Payroll / 1099

Form 941 Quarterly Payroll — Q1 April 30

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Form 941 quarterly payroll tax return due April 30, 2026 (Q1) — subsequent quarters due July 31, October 31, and January 31.

Who must file or pay

All employers with employees must file Form 941 quarterly to report wages, tips, and federal withholding. Due dates: April 30 (Q1), July 31 (Q2), October 31 (Q3), January 31 (Q4).

What you need to know

Form 941 reports the federal income tax withheld from employee wages, plus the employer and employee shares of Social Security and Medicare taxes. It is filed quarterly and due the last day of the month following each quarter.

For 2026, employers can also claim the Research Credit against payroll taxes (IRC §3111(f)) — a significant benefit for startups and small businesses that haven't yet turned a profit. The R&D payroll tax credit can offset up to $500,000 of employer Social Security tax per year.

Deposit schedules (monthly vs. semi-weekly) depend on your lookback period payroll tax liability. Most small employers are monthly depositors. Verify your deposit schedule each year — misclassification leads to unnecessary penalties.

What happens if you miss this deadline

Failure-to-deposit penalty: 2%–15% depending on how many days late. Failure-to-file: 5% of unpaid tax per month. The Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) allows the IRS to assess 100% of withheld employee taxes personally against responsible individuals — payroll tax delinquency is one of the most aggressively collected IRS obligations.