Line 1: Number of agricultural employeesEmployees on the payroll in the pay period that includes March 12, 2026, excluding household employees, employees in nonpay status, pensioners and active members of the Armed Forces.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 2: Wages subject to social security taxCash wages, sick pay and taxable fringe benefits for farmwork, before deductions, up to $184,500 per employee for 2026. Do not include noncash pay such as food or lodging, or H-2A compensation.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 3: Social security taxLine 2 times 12.4% (0.124).Click to open the row in the table belowLine 4: Wages subject to Medicare taxCash farm wages, sick pay and taxable fringe benefits subject to Medicare tax, with no wage base limit.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 5: Medicare taxLine 4 times 2.9% (0.029).Click to open the row in the table belowLine 6: Wages subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholdingWages paid to an employee in excess of $200,000 for the year.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 7: Additional Medicare Tax withholdingLine 6 times 0.9% (0.009); employee only, no employer share.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 8: Federal income tax withheldIncome tax withheld from farmworkers, including from H-2A workers who asked for withholding and gave you a Form W-4.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 9: Total taxes before adjustmentsLines 3, 5, 7 and 8 added together.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 10: Current year's adjustmentsFractions of cents, third-party sick pay and uncollected employee FICA on group-term life for former employees. Prior-year errors go on Form 943-X.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 11: Total taxes after adjustmentsLine 9 as adjusted by line 10.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 12: Qualified small business payroll tax creditResearch payroll credit from Form 8974, attached.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 13: Total taxes after adjustments and nonrefundable creditsLine 11 minus line 12. The $2,500 payment-with-return test and the lookback both use this line.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 14: Total deposits for 2026Deposits plus overpayments applied from a prior year and from Form 943-X.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 15: Balance dueLine 13 minus line 14; pay electronically.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 16a to 16e: Overpayment, refund election and direct depositApply to the next return or refund; refunds go by direct deposit when valid account details are given.Click to open the row in the table belowHover over a line for what goes on it; click to open its row in the table below. On a touch screen, tap the line to jump to the row.
Who files Form 943
File Form 943 if you paid wages to one or more farmworkers and the wages were subject to federal income tax withholding or social security and Medicare taxes. All cash wages paid for farmwork are taxable for any year in which either test is met: you pay an employee cash wages of $150 or more for farmwork (“The $150 test applies separately to each farmworker that you employ.” Each family member counts separately, and “Don’t count wages paid by other employers.”), or the total cash and noncash wages you pay to all farmworkers is $2,500 or more. Once you file a first Form 943 you file every year until a final return.
Exceptions: annual cash wages under $150 paid to a seasonal hand-harvest laborer who is paid piece rates, commutes daily from home and worked in agriculture less than 13 weeks in the prior year are not subject to FICA or withholding, even when the $2,500 test is met, though they count toward it. Wages to a child under 18 working on a farm owned by a parent (sole proprietorship, or partnership in which each partner is a parent) are not subject to FICA. A crew leader who furnishes and pays the workers without a written agreement making the crew leader the farm operator's employee is the employer. Farmwork includes raising and harvesting crops and livestock and some processing of commodities the farmer produced, but not retail resale or processing that changes a commodity from its raw state.
“If you paid wages to other nonfarm workers, don’t report these on Form 943.” Household employees in the farm home may go on Schedule H or on Form 943. Aggregate filers identify themselves as section 3504 agent, CPEO or other third party; agents and CPEOs attach Schedule R (Form 943), and CPEOs generally file electronically.
