Form 943-A

(Rev. October 2012)

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Agricultural Employer's Record of 

Federal Tax Liability

▶ Information about Form 943-A and its instructions is at www.irs.gov/form943a.

▶ File with Form 943 or Form 943-X.

OMB No. 1545-0035 

Calendar Year 

Name (as shown on Form 943) Employer identification number (EIN) 

You must complete this form if you are required to deposit on a semiweekly schedule or if your tax liability during any month was 

$100,000 or more. Show tax liability here, not deposits. (The IRS gets deposit data from electronic funds transfers.) DO NOT change 

your tax liability by adjustments reported on any Forms 943-X. 

January Tax Liability

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A Total liability for month ▶

February Tax Liability

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B Total liability for month ▶

March Tax Liability

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C Total liability for month ▶

April Tax Liability

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D Total liability for month ▶

May Tax Liability

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E Total liability for month ▶

June Tax Liability

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F Total liability for month ▶

For Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see the separate Instructions for Form 943. Cat. No. 17030C Form 943-A (Rev. 10-2012) 
Form 943-A (Rev. 10-2012) Page 2 

July Tax Liability

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G Total liability for month ▶

August Tax Liability

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H Total liability for month ▶

September Tax Liability

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I Total liability for month ▶

October Tax Liability

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J Total liability for month ▶

November Tax Liability

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K Total liability for month ▶

December Tax Liability

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L Total liability for month ▶

M Total tax liability for year (add lines A through L) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ▶

Form 943-A (Rev. 10-2012) 
Form 943-A (Rev. 10-2012) Page 3 

Future Developments 

For the latest information about developments related to Form 943-

A and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were 

published, go to www.irs.gov/form943a.

Reminders

Reporting prior period adjustments. Prior period adjustments are 

reported on Form 943-X, Adjusted Employer’s Annual Federal Tax 

Return for Agricultural Employees or Claim for Refund, and are not 

taken into account when figuring the tax liability for the current year. 

When you file Form 943-A with your Form 943, do not change 

your tax liability by adjustments reported on any Forms 943-X. 

Amended Form 943-A. If you have been assessed a 

failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty, you may be able to file an amended 

Form 943-A. See Amending a Previously Filed Form 943-A, later. 

General Instructions 

Purpose of form. Use this form to report your tax liability (federal 

income tax withheld plus both employee and employer social 

security and Medicare taxes). Do not show federal tax deposits 

here. 

Do not report taxes on wages paid to nonfarm workers on this 

form. Taxes on wages paid to nonfarm workers are reported on 

Form 941/941-SS, Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return, or 

Form 944, Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return. Do not attach 

Form 943-A to your Form 941/941-SS or Form 944. Instead, use 

Schedule B (Form 941) or Form 945-A, Annual Return of Federal 

Tax Liability (with Form 944). 

Caution. IRS uses Form 943-A to determine if you have timely 

deposited your Form 943 tax liabilities. If you are a semiweekly 

schedule depositor and you do not properly complete and file 

Form 943-A with Form 943, the IRS may propose an “averaged” 

failure-to-deposit penalty. See Deposit Penalties in section 7 of 

Pub. 51 (Circular A), Agricultural Employer's Tax Guide, for more 

information. 

Who must file. Semiweekly schedule depositors are required to 

complete and file Form 943-A with Form 943. Monthly schedule 

depositors who accumulate $100,000 or more during any month 

become semiweekly schedule depositors on the next day and must 

also complete and file Form 943-A. Do not file this form if you were 

a monthly schedule depositor for the entire year or if your total 

taxes after adjustments for the year (Form 943, line 9) are less than 

$2,500. 

Note. If you use this form, do not complete Form 943, line 15.

When to file. File Form 943-A with your Form 943 every year when 

Form 943 is due. See the Instructions for Form 943 for due dates. 

Specific Instructions 

Enter your business information. Carefully enter your employer 

identification number (EIN) and name at the top of the form. Make 

sure that they exactly match the name of your business and the EIN 

that the IRS assigned to your business and also agree with the 

name and EIN shown on the attached Form 943. 

Calendar year. Enter the calendar year of the Form 943 or Form 

943-X to which Form 943-A is attached. 

Enter your tax liability by month. Enter your tax liabilities in the 

spaces that correspond to the dates you paid wages to your 

employees, not the date payroll deposits were made. The total tax 

liability for the year (line M) must equal total taxes after adjustments 

on Form 943 (line 9). Report your tax liabilities on this form 

corresponding to the dates of each wage payment, not to when 

payroll liabilities are accrued. Enter the monthly totals on lines A, B, 

C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, and L. Enter the total for the year on line M. 

