How Do You Make Tax Payments?

When you file your 2001 federal income tax return in 2002, attach Schedule H, Household Employment Taxes, to your Form 1040. Use Schedule H to figure your total household employment taxes (social security, Medicare, FUTA, and withheld federal income taxes). Add these household employment taxes to your income tax. Pay the amount due by April 15, 2002. (For more information about using Schedule H, see Schedule H, later.)

You may choose to pay your taxes by credit card (American Express® Card, Discover® Card, or MasterCard® card). For information about this option, see the instructions for Form 1040, line 69.

You can avoid owing tax with your return if you pay enough tax during the year to cover your household employment taxes, as well as your income tax. If you are employed, you can ask your employer to withhold more federal income tax from your wages in 2001. If you get a pension or annuity, you can ask the payer to withhold more federal income tax from your benefits. Or, you can make estimated tax payments for 2001 to the IRS, or increase your payments if you already make them.

You may have to pay an estimated tax penalty if you do not pay household employment taxes during the year and either of the following situations applies for the year.

Asking for more federal income tax withholding. If you are employed and want more federal income tax withheld from your wages to cover your household employment taxes, give your employer a new Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. Complete it as before, but show the additional amount you want withheld from each paycheck on line 6.

If you receive a pension or annuity and want more federal income tax withheld to cover household employment taxes, give the payer a new Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments (or a similar form provided by the payer). Complete it as before, but show the additional amount you want withheld from each benefit payment on line 3.

Get Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?, to make sure you will have the right amount withheld. It will help you compare your total expected withholding for 2001 with the combined income tax and employment taxes that you can expect to figure on your 2001 return.

Paying estimated tax. If you want to make estimated tax payments to cover household employment taxes, get Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals. Use its payment vouchers to make your payments. You can pay all the employment taxes at once, or you can pay them in installments. If you have already made estimated tax payments for 2001, you can increase your remaining payments to cover the employment taxes. Estimated tax payments for 2001 are ordinarily due April 16, June 15, and September 16, 2001, and January 15, 2002.

You can generally pay part or all of your estimated tax by using a credit card (American Express® Card, Discover® Card, or MasterCard® card). For information about this method of payment, see the instructions for Form 1040-ES.

Payment option for business employers. If you own a business as a sole proprietor or your home is on a farm operated for profit, you can choose either of two ways to pay your 2001 household employment taxes. You can pay them with your federal income tax as described above, or you can include them with your federal employment tax deposits or other payments for your business or farm employees. For information on depositing employment taxes, see Publication 15.

If you pay your household employment taxes with your business or farm employment taxes, you must report your household employment taxes with those other employment taxes on Form 941 or Form 943 and on Form 940 (or 940-EZ). See Business employment tax returns, later.

The deduction that can be taken on Schedules C and F (Form 1040) for wages and employment taxes applies only to wages and taxes paid for business and farm employees. You cannot deduct the wages and employment taxes paid for your household employees on your Schedule C or F.

More information. For more information about paying taxes through federal income tax withholding and estimated tax payments and figuring the estimated tax penalty, get Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.

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