Reporting and Paying Social Security, Medicare, and Withheld Income TaxesYou must withhold income, social security, and Medicare taxesrequired to be withheld from the salaries and wages of your employees.You are liable for the payment of these taxes to the federalgovernment whether or not you collect them from your employees. If,for example, you withhold less than the correct tax from an employee'swages, you are still liable for the full amount. You must also pay theemployer's share of social security and Medicare taxes. Form 943.Report withheld income tax and social security and Medicare taxeson Form 943. The 2000 form is due by January 31, 2001 (or February 12if the taxes were timely deposited in full). Deposits.You will generally have to make periodic tax deposits if you areliable for $1,000 or more of social security and Medicare taxes andwithheld income tax during the year. Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).You may have to deposit taxes using EFTPS. You must use EFTPS tomake deposits of all depository tax liabilities (including socialsecurity, Medicare, withheld income, excise, and corporate incometaxes) you incur in 2001 if you deposited more than $200,000 infederal depository taxes in 1999. If you first meet the $200,000threshold in 2000, you must begin depositing using EFTPS in 2002. Onceyou meet the $200,000 threshold, you must continue to make depositsusing EFTPS in later years even if subsequent deposits are less thanthe $200,000 threshold. If you must use EFTPS but fail to do so, you may be subject to a10% penalty. If you are not required to use EFTPS because you did not meet the$200,000 threshold during 1998, or during any subsequent year, thenyou may voluntarily make your deposits using EFTPS. However, if youare using EFTPS voluntarily, you will not be subject to the 10%penalty if you make a deposit using a paper coupon. For information about EFTPS, access the IRS web site on theInternet at www.irs.gov, ERROR MSGor see Publication 966, hotel a BerlinoTheEasiest Way to Pay Your Federal Taxes. To enroll in EFTPS, call: - 1-800-945-8400, or
- 1-800-555-4477.
More information.For more information on deposit rules, see Circular A. Form W-2.By January 31, you must furnish each employee a Form W-2showing total wages for the previous year and total income tax andsocial security and Medicare taxes withheld. However, if an employeestops working for you and requests the form earlier, you must give itto the employee within 30 days of the later of thefollowing dates. - cheap hotels in WroclawThe date the employee requests the form.
- The date you make your final payment of wages to theemployee.
See Form W-2 under Information Returnsin chapter 2.Trust fund recovery penalty.If you are responsible for withholding, accounting for, depositing,or paying withholding taxes and willfully ERROR MSGfail to do so,you can be held liable for a penalty equal to the tax not paid, plusinterest. A responsible person can be an officer of a corporation, apartner, a sole proprietor, or an employee of any form of business. Atrustee or agent with authority over the funds of the business canalso be held responsible for the penalty. "Willfully" in this case means voluntarily, consciously, andintentionally. Paying other expenses of the business instead of thetaxes due is considered to be acting willfully. |