Reminders

Caution: If a line on Form 944-X doesn’t apply to you, leave it blank. If you’re correcting a year before 2021, you must leave blank lines 17b, 17c, 17d, 26b, 26c, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38.

References applicable to other forms. Unless otherwise noted, references throughout these instructions to Form W-2 include Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, W-2VI, and 499R-2/W-2PR; references to Form W-2c include Form 499R-2c/W-2cPR; references to Form W-3 include Form W-3SS and Form W-3 (PR); and references to Form W-3c include Form W-3C (PR).

Forms in Spanish. Many forms and instructions discussed in these instructions have Spanish-language versions available for employers and employees. Some examples include Form 941 (sp), Form 944 (sp), Form SS-4 (sp), Form W-4 (sp), and Form W-9 (sp). Although these instructions don’t reference Spanish-language forms and instructions in each instance that one is available, you can see Pub. 15 (sp) or go to IRS.gov/ SpanishForms to determine if a Spanish-language version is available.

Period of limitations to make certain corrections ex- pired; Form 944-X, lines 17a, 23, 24, 26a, 30, 31, 32, 39, and 40 are reserved for future use. Lines 17a, 23, 24, 26a, 30, 31, 32, 39, and 40 are reserved for future use because the period of limitations for correcting these lines has generally expired for most employers. Generally, you

Instructions for Form 944-X (Rev. 2-2026) Catalog Number 20334B Feb 19, 2026 Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov

may correct overreported taxes on a previously filed Form 944 if you file Form 944-X within 3 years of the date Form 944 was filed or 2 years from the date you paid the tax reported on Form 944, whichever is later. You may correct underreported taxes on a previously filed Form 944 if you file Form 944-X within 3 years of the date the Form 944 was filed. We call each of these time frames a period of limitations. For purposes of the period of limitations, Form 944 for a calendar year is considered filed on April 15 of the succeeding year if filed before that date. For an example of the period of limitations, see Is There a Deadline for Filing Form 944-X, later. Before using any line on Form 944-X, you must consider if the period of limitations, as described above, is still open for the year that you’re correcting.

Lines 23 and 24 were previously used to correct the deferred amount of the employer and employee share of social security tax for 2020. The period of limitations for making corrections to the deferred amount of the employer or employee share of social security tax generally expired for most employers on April 15, 2024. These instructions no longer discuss these deferrals. If you think that the period of limitations is still open for correcting your 2020 Form 944, you can still file the February 2024 revision of Form 944-X to use lines 23 and 24. Lines 17a, 26a, 30, 31, 39, and 40 were used only when correcting qualified wages paid for the employee retention credit and qualified health plan expenses allocable to those wages on a Form 944 filed for 2020 and 2021. The period of limitations for making corrections to qualified wages paid in 2020 for the employee retention credit and qualified health plan expenses allocable to those wages generally expired for most employers on April 15, 2024. The period of limitations for making corrections to qualified wages paid in 2021 for the employee retention credit and qualified health plan expenses allocable to those wages generally expired for most employers on April 15, 2025. Lines 39 and 40 were used only if your business was a recovery startup business in the third or fourth quarter of 2021. These instructions no longer discuss these lines. If you think that the period of limitations is still open for correcting your 2020 or 2021 Form 944, you can still file the February 2024 revision of Form 944-X to use lines 17a, 26a, 30, 31, 39, and 40. Line 32 was used only when correcting qualified wages paid in 2020 for the work opportunity tax credit against payroll tax liability for qualified tax-exempt organizations that hire eligible unemployed veterans (Form 5884-C). The period of limitations for making corrections to line 32 generally expired for most employers on April 15, 2024. These instructions no longer discuss this line. If you think that the period of limitations is still open for correcting your 2020 Form 944, you can still file the February 2024 revision of Form 944-X to use line 32.

