Line A: Final returnCheck if you will not file again and enter the date final nonpayroll payments were made; attach a statement naming who keeps the records and where.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 1: Federal income tax withheldRegular withholding from pensions, annuities, IRAs, military retirement, Indian gaming profits and gambling winnings, plus voluntary withholding. Backup withholding on gambling winnings goes on line 2, not here.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 2: Backup withholding24% backup withholding withheld or required to be withheld, including on gambling winnings. RICs and REITs report it in the year the dividend is actually paid.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 3: Total taxesLine 1 plus line 2. At $2,500 or more it must equal line 7m or line M of Form 945-A.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 4: Total depositsForm 945 deposits for 2026, including any overpayment applied from the 2025 return or from a Form 945-X. Deposits made under the 941 account do not count.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 5: Balance dueLine 3 minus line 4. If line 3 is $2,500 or more and you deposited on time, this should be zero.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 6a: OverpaymentLine 4 minus line 3. Never make entries on both line 5 and line 6a.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 6b: Apply to next return or refundCheck one box. Checking neither or both generally applies the overpayment to the next return.Click to open the row in the table belowLine 6c to 6e: Direct depositRouting number, account type and account number. The IRS now issues Form 945 refunds by direct deposit when valid information is 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 945
This page is the line-by-line reference. For how the IRS processes Form 945, what happens when it is missing, and how to fix deposit problems, start with the full Form 945 guide.
“If you withhold or are required to withhold federal income tax (including backup withholding) from nonpayroll payments, you must file Form 945.” Nonpayroll payments are pensions (including 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) distributions), annuities and IRA distributions; military retirement; gambling winnings; Indian gaming profits; voluntary withholding on certain government payments and Alaska Native Corporation distributions; and payments subject to backup withholding. In short, all withholding shown on a Form 1099 or W-2G belongs here. You do not file for a year with no nonpayroll liability.
“Don’t report federal income tax withholding from wages on Form 945.” Withholding on a Form W-2, including distributions from nonqualified plans and nongovernmental 457(b) plans that are treated as wages, goes on Form 941, 943, 944 or Schedule H. Withholding on payments to foreign persons goes on Form 1042, not here. “Don’t file more than one Form 945 for any calendar year.”
Line by line
| Line | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A | Final return | Check if you will not file again and enter the date final nonpayroll payments were made; attach a statement naming who keeps the records and where. |
| 1 | Federal income tax withheld | Regular withholding from pensions, annuities, IRAs, military retirement, Indian gaming profits and gambling winnings, plus voluntary withholding. Backup withholding on gambling winnings goes on line 2, not here. |
| 2 | Backup withholding | 24% backup withholding withheld or required to be withheld, including on gambling winnings. RICs and REITs report it in the year the dividend is actually paid. |
| 3 | Total taxes | Line 1 plus line 2. At $2,500 or more it must equal line 7m or line M of Form 945-A. |
| 4 | Total deposits | Form 945 deposits for 2026, including any overpayment applied from the 2025 return or from a Form 945-X. Deposits made under the 941 account do not count. |
| 5 | Balance due | Line 3 minus line 4. If line 3 is $2,500 or more and you deposited on time, this should be zero. |
| 6a | Overpayment | Line 4 minus line 3. Never make entries on both line 5 and line 6a. |
| 6b | Apply to next return or refund | Check one box. Checking neither or both generally applies the overpayment to the next return. |
| 6c to 6e | Direct deposit | Routing number, account type and account number. The IRS now issues Form 945 refunds by direct deposit when valid information is given. |
| 7a to 7l | Monthly Summary of Federal Tax Liability | Monthly schedule depositors with line 3 of $2,500 or more enter liability by month, January to December. Semiweekly depositors leave these blank and file Form 945-A. |
| 7m | Total liability for year | Sum of 7a to 7l. Must equal line 3. |
Due dates
| What | Due | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly schedule deposit | 15th of the following month | For tax on payments made during the month. |
| Semiweekly schedule deposit | Following Wednesday or Friday | Payments made Wednesday to Friday: deposit by the next Wednesday. Saturday to Tuesday: by the next Friday. |
| $100,000 next-day deposit | Next business day | Once $100,000 accumulates on any day; a monthly depositor becomes semiweekly for the rest of the year and the next year. |
| Form 945 for 2026 | February 1, 2027 | February 10, 2027 if all deposits were made on time and in full. |
| Form 945-X for underreported tax | Due date of the return for the year the error was discovered | Paying by then keeps the correction interest free; the period of limitations is 3 years from the filing date (April 15 if filed earlier). |
Deposits
Deposit all Form 945 tax, including backup withholding, by electronic funds transfer. Form 945 is its own deposit stream: “Don’t combine deposits for Forms 941, 943, 944, or CT-1 with deposits for Form 945.” The same separation applies to the deposit tests themselves: 945 tax is not combined with 941 tax to decide whether the $2,500 threshold applies, which schedule you are on, or whether the $100,000 next-day rule is triggered.
