What Is the Purpose of Form 944-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 944-X to correct errors on a previously filed Form 944. Use Form 944-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;

• Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities;

• Amounts reported on Form 944 for the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, including adjustments to Form 944, lines 4a(i), 4a(ii), 8b, 10d, 15, and 16;

• Amounts reported on Form 944 for the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021, including adjustments to Form 944, lines 8d, 10f, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24; and

coverage beginning on or before September 30, 2021, including adjustments to Form 944, lines 8e, 8f, and 10g.

Use Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement, to request a refund or abatement of assessed interest or penalties. Don’t request a refund or abatement of assessed interest or penalties on Form 944 or Form 944-X.

Tip: We use the terms “correct” and “corrections” on Form 944-X and in these instructions to include interest-free adjustments under sections 6205 and 6413 and claims for refund and abatement under sections 6402, 6414, and 6404. See Rev. Rul. 2009-39 for examples of how the interest-free adjustment and claim for refund rules apply in 10 different situations. You can find Rev. Rul. 2009-39, 2009-52 I.R.B. 951, at IRS.gov/irb/ 2009-52_IRB#RR-2009-39 .

When you discover an error on a previously filed Form 944, you must:

• Correct that error using Form 944-X;

• File a separate Form 944-X for each Form 944 that you’re correcting; and

• Generally, file Form 944-X separately. Don’t file Form 944-X with Form 944. However, if you didn’t previously file Form 944 because you mistakenly treated your employees as nonemployees, you may have to file Form 944-X with Form 944. See the instructions for line 42, later.

If you didn’t file a Form 944 for 1 or more years for which you should have filed Form 944, don’t use Form 944-X. Instead, file Form 944 for each of those years. Also, see When Should You File Form 944-X, later. However, if you didn’t file Forms 944 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 year on a single Form 944-X, unless you’re requesting a refund or abatement. If you’re requesting a refund or abatement and you’re correcting both underreported and overreported tax amounts, file one Form 944-X correcting the underreported tax amounts only and a second Form 944-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 944 for the period during which you file Form 944-X. However, see the Caution under Is There a Deadline for Filing Form 944-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 944-X for help in

• Amounts reported on Form 944 for the COBRA premium assistance credit for periods of coverage beginning on or after April 1, 2021, through periods of

4 Instructions for Form 944-X (Rev. 2-2026)

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 944-X.

Continue to report current-year adjustments for fractions of cents, third-party sick pay, tips, and group-term life insurance on Form 944, line 6.

You have additional requirements to complete when filing Form 944-X, such as certifying that you filed (or will file) all applicable Forms W-2 and Forms W-2c. 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 944-X to correct Form CT-1, 941, 941-SS, 943, or 945. Instead, use the “X” form that corresponds to those forms (Form CT-1 X, 941-X, 943-X, or 945-X).