Employer’s Annual Tax Return for Agricultural Employees OMB No. 1545-0035

Form 943

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

T

Enter your

name,

address,

employer

identification

number,

and

calendar

year of

return.

FF

Name (as distinguished from trade name) Calendar year FD

FP

Employer identification number © Trade name, if any I

T

Address and ZIP code If address is different

from prior return,

check here ©

If you do not have to file returns in the future, check here ©

© For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 4.

© For more information, see Circular A.

1 Number of agricultural employees employed in the pay period that includes March 12, 1997 © 1

2 2

3 Social security taxes (multiply line 2 by 12.4% (.124)) 3

4 Total wages subject to Medicare taxes (see instructions) 4

5 Medicare taxes (multiply line 4 by 2.9% (.029)) 5

6 Federal income tax withheld (see instructions) 6

7 Total taxes (add lines 3, 5, and 6) 7

8

Advance earned income credit (EIC) payments, if any (see instructions on page 4)

8

9

Net taxes (subtract line 10 from line 9)

9

10

Total deposits for 1997, including overpayment applied from 1996

10

Balance due (subtract line 12 from line 11). See instructions ©

11

13

14 Overpayment, if line 12 is more than line 11, enter here © $ and check if to be: Applied to next return, or Refunded.

● All filers: If line 11 is less than $500, do not complete line 15 or Form 943-A.

Deposit period ending Tax liability for month

A January 31

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and

belief, it is true, correct, and complete.

Print Your

Signature © Name and Title © Date ©

Total wages subject to social security taxes (see instructions)

Adjustment to taxes (see instructions)

Total taxes as adjusted (line 7 as adjusted by line 8)

12

13

11

12

February 28

March 31

April 30

May 31

June 30

July 31

August 31

September 30

October 31

Deposit period ending Tax liability for month Tax liability for month

Cat. No. 11252K

Total liability for

year (add lines A

through L)

M

November 30

December 31

Deposit period ending

Form 943-V

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Form 943 Payment Voucher

Do not send cash and do not staple your payment to this voucher. Make your check or money order payable to the Internal Revenue Service. Be sure to enter your

employer identification number, “Form 943,” and “1997” on your payment.

Enter the first four letters of your last name (business name Your employer identification number

if partnership or corporation)

Enter the amount of the payment you

are making

12 3

4 Enter your business name (individual name for sole proprietors)

$ .

Instructions for Box 2

DETACH HERE

● Semiweekly schedule depositors: Complete Form 943-A and check here ©

● Monthly schedule depositors: Complete line 15 and check here ©

15 Monthly Summary of Federal Tax Liability. Do not complete if you are a semiweekly schedule depositor.

Enter your address

Enter your city, state, and ZIP code

© Use this voucher when making a payment with your return.

—Individuals (sole proprietors, trusts, and

estates) - Enter the first four letters of your

last name.

—Corporations and partnerships - Enter the

first four characters of your business name

(omit “The” if followed by more than one

word).

K

L

Sign

Here

97

97
Form 943 (1997) Page 2

(Continued on page 4)

General Instructions

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

income tax withholding under the tests discussed

below. (For definitions of farmworkers and wages,

see Circular A.)

The $150 test or the $2,500 test. All cash wages

you pay to farmworkers are subject to social

security and Medicare taxes and income tax

withholding for any calendar year that you meet

either of these tests:

● The total (cash and noncash) you pay to

farmworkers is $2,500 or more.

● You pay an employee cash wages of $150 or

more for farmwork.

Additional information. Circular A, Agricultural

Employer’s Tax Guide, has information you may

need about social security, Medicare, Federal

unemployment (FUTA), and withheld income taxes.

It includes tables showing the income tax to

withhold from an employee’s wages.

The social security tax rate is 6.2% and the

Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employer

and the employee.

Social security and medicare taxes. The 1997

wage base is $65,400 for social security. There is

no wage base limit for Medicare.

Reconciliation of Forms 943 and W-3. You

should be sure that the totals shown on Form 943

for income tax withheld, social security wages and

tips, Medicare wages and tips, and advance

earned income credit agree with the totals on

Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax

Statements. See the line 8 instructions for valid

reasons the totals may not match. If there is a

valid reason, keep any records that show why the

totals did not match.

