General Instructions

Table of Contents

Purpose of Form 945

Use Form 945 to report withheld federal income tax from nonpayroll payments. Nonpayroll payments include:

  • Pensions (including distributions from tax-favored retirement plans, for example, section 401(k), section 403(b), and governmental section 457(b) plans) and annuities;

  • Military retirement;

  • Gambling winnings;

  • Indian gaming profits;

  • Voluntary withholding on certain government 
    payments; and

  • Backup withholding.

Report all federal income tax withholding from nonpayroll payments or distributions annually on one Form 945. Do not file more than one Form 945 for any calendar year.

All federal income tax withholding reported on 
Forms 1099 (for example, Form 1099-R or 1099-MISC) or Form W-2G must be reported on Form 945. Do not report federal income tax withholding from wages on Form 945.

All employment taxes and federal income tax withholding reported on Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, must be reported on Form 941 or Form 944, Form 943 for agricultural employees, Schedule H (Form 1040) for household employees, or Form CT-1 for railroad employees.

Do not report on Form 945 federal income tax withheld on distributions to participants from nonqualified pension plans (including nongovernmental section 457(b) plans) and some other deferred compensation arrangements that are treated as wages and are reported on Form W-2. Report such withholding on Form 941 or Form 944. See Pub. 15 (Circular E) for more information.

Compensation paid to H-2A visa holders.   Generally, report compensation of $600 or more paid to foreign agricultural workers who entered the country on H-2A visas on Form W-2 and Form 943, Employer’s Annual Tax Return for Agricultural Employees. However, if an H-2A visa worker did not provide the employer with a taxpayer identification number, the employee is subject to backup withholding. The employer must report the wages and backup withholding on Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income. The employer must also report the backup withholding on Form 945, line 2.

Who Must File

If you withhold federal income tax (including backup withholding) from nonpayroll payments, you must file Form 945. See Purpose of Form 945, earlier. You do not have to file Form 945 for those years in which you do not have a nonpayroll tax liability. Do not report on Form 945 withholding that is required to be reported on Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for U.S. Source Income of Foreign Persons.

When To File

For 2012, file Form 945 by January 31, 2013. However, if you made deposits on time in full payment of the taxes for the year, you may file the return by February 11, 2013. Your return will be considered timely filed if it is properly addressed and mailed First-Class or sent by an IRS-designated private delivery service on or before the due date. See Pub. 15 (Circular E) for more information on IRS-designated private delivery services.

Where To File

In the list below, find the location of your legal residence, principal place of business, office, or agency. Send Form 945 to the address listed for your location.

Where you file depends on whether or not you are including a payment with the return.

If you are in . . . Without a  
payment . . . 		With a payment . . .
Connecticut 
Delaware 
District of Columbia 
Florida 
Georgia 
Illinois  
Indiana  
Kentucky  
Maine  
Maryland  
Massachusetts  
Michigan  
New Hampshire 		New Jersey  
New York  
North Carolina  
Ohio  
Pennsylvania  
Rhode Island  
South Carolina 
Tennessee  
Vermont  
Virginia  
West Virginia  
Wisconsin 		Department of the Treasury  
Internal Revenue Service  
Cincinnati, OH  
45999-0042 		Internal Revenue Service  
P. O. Box 804524  
Cincinnati, OH 45280-4524
Alabama  
Alaska  
Arizona  
Arkansas  
California  
Colorado  
Hawaii  
Idaho  
Iowa  
Kansas  
Louisiana  
Minnesota  
Mississippi 		Missouri  
Montana  
Nebraska  
Nevada  
New Mexico  
North Dakota  
Oklahoma  
Oregon  
South Dakota  
Texas  
Utah  
Washington  
Wyoming 		Department of the Treasury  
Internal Revenue Service  
Ogden, UT  
84201-0042 		Internal Revenue Service  
P. O. Box 37945  
Hartford, CT 
06176-7945
No legal residence or principal place of business in any state: Internal Revenue Service  
P.O. Box 409101 
Ogden, UT 
84409 		Internal Revenue Service  
P. O. Box 37945  
Hartford, CT 
06176-7945
If you are filing Form 945 for an exempt organization or government entity (federal, state, local, or Indian tribal government), use the following addresses, regardless of your location: Department of the Treasury  
Internal Revenue Service  
Ogden, UT  
84201-0042 		Internal Revenue Service  
P. O. Box 37945  
Hartford, CT 
06176-7945