If line 3 for the year is less than $2,500, no deposits are required during the year. Otherwise your schedule depends on the lookback period, which for Form 945 is the second preceding calendar year: for 2026 it is calendar year 2024. If 2024 line 3 was $50,000 or less you are a monthly schedule depositor; if more, semiweekly. New payers are monthly depositors for their first and second years, subject to the $100,000 rule. Semiweekly depositors (and monthly depositors who hit $100,000) report liabilities on Form 945-A instead of line 7. Estimate a late or short deposit with the Form 945 deposit penalty calculator.
Penalties
Late filing is 5% of the unpaid tax per month or part month (generally up to 25%); late payment is 0.5% per month (up to 25%); interest runs from the due date. Late or short deposits carry the IRC 6656 penalty: 2% (1 to 5 days late), 5% (6 to 15 days), 10% (16 or more days, or paid with the return when a deposit was required) and 15% (unpaid more than 10 days after the first notice). A semiweekly depositor that files without Form 945-A risks an “averaged” failure-to-deposit penalty spread over the year.
Backup withholding and pension withholding are trust fund taxes: if they are not withheld or not paid over, the trust fund recovery penalty of 100% of the unpaid tax may be assessed against each responsible person who acted willfully (see trust fund recovery penalty and backup withholding). Separate information return penalties apply to the 1099s and W-2Gs that carry the withholding: for returns due in 2027, $60 per return corrected within 30 days, $130 by August 1, $340 after that, and $690 for intentional disregard. The 2026 instructions add the Automatic Exemption from Penalty for filers with 3 years of timely filing and payment.
Corrections
“Form 945-X is filed separately from Form 945.” Use one Form 945-X per year corrected, and only for administrative errors (the amount reported is not what you actually withheld). Underreported tax: file by the due date of the return for the year you discovered the error and pay by the time you file, which keeps the correction interest free. Overreported tax: choose the interest-free adjustment (credit applied to Form 945) or a claim for refund; within the last 90 days of the period of limitations only the claim process is available. If you are claiming a refund and also correcting underreported amounts, file two Forms 945-X. Details are in the Form 945-X guide.
If the only error is in the monthly liability on line 7 or on Form 945-A, do not file Form 945-X; follow the Form 945-A instructions for a corrected record. A Form 945-X filed late for underreported tax must include an amended Form 945-A, or the IRS may assess an averaged penalty. If you never filed Form 945 for a year, file the Form 945 itself, not a 945-X.
Where it goes wrong
- Name and EIN do not match the 1099s. “The name and EIN on Form 945 must match the name and EIN on your information returns where federal income tax withholding is reported”. A 945 filed under a parent's EIN while the 1099s show a subsidiary's leaves the subsidiary's withholding unreported.
- Deposits in the wrong account. A backup withholding deposit made as a 941 deposit does not reach line 4, so the 945 shows a balance due and the 941 an overpayment. See deposits made to the wrong form or year.
- Line 7 filled in with deposits. “This is a summary of your monthly tax liability, not a summary of deposits made.” Line 7m must equal line 3.
- Wage withholding on Form 945. Withholding on W-2 wages, including nonqualified plan distributions treated as wages, belongs on Form 941 or 944. Distributions from those plans to a beneficiary or estate are reported on Form 1099-R and do go on Form 945.
