Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return

Last reviewed: 2025-10-17

Use the Form 944: Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return Tax Form Calculator Form 944: Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return as a stand alone tax form calculator to quickly calculate specific amounts for your 2026 944 state tax return. Alternatively, you can use one of our Combined Federal and State Tax Estimators to quickly calculate your salary, tax, and take-home pay.

What this does: Calculates your annual federal employment taxes for eligible small employers on Form 944. It totals Social Security and Medicare taxes, applies current-year adjustments, subtracts any Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities (Form 8974), and reconciles your deposits.

How to use: Enter wages/tips and adjustments. If you claimed the Form 8974 credit, enter it on line 8. The calculator computes lines 4e, 5, 7, 9–12 and checks monthly liability totals.

Tips: Use dollars or cents; computed fields format to two decimals. If line 9 is under $2,500, you can usually skip monthly liability boxes (Part 2). If you’re a semiweekly depositor or you reached $100,000 liability on any day, complete Form 945-A for the liability calendar.

Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return
Part 1: Answer these questions for this year. Employers in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico can skip lines 1 and 2, unless you have employees subject to U.S. income tax withholding.
1	Wages, tips, and other compensation							1
2	Federal income tax withheld from wages, tips, and other compensation							2
3	If no wages, tips, and other compensation are subject to social security or Medicare tax							3
4	Taxable social security and Medicare wages and tips:
					Column 1		Column 2
4a	Taxable social security wages					x =
4b	Taxable social security tips					x =
4c	Taxable Medicare wages & tips					x =
4d	Taxable wages & tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding					x =
4e	Add Column 2 from lines 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d							4e
5	Total taxes before adjustments. Add lines 2 and 4e							5
6	Current year’s adjustments (see instructions)							6
7	Total taxes after adjustments. Combine lines 5 and 6							7
8	Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities. Attach Form 8974							8
9	Total taxes after adjustments and nonrefundable credits. Subtract line 8 from line 7							9
10	Total deposits for this year, including overpayment applied from a prior year and overpayments applied from Form 944-X, 941-X, or 941-X (PR)							10
11	Balance due. If line 9 is more than line 10, enter the difference and see instructions							11
12	Overpayment. If line 10 is more than line 9, enter the difference Check one: Apply to next return. Send a refund.
▸ You MUST complete both pages of Form 944 and SIGN it.
Part 2: Tell us about your deposit schedule and tax liability for this year.
13	Check one: Line 9 is less than $. Go to Part 3. Line 9 is $ or more. Enter your tax liability for each month. If you’re a semiweekly schedule depositor or you accumulated $ or more of liability on any day during a deposit period, you must complete Form 945-A instead of the boxes below.
		13a	Jan.	13d	Apr.	13g	Jul.	13j	Oct.
		13b	Feb.	13e	May.	13h	Aug.	13k	Nov.
		13c	Mar.	13f	Jun.	13i	Sep.	13l	Dec.
Total liability for year. Add lines 13a through 13l. Total must equal line 9.						13m

Check before filing: Ensure Part 2 line 13m equals line 9. If line 11 shows a balance due, pay it by the time you file. If line 12 shows an overpayment, select whether to apply it to next return or receive a refund.

Last reviewed: 2025-10-17: If you believe this form requires an update, please contact us.

References: See the current IRS Form 944 and About Form 945-A pages for official details.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I adjust prior payroll filings?

Amend with 941-X or 944-X as applicable.

What types of federal tax does this calculator focus on?

This calculator focuses on core federal income tax calculations based on your income, filing status and applicable rules, without relying on assumptions from other tools.

Can I jump to state-specific tax tools?

Browse state calculators from the popular calculators hub (state list included).

Can I itemize instead of the standard deduction?

Run Schedule A to compare itemizing vs standard.

What if I received a large gift or plan gifting?

See Form 709 for U.S. gift tax and reporting.

Important Notes

All calculations are estimates for guidance only. Always review your return and consider professional advice when submitting official filings.