Line by line
| Line | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Number of agricultural employees | Employees on the payroll in the pay period that includes March 12, 2026, excluding household employees, employees in nonpay status, pensioners and active members of the Armed Forces. |
| 2 | Wages subject to social security tax | Cash wages, sick pay and taxable fringe benefits for farmwork, before deductions, up to $184,500 per employee for 2026. Do not include noncash pay such as food or lodging, or H-2A compensation. |
| 3 | Social security tax | Line 2 times 12.4% (0.124). |
| 4 | Wages subject to Medicare tax | Cash farm wages, sick pay and taxable fringe benefits subject to Medicare tax, with no wage base limit. |
| 5 | Medicare tax | Line 4 times 2.9% (0.029). |
| 6 | Wages subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding | Wages paid to an employee in excess of $200,000 for the year. |
| 7 | Additional Medicare Tax withholding | Line 6 times 0.9% (0.009); employee only, no employer share. |
| 8 | Federal income tax withheld | Income tax withheld from farmworkers, including from H-2A workers who asked for withholding and gave you a Form W-4. |
| 9 | Total taxes before adjustments | Lines 3, 5, 7 and 8 added together. |
| 10 | Current year's adjustments | Fractions of cents, third-party sick pay and uncollected employee FICA on group-term life for former employees. Prior-year errors go on Form 943-X. |
| 11 | Total taxes after adjustments | Line 9 as adjusted by line 10. |
| 12 | Qualified small business payroll tax credit | Research payroll credit from Form 8974, attached. |
| 13 | Total taxes after adjustments and nonrefundable credits | Line 11 minus line 12. The $2,500 payment-with-return test and the lookback both use this line. |
| 14 | Total deposits for 2026 | Deposits plus overpayments applied from a prior year and from Form 943-X. |
| 15 | Balance due | Line 13 minus line 14; pay electronically. |
| 16a to 16e | Overpayment, refund election and direct deposit | Apply to the next return or refund; refunds go by direct deposit when valid account details are given. |
| 17 | Monthly summary of federal tax liability | Only for a monthly depositor for the entire year with line 13 of $2,500 or more; 17a to 17l by month, 17m must equal line 13. Semiweekly depositors complete Form 943-A instead, and no one completes either if line 13 is under $2,500. |
Due dates
| What | Due | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Form 943 | February 1, 2027 | January 31, 2027 is a Sunday; February 10, 2027 if all deposits were made on time and in full |
| Forms W-2 to farmworkers and Copy A with Form W-3 to SSA | February 1, 2027 | Same date for furnishing and filing |
| Form 1099-NEC (farm contractors) | February 1, 2027 | Paper or electronic |
| Form 1099-MISC (farm rents, veterinarians, H-2A workers without a TIN) | March 1, 2027 paper; March 31, 2027 electronic | From the 2026 Form 943 instructions |
| Monthly schedule deposits | 15th of the following month | Separate from any Form 941 or 944 deposit |
Deposits
If line 13 is under $2,500 for the year you may pay with a timely filed return. At $2,500 or more you deposit by EFT under a monthly or semiweekly schedule chosen before the year starts. The lookback period for a Form 943 filer is the second preceding calendar year: calendar 2024 for 2026, and 2025 for 2027. $50,000 or less of line 13 tax makes you a monthly depositor (deposit by the 15th of the next month); more makes you semiweekly (Wednesday to Friday paydays by the next Wednesday, Saturday to Tuesday paydays by the next Friday). A new Form 943 filer is monthly for its first and second calendar years. Accumulating $100,000 on any day means a next-business-day deposit and semiweekly status for the rest of the year and the next.
Farm and nonfarm workers. “Form 943 taxes and Form 941/944 taxes aren’t combined for purposes of applying any of the deposit schedule rules.” Make separate deposits: in the Pub 15 example, $1,500 of April Form 941 tax and $1,200 of April Form 943 tax are both due May 15, in two transactions.
Semiweekly depositors complete Form 943-A, Agricultural Employer's Record of Federal Tax Liability, and file it with Form 943; liabilities go on the dates wages were paid.
Penalties
Deposit penalties under IRC 6656 run at 2%, 5%, 10% and 15%. The IRS may assess an averaged FTD penalty of 2% to 10% if line 13 is $2,500 or more and line 17 or Form 943-A was not properly completed: a semiweekly depositor who used line 17, a missing Form 943-A, deposits entered instead of liabilities, or a total that does not equal line 13. Late filing and late payment run at 5% and 0.5% per month, each capped at 25%, plus interest, and unpaid withheld taxes can lead to the 100% trust fund recovery penalty.
From July 2026 the Automatic Exemption from Penalty program applies to Form 943 filers who timely filed and paid for the prior 3 years, replacing First Time Abate for failure to file, pay and deposit (but not failure to deposit by EFT). Farm employers also face information return penalties on late Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC: for returns due in 2027, $60 per return if corrected within 30 days, $130 by August 1, $340 after that, and $690 for intentional disregard.
Corrections
Correct a filed Form 943 on Form 943-X, filed separately, which may be e-filed through MeF. Underreported tax corrected and paid on time is interest free; overreported tax may be credited or refunded under the adjustment and claim processes in section 13 of Pub 15. Prior-year federal income tax withholding can be corrected only for administrative errors (the amount reported is not the amount actually withheld) or where section 3509 applies. Do not change line 13 for Form 943-X adjustments, and file Forms W-2c where wages change.
Where it goes wrong
- Nonfarm wages on Form 943. Office, retail or other nonfarm employees go on Form 941 or 944, with separate deposits and a separate deposit schedule.
- H-2A wages as FICA wages. Compensation to H-2A workers for agricultural labor under the visa is not subject to social security and Medicare tax and must stay off lines 2, 4 and 6 and W-2 boxes 3 and 5. Report $2,000 or more in W-2 box 1; withhold income tax only if the worker asks and you agree. If an H-2A worker gives no TIN, the pay goes on Form 1099-MISC with backup withholding.
