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New forms will make correcting employment tax returns easier

Correcting a previously filed employment tax return soon will be easier when the IRS releases the new 94X series of forms in January 2009. This release follows the Internal Revenue Service's publication of proposed regulations at the end of 2007 modifying both the procedure for making interest-free employment tax adjustments and for filing employment tax refund claims (see the story in Report Letter 680, January 14, 2008, and ¶14,116C in Transfer Binder 54). Each form now under development will correspond to, and relate line-by-line with, the employment tax return it is correcting. For example, an employer who discovers an underpayment or overpayment error on a previously filed Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, will use Form 941X, Adjusted Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, to make a correction.

Unlike the Form 941c, Supporting Statement to Correct Information, that is currently used, each new dual-purpose form will stand alone and will not need to be attached to an employment tax return. Employers and payers can file the ``X'' form as soon as they discover an error, rather than having to wait to file it with the next employment tax return that is due. Form 941c will become obsolete when the entire 94X series is implemented for use in making corrections to Forms 941, 943, 944 and 945.

The new forms will be available on IRS.gov in January for use in correcting errors discovered after December 31, 2008 ( SSA/IRS Reporter, Summer 2008)

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