What Is the Purpose of Form 941-X?

Caution: References to federal income tax withholding don’t apply to employers in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), and Puerto Rico unless you have employees who are subject to U.S. income tax withholding.

Use Form 941-X to correct errors on a Form 941 that you previously filed. Use Form 941-X to correct:

• Wages, tips, and other compensation;

• Federal income tax withheld from wages, tips, and other compensation;

• Taxable social security wages;

• Taxable social security tips;

• Taxable Medicare wages and tips;

• Taxable wages and tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding;

Approved section 3504 agents and CPEOs must complete and file Schedule R (Form 941) when filing an aggregate Form 941. Aggregate Forms 941 are filed by agents approved by the IRS under section 3504. To request approval to act as an agent for an employer, the agent files Form 2678 with the IRS. Aggregate Forms 941 are also filed by CPEOs approved by the IRS under section 7705. To become a CPEO, the organization must apply through the IRS Online Registration System at IRS.gov/CPEO . CPEOs file Form 8973, Certified Professional Employer Organization/Customer Reporting Agreement, to notify the IRS that they started or ended a service contract with a customer.

Other third-party payers that file aggregate Forms 941, such as non-certified PEOs, must complete and file Schedule R (Form 941) if they have clients that are claiming the qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities, the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages, and/or the COBRA premium assistance credit. If you’re an other third-party payer that didn’t file Schedule R (Form 941) with Form 941 because you didn’t meet these requirements, but are now filing Form 941-X to report these credits for your clients, then you must now file Schedule R (Form 941) and attach it to Form 941-X.

See the March 2022 revision of the Instructions for Form 941 for information about when a third party is considered the person to whom COBRA premium assistance payments are payable.

Instructions for Form 941-X (Rev. 4-2026) 5

as nonemployees, you may have to file Form 941-X with Form 941. See the instructions for line 42, later.

If you didn’t file a Form 941 for one or more quarters, don’t use Form 941-X. Instead, file Form 941 for each of those quarters. Also, see When Should You File Form 941-X , later. However, if you didn’t file Forms 941 because you improperly treated workers as independent contractors or nonemployees and are now reclassifying them as employees, see the instructions for line 42, later.

Tip: Unless otherwise specified in these instructions, an underreported employment tax credit should be treated like an overreported tax amount. An overreported employment tax credit should be treated like an underreported tax amount. For more information, including which process to select on lines 1 and 2, see Correcting an employment tax credit, later.

Report the correction of underreported and overreported tax amounts for the same tax period on a single Form 941-X, unless you’re requesting a refund or abatement. If you’re requesting a refund or abatement and are correcting both underreported and overreported tax amounts, file one Form 941-X correcting the underreported tax amounts only and a second Form 941-X correcting the overreported tax amounts.

You’ll use the adjustment process if you underreported employment taxes and are making a payment, or if you overreported employment taxes and will be applying the credit to Form 941 for the period during which you file Form 941-X. However, see the Caution under Is There a Deadline for Filing Form 941-X , later, if you’re correcting overreported tax amounts during the last 90 days of a period of limitations. You’ll use the claim process if you overreported employment taxes and are requesting a refund or abatement of the overreported tax amount. Follow the chart on page 6 of Form 941-X for help in choosing whether to use the adjustment process or the claim process. Be sure to give us a detailed explanation on line 43 for each correction that you show on Form 941-X.

Continue to report current-quarter fractions of cents, third-party sick pay, tips, and group-term life insurance on Form 941, lines 7–9.

You have additional requirements to complete when filing Form 941-X, such as certifying that you filed (or will file) all applicable Forms W-2 and Forms W-2c with the Social Security Administration (SSA). For corrections of overreported federal income tax, social security tax, Medicare tax, or Additional Medicare Tax, you must make any certifications that apply to your situation.

Caution: Don’t use Form 941-X to correct Form CT-1, 943, 944, or 945. Instead, use the “X” form that corresponds to those forms (Form CT-1 X, 943-X, 944-X, or 945-X).