Use Form 941-SS, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, to report social security and Medicare taxes for workers in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Circular SS (Pub. 80), Federal Tax Guide for Employers in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, explains the requirements for withholding, depositing, and paying social security and Medicare taxes. It explains the forms you must give your employees, those your employees must give you, and those you must send to the IRS. See Pub. 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, for specialized employment tax information supplementing the basic information provided in Circular SS (Pub. 80).

You must file a return for the first quarter in which you pay wages subject to social security and Medicare taxes, and for each quarter thereafter. Use Form 941-SS if your principal place of business is in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, or if you have employees who are subject to income tax withholding for these jurisdictions.

Once you have filed a return, a preaddressed Form 941-SS will be sent to you every 3 months. You must file a return each quarter, even if you have no tax liability to report. If the form fails to reach you, request one in time to file.

Employers are not required to file for quarters when they regularly have no tax liability because they have paid no wages. To alert the IRS that you will not have to file a return for one or more quarters during the year, check the Seasonal Employer box above line 1 on Form 941-SS. The IRS will mail you two Forms 941-SS once a year after March 1. The preprinted information will not include the date the quarter ended. You must enter the date the quarter ended when you file the return. The IRS generally will not inquire about unfiled returns if at least one taxable return is filed each year. However, you must check the Seasonal Employer box on every quarterly return you file. Otherwise, the IRS will expect a return to be filed for each quarter.

A return must be filed for each quarter of the calendar year, as follows:

If you made deposits on time in full payment of the taxes for a quarter, you have 10 more days after the above due dates to file. If the due date for filing a return falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, you may file the return on the next business day.

Mail Form 941-SS to:

If your preprinted name, EIN, or address information on Form 941-SS 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 941-SS(V), Payment Voucher.

If you are liable for social security and Medicare taxes and have not applied for an EIN, file Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. Do not show your social security number on forms calling for
an EIN. You may also apply for an EIN online by visiting the IRS website at www.irs.gov/smallbiz.

If you do not have an EIN by the time a return is due, write “Applied For” and the date you applied in the space shown for the number. If you do not have a number by the time a tax deposit is due, send your payment to the Internal Revenue Service Center where you file your returns. Make it payable to the “United States Treasury” and show on it your name (as shown on Form SS-4), address, kind of tax, period covered, and date you applied for an EIN. For more information about EINs, see Pub. 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records.

There are penalties for filing a return late and paying or depositing taxes late, unless reasonable cause is shown for the delay. If you are late in doing any of these, attach an explanation to your return.

There are also penalties for failure to: (a) furnish Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, W-2CM, or W-2VI to employees and file copies with the SSA and (b) deposit taxes when required. In addition, there are penalties for willful failure to file returns and pay taxes when due and for filing false returns or submitting bad checks.

Interest is charged on taxes paid late at the rate set by law. See Circular SS (Pub. 80) for additional information.

You may pay the taxes with Form 941-SS instead of depositing if your total taxes for the quarter (line 10) are less than $2,500 and you pay in full with a timely filed return.

If your total taxes (line 10) are $2,500 or more for the quarter, you must deposit your tax liabilities at an authorized financial institution with Form 8109, Federal Tax Deposit Coupon, or by using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).

To get more information or to enroll in EFTPS, you may call 1-800-555-4477, 1-800-945-8400 (or 720-332-3725 for territories unable to use the toll-free numbers) or visit the EFTPS website at www.eftps.gov.

See section 8 of Circular SS (Pub. 80) for information and rules concerning Federal tax deposits and to determine your status as a monthly or semiweekly depositor.

Certain amounts reported on your four quarterly Forms 941-SS for 2003 should agree with your Form W-2AS, W-2GU, W-2CM, or W-2VI totals reported on your 2003 Form W-3SS, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, or with information filed with the SSA on equivalent magnetic media reports. The amounts that should agree are: social security wages, social security tips, and Medicare wages and tips. If the totals do not agree, the IRS may require you to explain any differences and correct any errors.

If, by the 10th of the month after the month you received an employee's report on tips, you do not have enough employee funds available to withhold the employee's share of social security and Medicare taxes, you no longer have to collect it. Report the entire amount of these tips on lines 6c (social security tips) and 7a (Medicare wages and tips). Include as an adjustment in the “Other” space on line 9 the total uncollected employee share of the social security and Medicare taxes.