Exceptions. Special rules apply to certain

hand-harvest laborers who receive less than $150

in annual cash wages and household employees

who receive less than $1,000 in annual cash

wages. For more information, see Circular A.

Purpose of form. Use Form 943 to report 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 considered farm

employees. To report social security, Medicare,

and income tax withholding on the wages of

household employees, you may either: 

1. File Schedule H (Form 1040), Household

Employment Taxes, with your individual income tax

return, or 

2. Include the wages with other farm employee

wages on Form 943. 

When to file. For 1997, file Form 943 by February

2, 1998. However, if you made deposits on time in

full payment of the taxes due for the year, you may

file the return by February 10.

After you file your first return, the IRS will send

you a form every year. If you receive a form for a

year in which you are not liable for filing, write

“NONE” on line 11 and send the form back to the

IRS.

If the $2,500-or-more test for the group is not

met, the $150-or-more test for an individual still

applies.

Items To Note

Electronic deposit requirement. If your total

deposits of social security, Medicare, and

withheld Federal income taxes were more than

$50,000 in 1996, you must make electronic

deposits for all depository tax liabilities that

occur after 1997, using the Electronic Federal

Tax Payment System (EFTPS). However, if you

were first required to use EFTPS on or after July

1, 1997, no penalties for failure to use EFTPS

will be imposed prior to July 1, 1998. This

system allows you to make tax deposits without

coupons, paper checks, or visits to an

authorized depositary. You may enroll in EFTPS

even if you are not required to use it. To enroll in

EFTPS, call 1-800-945-8400 or 1-800-555-4477.

For general information about EFTPS, call

1-800-829-1040.

If you stop paying wages during the year and do

not expect to pay wages again, file a final return

for 1997. Be sure to mark the box at the top. If

you later become liable for any of the taxes, notify

the IRS.

Where to file. Find the state and, if applicable,

county location of your legal residence, principal

place of business, office, or agency in the list

below. Send your return to the Internal Revenue

Service at the address listed for your location. No

street address is needed.

Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia

Return without payment:

Cincinnati, OH 45999-0018

Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 6538

Chicago, IL 60680-6538

Return without payment:

Austin, TX 73301-0018

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 970015

St. Louis, MO 63197-0015

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania,

Virginia

Return without payment:

Philadelphia, PA 19255-0018

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 8526

Philadelphia, PA 19162-8526

New York (all other counties), Connecticut, Maine,

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin

Return without payment:

Andover, MA 05501-0018

Return without payment:

Kansas City, MO 64999-0018

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 371475

Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7475

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 970015

St. Louis, MO 63197-0015

New Jersey, New York (New York City and counties of

Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester)

Return without payment:

Holtsville, NY 00501-0018

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 105094

Atlanta, GA 30348-5094

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 254

Newark, NJ 07101-0254

Return without payment:

Atlanta, GA 39901-0018

Forms W-2 and W-3. By February 2, 1998, give

Form W-2 to each employee who was working for

you at the end of 1997. 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.

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,

North Carolina, Tennessee

Alaska, Arizona, California (counties of Alpine, Amador,

Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El

Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Marin,

Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas,

Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou,

Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and

Yuba), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada,

North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington,

Wyoming

Return without payment:

Ogden, UT 84201-0018

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 7353

San Francisco, CA

94120-7353

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 1212

Charlotte, NC 28201-1212

Return without payment:

Memphis, TN 37501-0018

California (all other counties), Hawaii

Return without payment:

Fresno, CA 93888-0018

Return with payment:

P.O. Box 60819

Los Angeles, CA 90060-0819

If you have no legal residence or principal place of

business in any state

All returns:

Philadelphia, PA 19255-8526

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. If you paid wages

to nonfarm workers, do not report these on Form

943. Report them on Form 941, Employer’s

Quarterly Federal Tax Return. See Pub. 926,

Household Employer’s Tax Guide, for more

information about household employees.
Employer’s Annual Tax Return for Agricultural Employees OMB No. 1545-0035

Form 943

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

T

Enter your

name,

address,

employer

identification

number,

and

calendar

year of

return.

FF

Name (as distinguished from trade name) Calendar year FD

FP

Employer identification number © Trade name, if any I

T

Address and ZIP code If address is different

from prior return,

check here ©

If you do not have to file returns in the future, check here ©

© For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 4.

© For more information, see Circular A.