- Gambling withholding on the wrong line. Regular gambling withholding goes on line 1, backup withholding on gambling winnings on line 2.
- Totals that do not tie to the 1099s. Line 3 should equal the withholding shown in the federal tax withheld boxes of the year's 1099-R, 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, W-2G and other information returns. Check it with the 945 vs 1099-R and W-2G checker.
Inside the IRS: what happens to Form 945
Paper Forms 945 are perfected and transcribed with Forms 941, 943, 944 and CT-1 under IRM 3.11.13. The IRM defines the return narrowly: “Form 945 is used to report income tax withheld from non-payroll payments.” Line 2 is where the payer “reports any backup withholding, including backup withholding on gambling.” Two conditions delay a return: “Sick pay is not reported on Form 945”, so a 945 showing sick pay draws correspondence, and returns “early filed before the end of the tax year” are held until the first processing cycles of the next year.
Withholding filed on the wrong return is moved, not ignored. When a Form 941 shows only withholding and the filer's name points to a pension plan, lottery or annuity payer, the IRM tells examiners to “Correspond to determine the taxpayer intent.” If the reply confirms nonpayroll withholding, Accounts Management is asked “to delete the filing requirements for the Form 941 and establish new filing requirements for Form 945” and to move the payments to the 945 period. The examination manual states the annual rule: “The taxpayer does not file more than one Form 945 for any calendar year”, and withholding shown on Forms 1099 and W-2G “must be reported on Form 945.”
The matching is done in the Combined Annual Wage Reporting (CAWR) program (IRM 4.19.4), which compares Form 945 withholding with the amounts reported “to the IRS on Forms 1099-R and W-2-G.” When the figures do not balance, a CAWR discrepancy case opens. The IRM names the usual causes: “Discrepancies are usually caused when the taxpayer fails to file Forms 945/1099-R or has a third party administrator.” If the 1099-R withholding is larger than Form 945 and the reply does not explain it, the examiner assesses the difference and closes the case with Letter 2057-C. Withholding on Form 1099-G is outside this check: “Form 1099-G FIT amounts are not included in the reconciliation balancing phase of CAWR.”
What to do: file Form 945 under the same name and EIN as the 1099-Rs and W-2Gs. If a plan administrator files under its own EIN, give that cross-reference EIN in your reply, since the IRM resolves those cases on it. Pension withholding reported on line 2 is another trigger: the IRS writes to explain “that Form 1099-R are not subject to BUWH” and adjusts the 945 account. Tie lines 1 and 2 to the withholding boxes before filing; Form 945 inside the IRS and the CAWR reconciliation guide go further.
Notices about this form
Questions people ask about Form 945
Which year decides our 2026 deposit schedule?
Calendar year 2024. Form 945 uses the second preceding year: if 2024 line 3 was $50,000 or less you are a monthly depositor for 2026; if more, semiweekly.
Can we include backup withholding in our 941 deposits?
No. Form 945 deposits are separate, and 945 tax is not combined with 941 tax for any deposit test. A deposit made under the 941 account will not show on Form 945.
We withheld less than $2,500 for the year. Do we need line 7?
No. If line 3 is less than $2,500, do not complete line 7 or Form 945-A, and you may pay the tax with the return.
We are a semiweekly depositor. Where do our liabilities go?
On Form 945-A, filed with Form 945, with line M equal to line 3. Leave line 7 blank.
Does withholding on a deceased employee's nonqualified plan distribution go on Form 945?
Yes, when the distribution is paid to a beneficiary or estate it is not wages; it is reported on Form 1099-R and the withholding on Form 945.
Other employer, withholding and ACA forms
Payroll and employment tax returns: W-4 · 941 · 941-X · 944 · 943 · 940 · W-2 · W-3 · W-2c · 8027
Withholding returns: 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 945 (2026 draft, posted May 6, 2026; 2025 final) and Instructions for Form 945 (2026 draft, posted Aug. 28, 2026); Instructions for Form 945-X (Rev. February 2025); Pub 15 (2026) sections 11 and 12; IRC 6656; Rev. Proc. 2025-32.