Department of Labor, FUTA Credit Reductions