The COVID-19 related credit for qualified sick and family leave wages is limited to leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before October 1, 2021, and can no longer be claimed on Form 944. Generally, the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages, as enacted under the Families First Coronavirus Response

Act (FFCRA) and amended and extended by the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020, for leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, and the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages under sections 3131, 3132, and 3133 of the Internal Revenue Code, as enacted under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the ARP), for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021, have expired. However, employers that pay qualified sick and family leave wages in a later year for leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before October 1, 2021, are eligible to claim a credit for qualified sick and family leave wages paid in that year. Effective for tax periods beginning after 2023, the lines used to claim the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages were removed from Form 944 because it would be extremely rare for an employer to pay wages after 2023 for qualified sick and family leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before October 1, 2021. Instead, if you’re eligible to claim the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages because you paid the wages after 2023 for an earlier applicable leave period, file Form 944-X to claim the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages paid for the year that you paid the wages after you file Form 944. Filing a Form 944-X before filing a Form 944 for the year may result in errors or delays in processing your Form 944-X.

You will also continue to use Form 944-X to make corrections to the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for earlier years if the period of limitations is still open. Corrections to amounts reported on Form 944, lines 4a(i), 4a(ii), 8b, 10d, 15, and 16, for the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, are reported on Form 944-X, lines 9, 10, 16, 25, 28, and 29, respectively. Corrections to amounts reported on Form 944, lines 8d, 10f, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24, for the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021, are reported on Form 944-X, lines 17b, 26b, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38, respectively.

Credit for COBRA premium assistance payments is limited to periods of coverage beginning on or after April 1, 2021, through periods of coverage beginning on or before September 30, 2021. Section 9501 of the ARP provides for COBRA premium assistance in the form of a full reduction in the premium otherwise payable by certain individuals and their families who elect COBRA continuation coverage due to a loss of coverage as the result of a reduction in hours or an involuntary termination of employment (assistance eligible individuals). This COBRA premium assistance was available for periods of coverage beginning on or after April 1, 2021, through periods of coverage beginning on or before September 30, 2021. A premium payee was entitled to the COBRA premium assistance credit at the time an eligible individual elects coverage. Therefore, other than in rare circumstances, due to the COBRA notice and election period requirements (generally, employers have 60 days to provide notice and an assistance eligible individual has 60 days to elect coverage), January 2022 was generally the end of the period in which an assistance eligible individual would have elected coverage. Under some rare circumstances, it may be possible for a premium payee to become entitled to the COBRA premium assistance credit

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

after January 2022. In these rare instances, the credit was still claimed on Form 944 filed for 2022 and an adjustment, if needed, can be made on Form 944-X for 2022. Employers eligible to claim the COBRA premium assistance credit after 2022 must file Form 944-X to claim the credit.

For more information on COBRA premium assistance payments and the credit, see Notice 2021-31, 2021-23 I.R.B. 1173, available at IRS.gov/irb/ 2021-23_IRB#NOT-2021-31 ; and Notice 2021-46, 2021-33 I.R.B. 303, available at IRS.gov/irb/ 2021-33_IRB#NOT-2021-46 . Corrections to amounts reported on Form 944, lines 8e, 8f, and 10g, for the COBRA premium assistance credit are reported on Form 944-X, lines 17c, 17d, and 26c, respectively.

Caution: If you claimed the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2021, and you make any corrections on Form 944-X to amounts used to figure this credit, you’ll need to refigure the amount of this credit using Worksheet 1. You’ll also use this worksheet to figure this credit if you’re claiming it for the first time on Form 944-X. If you claimed the credit for qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2021, and before October 1, 2021, and you make any corrections on Form 944-X to amounts used to figure this credit, you’ll need to refigure the amount of this credit using Worksheet 2. You’ll also use this worksheet to figure this credit if you’re claiming it for the first time on Form 944-X. If you claimed the COBRA premium assistance credit and you make any corrections on Form 944-X to amounts used to figure this credit, you’ll need to refigure the amount of this credit using Worksheet 3. You’ll also use this worksheet to figure this credit if you’re claiming it for the first time on Form 944-X.

Qualified small business payroll tax credit for in- creasing research activities. For tax years beginning before 2023, a qualified small business may elect to claim up to $250,000 of its credit for increasing research activities as a payroll tax credit. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA) increases the election amount to $500,000 for tax years beginning after 2022. The payroll tax credit election must be made on or before the due date of the originally filed income tax return (including extensions). The portion of the credit used against payroll taxes is allowed in the first calendar quarter beginning after the date that the qualified small business filed its income tax return. The election and determination of the credit amount that will be used against the employer’s payroll taxes are made on Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities. The amount from Form 6765 must then be reported on Form 8974, Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for Increasing Research Activities.