1 Number of agricultural employees employed in the pay period that includes March 12, 1997 © 1

2 2

3 Social security taxes (multiply line 2 by 12.4% (.124)) 3

4 Total wages subject to Medicare taxes (see instructions) 4

5 Medicare taxes (multiply line 4 by 2.9% (.029)) 5

6 Federal income tax withheld (see instructions) 6

7 Total taxes (add lines 3, 5, and 6) 7

8

Advance earned income credit (EIC) payments, if any (see instructions on page 4)

8

9

Net taxes (subtract line 10 from line 9)

9

10

Total deposits for 1997, including overpayment applied from 1996

10

Balance due (subtract line 12 from line 11). See instructions ©

11

13

14 Overpayment, if line 12 is more than line 11, enter here © $ and check if to be: Applied to next return, or Refunded.

● All filers: If line 11 is less than $500, do not complete line 15 or Form 943-A.

Deposit period ending Tax liability for month

A January 31

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and

belief, it is true, correct, and complete.

Print Your

Signature © Name and Title © Date ©

Total wages subject to social security taxes (see instructions)

Adjustment to taxes (see instructions)

Total taxes as adjusted (line 7 as adjusted by line 8)

12

13

11

12

February 28

March 31

April 30

May 31

June 30

July 31

August 31

September 30

October 31

Deposit period ending Tax liability for month Tax liability for month

Sign

Here

Cat. No. 11252K

Total liability for

year (add lines A

through L)

M

November 30

December 31

Deposit period ending

Form 943-V

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Form 943 Payment Voucher

Do not send cash and do not staple your payment to this voucher. Make your check or money order payable to the Internal Revenue Service. Be sure to enter your

employer identification number, “Form 943,” and “1997” on your payment.

Enter the first four letters of your last name (business name Your employer identification number

if partnership or corporation)

Enter the amount of the payment you

are making

12 3

4 Enter your business name (individual name for sole proprietors)

$ .

Instructions for Box 2

DETACH HERE

● Semiweekly schedule depositors: Complete Form 943-A and check here ©

● Monthly schedule depositors: Complete line 15 and check here ©

15 Monthly Summary of Federal Tax Liability. Do not complete if you are a semiweekly schedule depositor.

Enter your address

Enter your city, state, and ZIP code

© Use this voucher when making a payment with your return.

—Individuals (sole proprietors, trusts, and

estates) - Enter the first four letters of your

last name.

—Corporations and partnerships - Enter the

first four characters of your business name

(omit “The” if followed by more than one

word).

K

L

97

97
Line 9. Add line 7 to line 8 if you are adjusting to

report additional taxes. Subtract line 8 from line 7

Line 6. You must withhold income tax from if you are reducing taxes.

employees from whom you withhold social security

and Medicare taxes. See Circular A for more

information on withholding rules. Enter income tax

withheld on wages paid to employees.

Line 10. Employees who are eligible can receive

advance EIC payments with their wages by giving

you Form W-5, Earned Income Credit Advance

Payment Certificate, annually. For more

information, see Circular A.

Line 12. Show the total amount deposited for the

year, including any overpayment from 1996, as

shown in your records.

Line 8. Use line 8 to adjust amounts of social

security and Medicare taxes reported in the

current year or a prior year. (See also Income tax

adjustments below.)

Line 14. If you deposited more than the correct

amount for the year, you can have the

overpayment refunded or applied to your next

return. Note: If line 14 is under $1, we will send

you a refund or apply it to your next return only on

written request.

Deposit requirements. In general, you must

deposit employer and employee social security

and Medicare taxes, and withheld income tax of

$500 or more electronically or with an authorized

financial institution or a Federal Reserve bank

(FRB). See Circular A for more information.

Line 4. Show the total taxable cash wages you

paid all your employees for farmwork in the

calendar year. Do not include (a) the value of

noncash items such as food or lodging or (b) pay

for services other than farmwork. Report the full

cash wages before tax was deducted.

Enter on Form 941c or include in the statement

the total wages for all your employees as

previously reported and as corrected.

Form 943 (1997) Page 4

Line 13. You should have a balance due only if

your total tax liability for the year (line 11) is less

than $500. Note: Please write your EIN, “Form

943,” and “1997” on your check. You do not have

to pay if line 13 is under $1.