- Counting noncash pay on line 2. Food, lodging and commodity wages count toward the $2,500 test but are not FICA wages on lines 2 and 4.
- Missing the $150 test. One worker paid $150 or more in cash makes that worker's wages taxable even when total farm payroll is under $2,500.
- Overtime deduction assumptions. Agricultural employees are generally exempt from FLSA overtime, so “farmworkers usually don’t qualify for the deduction for qualified overtime compensation”; overtime pay is still subject to FICA.
- W-3 mismatch. The IRS and SSA compare Form 943 with the Forms W-2 and W-3; keep records of why totals differ (CAWR reconciliation).
Inside the IRS: what happens to Form 943
How the IRS sets it up. Form 943 is an annual return that posts to its own account (MFT 11) and is “due on or before January 31 following the close of the calendar year,” extended 10 days if deposits fully paid the tax. “The Form 943 threshold for making deposits is $2,500,” and the monthly or semiweekly schedule comes from the Form 943 lookback period (IRM 21.7.2.4.6). Deposit penalties, the Form 943-A record of liability and the CP 207 notice for an invalid schedule all work as they do for Form 941.
The wage tests the IRS applies. All cash wages to farm workers are subject to FICA and income tax withholding if either test is met: total wages to all farm workers reach $2,500, or “Annual cash wages of $150 or more are paid to a farm worker (this test is applied separately to each farm worker).” Hand-harvest, piece-rate workers who commute daily and worked in agriculture less than 13 weeks the prior year can be excluded under the $150 rule, but their pay still counts toward the $2,500 test for everyone else.
Wrong form. “Taxpayers occasionally report employment taxes related to agricultural employees on quarterly Forms 941 instead of on an annual Form 943 as required.” The fix the IRS asks for is a Form 941-X for each quarter, a Form 943 if you have not filed one, and a statement “detailing the amounts of any federal tax deposits or other payments which should be reapplied to their Form 943 tax account.” The statement is how your deposits get moved to the 943 account.
Paper returns. Code and edit notes that “Form 943 (Revisions 2020 and later) pages 2 and 3, do not contain an EIN Field or NAME Field.” Separated pages may never be matched to page 1, so keep the return together and write the EIN on any attachment.
CAWR for farm employers. Form 943 totals are matched to your W-2s like 941 totals. The CAWR IRM notes “Occasionally, discrepancies occur because the employer reports wages less than $150 incorrectly,” for example social security tax shown on W-2s for workers who were exempt under the $150 rule. If you get a Letter 99C or Letter 98C, explain which workers met the four exemption conditions or correct the W-2s and the 943 (Form 943-X, which offers the same adjustment or claim choice as Form 941-X).
Notices about this form
Questions people ask about Form 943
We pay farmworkers and office staff. One return or two?
Two. Farmworkers go on Form 943 and the office staff on Form 941 (or 944). The taxes are deposited separately and the deposit schedule rules are applied to each return on its own.
A seasonal picker earned $120 from us this year. Is that taxable?
Not if the worker meets the seasonal hand-harvest laborer exception (piece rate, commutes daily, under 13 weeks in agriculture the prior year): annual cash wages under $150 are exempt even if total farm payroll is $2,500 or more. The $120 still counts toward the $2,500 test for other workers.
Where are the $150 and $2,500 tests now that Pub 51 is gone?
Pub 51 was discontinued after 2023. Agricultural employer rules, including both tests, are in section 9 of Pub 15 and in the Form 943 instructions.
When is the 2026 Form 943 due?
February 1, 2027, or February 10, 2027 if all deposits were made on time and in full.
Do we attach Form 943-A?
Only if you were a semiweekly schedule depositor for any part of the year and line 13 is $2,500 or more. Monthly depositors complete line 17 instead.
Other employer, withholding and ACA forms
Payroll and employment tax returns: W-4 · 941 · 941-X · 944 · 940 · W-2 · W-3 · W-2c · 8027
Withholding returns: 945 · 1042
Health coverage (ACA) returns: 1095-C · 1094-C · 1095-B · 1094-B
Paper transmittal: 1096
All of them on one table · Information returns (1099 series)
Sources: Form 943 (2026 draft, created May 6, 2026) and Instructions for Form 943 (2026 draft, dated Aug. 19, 2026); Form 943 (2025); Pub 15 (2026), sections 9, 11 to 13; Pub 51 discontinued after 2023 (per the Instructions for Form 941, Rev. March 2026); IRC 6721 amounts per Rev. Proc. 2025-32 as used site-wide.