For quarters beginning before 2023, the payroll tax credit can be used only against the employer share of social security tax for the quarter and any remaining credit is carried forward to the next quarter. Starting in the first quarter of 2023, the payroll tax credit is first used to reduce the employer share of social security tax up to

$250,000 per quarter and any remaining credit reduces the employer share of Medicare tax for the quarter. Any remaining credit, after reducing the employer share of social security tax and the employer share of Medicare tax, is then carried forward to the next quarter. Form 8974 is used to determine the amount of the credit that can be used in the current quarter. Corrections to this credit are made on Form 944-X, line 15. If you make a correction to Form 944-X, line 15, you must attach a corrected Form 8974. For more information, see the Instructions for Form 8974 and go to IRS.gov/ResearchPayrollTC .

Employee consents to support a claim for refund. Rev. Proc. 2017-28, 2017-14 I.R.B. 1061, available at IRS.gov/irb/2017-14_IRB#RP-2017-28 , provides guidance to employers on the requirements for employee consents used by an employer to support a claim for refund of overcollected social security tax and Medicare tax. The revenue procedure clarifies the basic requirements for both a request for employee consent and for the employee consent, and permits a consent to be requested, furnished, and retained in an electronic format as an alternative to a paper format. The revenue procedure also contains guidance concerning when an employer may claim a refund of only the employer share of overcollected social security tax and Medicare tax. The revenue procedure requires that any request for consent include an Additional Medicare Tax notice indicating that any claim on the employees’ behalf won’t include a claim for overpaid Additional Medicare Tax.

Correcting federal income tax withheld. Generally, you may only correct administrative errors to federal income tax withholding (that is, errors in which the amount reported on Form 944, line 2, isn’t the amount you actually withheld from an employee’s wages) and errors for which section 3509 rates apply. See section 13 of Pub. 15 for more information about corrections during the calendar year and about administrative errors. See section 2 of Pub. 15 for more information about section 3509. If section 3509 rates apply, see the instructions for lines 18–21, later.

Caution: Only transposition or math errors involving the inaccurate reporting of the amount actually withheld are administrative errors.

You can’t file a Form 944-X to correct federal income tax withholding for prior years for nonadministrative errors. In other words, you can’t correct federal income tax actually withheld from an employee in a prior year if you discover that you didn’t withhold the right amount. For example, you can’t correct federal income tax withheld in a prior year because you used the wrong income tax withholding table or you didn’t treat a payment correctly as taxable or nontaxable. Similarly, if you paid federal income tax in a prior year on behalf of your employee, rather than deducting it from the employee’s pay (which resulted in additional wages subject to tax), and in a subsequent year you determine that you incorrectly calculated the amount of tax, you can’t correct the federal income tax withholding. However, you must still make any necessary corrections to the amount of wages you reported on Form 944 and Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, for a prior year by filing Form 944-X and Form W-2c, Corrected

Instructions for Form 944-X (Rev. 2-2026) 3

Wage and Tax Statement, respectively. You’ll report the correct wages on Form 944-X, line 6, column 1.

Tip: The amount actually withheld is reflected on payroll information or on Form W-2, which can be used by the employee to claim a credit for withholding for individual income tax return purposes.

Correcting Additional Medicare Tax withholding and wages and tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding. Wages and tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding are reported on Form 944, line 4d. Certain errors discovered on a previously filed Form 944 are corrected on Form 944-X, line 13. However, you can’t file a Form 944-X to correct the wrong amount of Additional Medicare Tax actually withheld from an employee in a prior year, including any amount you paid on behalf of your employee rather than deducting it from the employee’s pay (which resulted in additional wages subject to tax). See the instructions for line 13, later, for more information on the types of errors that can be corrected and how the correction is reported on Form 944-X. For more information about Additional Medicare Tax withholding, see the Instructions for Form 944 or go to IRS.gov/ADMTfaqs .