Specific Instructions

Line 1. Do not include household employees in

your private nonfarm home, persons who receive

no pay during the pay period, pensioners, or members of the Armed Forces.

Line 2. Show the total taxable cash wages you

paid all your employees for farmwork in the

calendar year. Do not include (a) the value of

noncash items such as food or lodging or (b) pay

for services other than farmwork. Report the full

cash wages before tax was deducted. If you paid

an employee more than $65,400 in 1997, show

only $65,400 for that employee.

Explain any prior year adjustments on line 8 on

Form 941c, Supporting Statement To Correct

Information, or attach a statement that shows the

same information.

If you are adjusting an employee’s social

security wages, Medicare wages, or tax withheld

for a prior year, you must also file Form W-2c,

Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, and Form

W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax

Statements, with the social security office. You

can get these from the IRS.

Exception. The balance due may be $500 or more

if you are a monthly schedule depositor and are

making payments under the accuracy of deposits

rule (discussed in Circular A). If line 11 is $500 or

more and you have deposited all taxes when due,

the amount shown on line 13 (balance due) should

be zero.

Income tax adjustments. Generally, you

cannot adjust amounts reported as income tax

withheld in a prior calendar year unless it is to

correct an administrative error. An

administrative error occurs if the amount you

entered on the return is not the amount you

actually withheld. See Circular A.

Current year adjustments. In certain cases,

amounts reported as social security and Medicare

taxes on lines 3 and 5 must be adjusted to arrive

at your correct liability.

Fractions of cents. If there is a difference

between the total tax on line 3 or 5 and the total

deducted from your employees’ wages because

of fractions of cents added or dropped in

collecting the tax, report the difference on line 8.

If this difference is the only entry, write

“Fractions only” in the margin.

Prior year adjustments. Prior year adjustments

include errors in social security and Medicare

taxes reported on earlier returns or errors in credits

for overpayment of penalty or interest paid on tax

for an earlier year. If you report both an

underpayment and an overpayment, show only the

difference. Because any amount shown on line 8

increases or decreases your tax liability, the

adjustment must be included on your record of

Federal tax liability on Form 943 or 943-A. Include

the adjustment in the report entry area that

corresponds with the date on which the error was

found.

Filing on magnetic media. If you must prepare

250 or more Forms W-2, you are required to use

magnetic media instead of filing Copy A of Form

W-2. See the Instructions for Form W-2 for

more information.

By March 2, 1998, send Copy A of all Forms

W-2 with Form W-3 to the Social Security

Administration. The address is in the instructions

for Form W-3.

Penalties and interest. There are penalties for

filing a return late, for paying or depositing taxes

late, or for failing to deposit electronically when

required, unless there is reasonable cause. If you

are late, please attach an explanation to your

return. There are penalties for willful failure to (1)

file returns and pay taxes when due, (2) give Form

W-2 to employees, or (3) keep records. There are

also penalties for filing false returns or submitting

bad checks. Interest is charged on taxes paid late

at the rate set by law. See Circular A for details.

Caution: If income, social security, and Medicare

taxes that must be withheld are not withheld or are

not paid to the IRS, the trust fund recovery penalty

may apply. The penalty is 100% of the unpaid

taxes. This penalty may apply to you if these

unpaid taxes cannot be immediately collected from

the employer or business. See Circular A. Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the

information on this form to carry out the Internal

Revenue laws of the United States. You are

required to give us the information. We need it to

ensure that you are complying with these laws and

to allow us to figure and collect the right amount

of tax.

The time needed to complete and file this form

will vary depending on individual circumstances.

The estimated average time is: Recordkeeping 9

hr., 34 min.; Learning about the law or the form

22 min.; Preparing the form 1 hr., 28 min.;

Copying, assembling, and sending the form to

the IRS 16 min. If you have comments concerning

the accuracy of these time estimates or

suggestions for making this form simpler, we

would be happy to hear from you. You can write to

the Tax Forms Committee, Western Area

Distribution Center, Rancho Cordova, CA

95743-0001. DO NOT send the tax form to this

address. Instead, see Where to file on page 2.

You are not required to provide the information

requested on a form that is subject to the

Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays

a valid OMB control number. Books or records

relating to a form or its instructions must be

retained as long as their contents may become

material in the administration of any Internal

Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and return

information are confidential, as required by Code

section 6103.