Purpose of form.
Use Form 943 to report federal income tax withheld and employer and employee social security and Medicare taxes on
wages paid to farmworkers.
If you have household employees working in your private home on your farm operated for a profit, they are not considered
to be farm employees. To report social security, Medicare, and federal income tax withholding on the wages of household employees,
you may either:
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File Schedule H (Form 1040), Household Employment Taxes, with your Form 1040 or
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Include the wages with your farm employees' wages on
Form 943.
If you paid wages to a household employee in a home that is not on a for-profit farm, you must report the taxes on
Schedule H (Form 1040). If you paid wages to other nonfarm workers, do not report these on Form 943. Taxes on wages paid to
nonfarm workers are reported on Form 941/941-SS, Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return, or Form 944/944-SS, Employer's ANNUAL
Federal Tax Return. See Pub. 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide, for more information about household employees.
Who must file.
File Form 943 if you paid wages to one or more farmworkers and the wages were subject to social security and Medicare
taxes or federal income tax withholding under the tests discussed below. For more information on farmworkers and wages, see
Pub. 51 (Circular A).
The $150 test or the $2,500 test.
All cash wages that you pay to farmworkers are subject to social security and Medicare taxes and federal income tax
withholding for any calendar year that you meet either of these tests:
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You pay an employee cash wages of $150 or more in a year for farmwork.
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The total (cash and noncash) wages that you pay to all farmworkers is $2,500 or more.
If the $2,500-or-more test for the group is not met, the $150-or-more test for an individual still applies.
Special rules apply to certain hand-harvest laborers who receive less than $150 in annual cash wages. For more information,
see section 4 of Pub. 51 (Circular A).
When to file.
For 2008, file Form 943 by February 2, 2009. However, if you made deposits on time in full payment of the taxes due
for the year, you may file the return as late as February 10, 2009.
If you stop paying wages during the year and do not expect to pay wages again, file a final return
for 2008. Be sure to mark the box above line 1 on the form indicating that you do not have to file returns in the future.
If you later become liable for any of the taxes, notify the IRS.
Forms W-2 and W-3.
By February 2, 2009, give Form W-2 to each employee who was working for you at the end
of 2008. If an employee stops working for you before the end of the year, give him or her Form W-2 any time after employment
ends but no later than January 31 of the following year. If the employee asks you for Form W-2, give him or her the completed
form within 30 days of the request or the last wage payment, whichever is later.
By March 2, 2009, send Copy A of all Forms W-2 with Form W-3 to the Social Security Administration (SSA) if you are filing
less than 250 paper forms. The mailing address can be found on Form W-3 under Where to file.
Visit the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions and Information website at www.socialsecurity.gov/employer for information about electronic filing of Forms W-2. If you file electronically, the due date is March 31, 2009. SSA no
longer accepts any form of magnetic media for wage reporting.
Where to file.
Find the state of your legal residence, principal place of business, office, or agency in the table that follows.
Send your return to the address listed for your location.
Note.
Where you file depends on whether or not you are including a payment. Be sure to use the correct address.
Reconciliation of Form 943 to Forms W-2 and W-3.
Certain amounts reported on Form 943 for 2008 should agree with the Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement totals reported
on the 2008 Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements. The amounts from Form 943 that should agree with the related
boxes on Form W-3 are: federal income tax withheld (line 6 versus box 2), social security wages (line 2 versus box 3), Medicare
wages (line 4 versus box 5), and advance earned income credit payments (line 10 versus box 9). If the totals do not agree,
the IRS or SSA may require you to explain any differences and correct any errors. Keep all records that show why the totals
do not match. For more information, see section 12 of Pub. 51 (Circular A).
Depositing taxes.
If your net taxes (line 11) are less than $2,500 for the year, you can pay the tax due with your return if you file
on time. If your net taxes are $2,500 or more for the year, you must deposit your tax liabilities throughout the year in accordance
with your deposit schedule using EFTPS or by making a deposit at an authorized financial institution using Form 8109, Federal
Tax Deposit Coupon. There are two deposit schedules—monthly or semiweekly—for determining when you must deposit. Before the
beginning of each calendar year, you must determine which of the two deposit schedules you must use. See section 7 of Pub.
51 (Circular A) for information and rules concerning federal tax deposits and to determine your status as a monthly or semiweekly
schedule depositor.
Penalties and interest.
There are penalties for filing a return late and for paying or depositing taxes late, unless there is reasonable cause.
There are also penalties for failure to (a) furnish Forms W-2 to employees and file copies with the SSA and (b) deposit taxes
when required. See Pub. 51 (Circular A) for more information. In addition, there are penalties for willful failure to file
returns and pay taxes when due, for filing false returns, and submitting bad checks. Interest is charged on taxes paid late
at the rate set by law.
If federal income, social security, and Medicare taxes that must be withheld (that is, trust fund taxes) are not withheld
or are not paid to the United States Treasury, the trust fund recovery penalty may apply. The penalty is 100% of the unpaid
trust fund tax. This penalty may apply to you if these unpaid taxes cannot be immediately collected from the employer or business.
The trust fund recovery penalty may be imposed on all persons who are determined by the IRS to be responsible for collecting,
accounting for, and paying over these taxes, and who acted willfully in not doing so. See section 7 of Pub. 51 (Circular A)
for more information.
Preprinted name, EIN, and address.
If your preprinted name, EIN, or address on Form 943 is not correct, cross it out and type or print the correct information.
However, do not change any of the preprinted information on your Form 943-V, Payment Voucher.
Zero Wage return.
If you received a preprinted Form 943 in the mail from the IRS and are not required to file because you paid no wages
subject to social security or Medicare tax and withheld no federal income tax, write “
NONE” on line 11, sign the return, and file it with the IRS. If you will not have to file Form 943 in the future, also check the
box above line 1 at the left of your name and address.