Enter the number of agricultural employees on your payroll during the pay period that included March 12, 2012. Do not include household employees, persons who received no pay during the pay period, pensioners, or members of the Armed Forces.

An entry of 250 or more on line 1 indicates that you must file Forms W-2 electronically. Call the SSA at 1-800-772-6270 or visit the SSA's Employer W-2 Filing Instructions and Information website at 
www.socialsecurity.gov/employer for more information about filing electronically.

Enter the total cash wages subject to social security tax that you paid to your employees for farmwork during the calendar year. Enter the amount before deductions. Cash wages include checks, money orders, etc. Do not include the value of noncash items, such as food or lodging, or pay for services other than farmwork. See Purpose of Form 943, earlier, for household employee information. See section 3 of Pub. 51 (Circular A) for information on taxable wages.

For 2012, the rate of social security tax on taxable wages is 6.2% (.062) for the employer and 4.2% (.042) for the employee or 10.4% (.104) for both. Do not report an employee's social security wages over $110,100 for 2012. If you, as a qualifying employer, receive an approved Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits, from one or more of your employees, write “Form 4029” to the right of the entry space.

Enter the total cash wages subject to Medicare tax that you paid to your employees for farmwork during the calendar year. Enter the amount before deductions. Do not include the value of noncash items, such as food or lodging, or pay for services other than farmwork. There is no limit on the amount of wages subject to Medicare tax. If you, as a qualifying employer, receive an approved Form 4029 from one or more of your employees, write “Form 4029” to the right of the entry space.

Enter federal income tax withheld on wages paid to your employees. Generally, you must withhold federal income tax from employees from whom you withhold social security and Medicare taxes. See sections 5 and 13 of Pub. 51 (Circular A) for more information on withholding rules.

Add the total social security tax (line 3), Medicare tax (line 5), and federal income tax withheld (line 6). Enter the result on line 7.

Use line 8 to:

Use a minus sign (if possible) to show a decrease to the amounts reported on lines 3 or 5. Otherwise, use parentheses.

Combine lines 7 and 8; enter the result on line 9.

Enter your total Form 943 deposits for the year, including any overpayment that you applied from filing Form 943-X and any overpayment that you applied from your 2011 return.

Enter 65% of the COBRA premiums for assistance eligible individuals. Take the COBRA premium assistance credit on this line only after the assistance eligible individual's 35% share of the premium has been paid. For COBRA coverage provided under a self-insured plan, COBRA premium assistance is treated as having been made for each assistance eligible individual who pays 35% of the COBRA premium. Do not include the assistance eligible individual's 35% of the premium in the amount entered on this line. For more information on the COBRA premium assistance credit, visit IRS.gov and enter the keyword COBRA.

Enter the total number of individuals provided COBRA premium assistance payments reported on line 11a. Count each assistance eligible individual who paid a reduced COBRA premium during the year as one individual, whether or not the reduced premium was for insurance that covered more than one assistance eligible individual. For example, if the reduced COBRA premium was for coverage for a former employee, spouse, and two children, you would include one individual in the number entered on line 11b for the premium assistance. Further, each individual is reported only once per year. For example, an assistance eligible individual who made monthly premium payments would only be reported as one individual.

If line 9 is more than line 12, enter the difference on line 13. Otherwise, see Overpayment below. You do not have to pay if line 13 is under $1. Generally, you should show a balance due on line 13 only if your total taxes after adjustments for the year (line 9) is less than $2,500. However, see section 7 of Pub. 51 (Circular A) regarding payments made under the accuracy of deposits rule.

You may pay the amount shown on line 13 using EFTPS, a credit or debit card, or a check or money order. Do not use a credit or debit card to pay taxes that were required to be deposited. For more information on electronic payment options, visit the IRS website at 
www.irs.gov/e-pay.

If you pay by EFTPS or credit or debit card, file your return using the Without a payment address under Where To File, earlier. Do not file Form 943-V, Payment Voucher.

If you pay by check or money order, make it payable to the “United States Treasury.” Enter your EIN, Form 943, and the tax period on your check or money order. Complete Form 943-V and enclose with Form 943.

If line 12 is more than line 9, enter the difference on line 14. Never make an entry on both lines 13 and 14.

If you deposited more than the correct amount for the year, you can have the overpayment refunded or applied to your next return by checking the appropriate box on line 14. Check only one box on line 14. If you do not check either box or if you check both boxes, generally we will apply the overpayment to your account. We may apply your overpayment to any past due tax account that is shown in our records under your EIN.

If line 14 is under $1, we will send you a refund or apply it to your next return only if you ask us in writing to do so.

 
This is a summary of your yearly tax liability, not a summary of deposits made. If line 9 is less than $2,500, do not complete line 15 or Form 943-A.

Complete line 15 only if you were a monthly schedule depositor for the entire year and line 9 is $2,500 or more. The amount entered on line 15M must equal the amount reported on line 9. See section 7 of Pub. 51 (Circular A) for details on the deposit rules. You are a monthly schedule depositor for the calendar year if the amount of your Form 943 taxes (line 9) reported for the lookback period is not more than $50,000. The lookback period is the second calendar year preceding the current calendar year. For example, the lookback period for 2013 is 2011.

Pub. 51 (Circular A) has information that you may need about social security, Medicare, federal unemployment (FUTA), and withheld federal income taxes. It includes tables showing the federal income tax to withhold from an employee's wages.

If you want to allow an employee, a paid tax preparer, or another person to discuss your Form 943 with the IRS, check the “Yes” box in the “Third-Party Designee” section. Then tell us the name, phone number, and the five-digit personal identification number (PIN) of the specific person to speak with—not the name of the firm who prepared your tax return. The designee may choose any five numbers as his or her PIN.

By checking “Yes,” you authorize the IRS to talk to the person you named (your designee) about any questions we may have while we process your return. You also authorize your designee to:

You are not authorizing your designee to bind you to anything (including additional tax liability) or to otherwise represent you before the IRS. If you want to expand your designee’s authorization, see Pub. 947, Practice Before the IRS and Power of Attorney.

The authorization will automatically expire 1 year from the due date (without regard to extensions) for filing your Form 943. If you or your designee wants to terminate the authorization, write to the IRS office for your locality using the Without a payment address under Where To File, earlier.

Form 943 must be signed as follows:

Form 943 may also be signed by a duly authorized agent of the taxpayer if a valid power of attorney has been filed.

A paid preparer must sign Form 943 and enter the information requested in the Paid Preparer Use Only section if the preparer was paid to prepare Form 943 and is not an employee of the filing entity. Paid preparers must sign paper returns with a manual signature. The preparer must give you a copy of the return in addition to the copy to be filed with the IRS.

If you are a paid preparer, enter your Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) in the space provided. Include your complete address. If you work for a firm, enter the firm's name and the EIN of the firm. You can apply for a PTIN online or by filing Form W-12, IRS Paid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) Application and Renewal. For more information about applying for a PTIN online, visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov/ptin. You cannot use your PTIN in place of the EIN of the tax preparation firm.

Generally, do not complete this section if you are filing Form 943 as a reporting agent and have a valid Form 8655, Reporting Agent Authorization, on file with the IRS. However, a reporting agent must complete this section if the reporting agent offered legal advice, for example, advising the client on determining whether its workers are employees or independent contractors for federal tax purposes.