For example, if your payroll period ended on December 31, 2011, 

and you paid the wages for that period on January 6, 2012, you 

would: 

• Go to January, and 

• Enter your tax liability on line 6 (because line 6 represents the sixth 

day of the month). 

TIP

Make sure you have checked the appropriate box 

below line 14 of Form 943 to show that you are a 

semiweekly schedule depositor. 

Here are some additional examples: 

• Employer A is a semiweekly schedule depositor. Employer A 

accumulated a federal tax liability of $3,000 on its January 11 and 

January 25 paydays. In the January column, Employer A must enter 

$3,000 on lines 11 and 25. 

• Employer B is a semiweekly schedule depositor who paid wages 

in October, November, and December on the last day of the month. 

On December 22, 2012, Employer B also paid its employees 

year-end bonuses (subject to employment taxes). Because 

Employer B is a semiweekly schedule depositor, Employer B must 

record employment tax liabilities on Form 943-A. 

Month Lines for dates wages were paid 

October line 31 (pay day, last day of the month) 

November line 30 (pay day, last day of the month) 

December lines 22 (bonus paid) + 31 (pay day, last day of the 

month) 

• Employer C is a new business and monthly schedule depositor 

for 2012. Employer C pays wages every Thursday. Employer C 

incurred a $2,000 employment tax liability on 10/11/12. Employer C 

incurred a $110,000 liability on 10/18/12 and on every subsequent 

Thursday during 2012. Under the deposit rules, employers become 

semiweekly schedule depositors on the day after any day they 

accumulate $100,000 or more of tax liability in a deposit period. 

Because Employer C accumulated $112,000 on 10/18/12, 

Employer C became a semiweekly schedule depositor on the next 

day and must complete Form 943-A and file it with Form 943. 

Month Lines for dates wages were paid Amount to record 

October line 11 $2,000 

October lines 18, 25 $110,000 

November lines 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 $110,000 

December lines 6, 13, 20, 27 $110,000 

See Depositing Taxes in Pub. 51 (Circular A) for more information. 

Amending a Previously Filed Form 943-A 

Semiweekly schedule depositors. If you have been assessed a 

failure-to-deposit (FTD) penalty and you made an error on Form 

943-A and the correction will not change the total liability you 

reported on Form 943-A, you may be able to reduce your penalty by 

filing an amended Form 943-A. 

Example. You reported a liability of $3,000 on January 1. 

However, the liability was actually for March. Prepare an amended 

Form 943-A showing the $3,000 liability on March 1. Also, you must 

enter the liabilities previously reported for the year that did not 

change. Write “Amended” at the top of Form 943-A. The IRS will 

refigure the penalty and notify you of any change in the penalty. 

Monthly schedule depositors. You can also file an amended Form 

943-A if you have been assessed an FTD penalty and you made an 

error on the monthly tax liability section of Form 943. When 

completing Form 943-A for this situation, only enter the monthly 

totals. The daily entries are not required. 

Where to file. File your amended Form 943-A at the address 

provided in the penalty notice you received. You do not have to 

submit your original Form 943-A. 
Form 943-X 

Tax decrease. If you are filing Form 943-X, you can file an 

amended Form 943-A with Form 943-X if both of the following 

apply. 

1. You have a tax decrease. 

2. You were assessed an FTD penalty. 

File your amended Form 943-A with Form 943-X. The total liability 

reported on your amended Form 943-A must equal the corrected 

amount of tax reported on Form 943-X. If your penalty is decreased, 

the IRS will include the penalty decrease with your tax decrease. 

Tax increase—Form 943-X filed timely. If you are filing a timely 

Form 943-X showing a tax increase, do not file an amended Form 

943-A, unless you were assessed an FTD penalty caused by an 

incorrect, incomplete, or missing Form 943-A. Do not include the 

tax increase reported on Form 943-X on an amended Form 943-A 

you file. 

Tax increase—Form 943-X filed late. If you owe tax and are filing 

Form 943-X late, that is, after the due date for Form 943 for the year 

in which you discovered the error, you must file an amended Form 

943-A with the Form 943-X. Otherwise, IRS may assess an 

“averaged” FTD penalty. 

The total tax reported on line M of Form 943-A must match the 

corrected tax (Form 943, line 9 (line 11 for years before 2011) 

combined with any correction reported on Form 943-X, line 14, 

minus any advanced EIC reported on Form 943-X, line 15) for the 

year, less any previous abatements and interest-free tax 

assessments.

Form 943-A (Rev. 10-2012) Page 4