Employer Identification Number (EIN)

If you do not have an EIN, you may apply for one online. Go to IRS.gov and click on the Apply for an EIN Online link under “Tools.” You may also apply for an EIN by calling 1-800-829-4933, or you can fax or mail Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number, to the IRS. If you have not received your EIN by the due date of Form 945, write "Applied For" and the date you applied in this entry space.

Penalties and Interest

There are penalties for filing Form 945 late and for paying or depositing taxes late, unless there is reasonable cause. See section 11 of Pub. 15 (Circular E) for more information on deposit penalties. There are also penalties for failure to furnish information returns (for example, Forms 1099-MISC, 1099-R, or W-2G) to payees and failure to file copies with the IRS. Interest is charged on taxes paid late at a rate set by law.

If you receive a notice about a penalty after you file this return, reply to the notice with an explanation and we will determine if you meet reasonable-cause criteria. Do not attach an explanation when you file your return.

Use Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement, to request abatement of assessed penalties or interest. Do not request abatement of assessed penalties or interest on Form 945 or Form 945-X.

If amounts that must be withheld are not withheld or are not deposited or paid to the United States Treasury, the trust fund recovery penalty may apply. The penalty is the full amount of any unpaid trust fund tax. This penalty may apply when these unpaid taxes cannot be immediately collected from the employer or business. The trust fund recovery penalty may be imposed on all persons who are determined by the IRS to have been responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over these taxes, and who acted willfully in not doing so. “Willfully” in this case means voluntarily, consciously, and intentionally. A responsible person acts willfully if the person knows that the required actions are not taking place.

Voluntary Income Tax Withholding

States must allow unemployment compensation recipients to elect to have federal income tax withheld. Recipients paid under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act may also elect withholding.

Recipients of any of the following federal payments may request federal income tax withholding.

  • Social security and Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits.

  • Certain crop disaster payments.

  • Commodity Credit Corporation loans.

The voluntary income tax withholding rates will be available in January 2013 at www.irs.gov/form945.

The payee may request withholding on Form W-4V, Voluntary Withholding Request, or you may develop your own substitute form. Any voluntary withholding on these payments must be reported on Form 945 (and on the required information return—Form 1099-G, Form SSA-1099, or Form RRB-1099) and is subject to the deposit rules.

Depositing Withheld Taxes

Deposit all nonpayroll (Form 945) withheld federal income tax, including backup withholding, by electronic funds transfer. Combine all Form 945 taxes for deposit purposes. Do not combine deposits for Forms 941, 943, 944, or Form CT-1 with deposits for Form 945.

Generally, the deposit rules that apply to Form 941 also apply to Form 945. However, because Form 945 is an annual return, the rules for determining your deposit schedule (discussed below) are different from those for Form 941. See section 11 of Pub. 15 (Circular E) for a detailed discussion of the deposit rules.

Determining Your Deposit Schedule

There are two deposit schedules—monthly or semiweekly— for determining when you must deposit withheld federal income tax. These schedules tell you when a deposit is due after a tax liability arises (that is, you make a payment subject to federal income tax withholding, including backup withholding). Before the beginning of each calendar year, you must determine which of the two deposit schedules you must use.

For 2013, you are a monthly schedule depositor for 
Form 945 if the total tax reported on your 2011 Form 945 (line 3) was $50,000 or less. If the total tax reported for 2011 exceeded $50,000, you are a semiweekly schedule depositor.

If you are a monthly schedule depositor and accumulate a $100,000 liability or more on any day during a calendar month, your deposit schedule changes on the next day to semiweekly for the remainder of the year and for the following year. For more information, see the $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule in section 11 of Pub. 15 (Circular E).

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