Indian tribes in their role as employers are subject to federal employment tax laws.
Overview
| Topic | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Employment taxes overview | Provides information about reporting, making payments and deposits, correcting mistakes, due dates and forms. | |
| Online Tax Calendar | View due dates and actions for each month. | |
| Worker classification | Determine whether an individual is an employee or independent contractor. | |
| Election workers | Learn about what you should withhold and report. | |
| Foreign persons | Learn about what defines a foreign person; how and when to withhold for certain payments and when to use Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. Foreign students may have certain exemptions. | |
| Backup withholding | The IRS requires government entities to withhold from certain payments. You may also have to withhold if you receive a notice about a missing or incorrect tax identification number (TIN). | |
| Tip reporting | Employee and employer reporting responsibilities, tip agreements and other resources. | |
| Recordkeeping | Learn about what you should keep and how to hold them. | |
| Fringe benefits | Provides information about how and when to tax fringe benefits. | |
| Agricultural employees | Indian tribes are subject to filing Form 943, Employer’s Annual Tax Return for Agricultural Employees PDF. | |
| Scholarships | Chapter one of Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education PDF explains the tax treatment of various types of educational assistance including scholarships, fellowship grants and tuition reductions. | |
Specific to tribes
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Tribal council pay | Determine when tribal council members should be treated as employees. |
| FUTA exception for tribes | Tribes are not required to file Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return PDF if they chose to participate in the State Unemployment (SUTA) system |
| Information reporting for tribes | Find out about the different types of income tribal entities may have to report. |
| Helpful hints to avoid penalties PDF | A guide for tribes to help mitigate federal tax and trust fund recovery penalties. |
| ITG tax kit | Forms, publications and information frequently requested by tribal governments. |
| Publication 4268, Employment Tax For Indian Tribal Governments PDF | Contains employment tax information specific to tribal governments. It also includes information about record keeping, deposit rules and related penalties. |
| Publication 3908, Gaming Tax Law and Bank Secrecy Act Issues for Indian Tribal Governments PDF | All tribal governments conducting or sponsoring gaming activities must understand and comply with federal requirements regarding income tax reporting, tip reporting employment tax and excise tax. |
| Voluntary closing agreements | Information for Indian tribes that are interested in an effective way of correcting a past error, mistake or misinterpretation of tax law or filing requirement. |