Fill out Form 940 online

Who uses Form 940

• Employers that paid wages of $1,500 or more in any calendar quarter of 2024 or 2025, or had one or more employees in 20 or more different weeks in either year
• Agricultural employers that meet the separate farmworker tests in the instructions
• Household employers who also have other employees and choose to report household employees' FUTA tax on Form 940 instead of Schedule H (Form 1040)
• Section 3504 agents, certified professional employer organizations (CPEOs) and other third parties filing an aggregate Form 940 for their clients

Before you start

• Your employer identification number (EIN) and the legal business name you used when you applied for it
• Payroll records showing the total you paid to all employees during 2025
• The amounts and types of payments that are exempt from FUTA tax, such as certain fringe benefits, group-term life insurance, employer retirement or pension contributions and dependent care
• Each employee's pay for the year, so you can work out the amount paid over $7,000 per employee
• State unemployment tax records: the state or states where you had to pay and, if you need the line 10 worksheet, your taxable state wages, your state experience rates and how much state tax you paid on time and late
• Your FUTA tax deposits for the year and your FUTA tax liability for each quarter

How to fill out Form 940

1. 1

   Top of page 1: business details and type of return

   Enter your EIN, your legal name, your trade name (leave it blank if it is the same as your name) and your address. In the Type of Return box, check every box that applies: a. Amended, b. Successor employer, c. No payments to employees in 2025, or d. Final: Business closed or stopped paying wages. If you checked c, the instructions say to go straight to Part 7, sign and file. The Aggregate Return Filers Only box is only for section 3504 agents, CPEOs and other third parties filing an aggregate return.

2. 2

   Part 1 (lines 1a to 2): Tell us about your return

   On line 1a, enter the two-letter abbreviation of the one state where you had to pay state unemployment tax. If you had to pay in more than one state, check line 1b and complete Schedule A (Form 940). Complete line 1a or 1b even if your state rate was zero. Check line 2 and complete Schedule A if you paid wages in a credit reduction state.

3. 3

   Part 2 (lines 3 to 8): FUTA tax before adjustments

   Line 3 is the total you paid to all employees in the year. Line 4 is the part of line 3 that is exempt from FUTA tax; check the boxes 4a to 4e that describe it. Line 5 is the total paid to each employee over $7,000, after exempt payments. Add lines 4 and 5 for line 6, subtract line 6 from line 3 for line 7 (taxable FUTA wages), and multiply line 7 by 0.006 for line 8.

4. 4

   Part 3 (lines 9 to 11): Adjustments

   Use line 9 only if all of your taxable FUTA wages were excluded from state unemployment tax: multiply line 7 by 0.054, then go to line 12. Line 9 does not apply just because your state gave you a 0% rate. If only some wages were excluded, or you paid any state unemployment tax late, complete the worksheet in the instructions and enter its line 7 on line 10. Line 11 is the credit reduction total from Schedule A (Form 940).

5. 5

   Part 4 (lines 12 to 15e): Tax due or overpayment

   Line 12 is lines 8, 9, 10 and 11 added together. Line 13 is the FUTA tax you deposited for the year, including any overpayment applied from a prior year. If line 12 is more than line 13, enter the difference on line 14 (balance due). If line 13 is more, enter the difference on line 15a, check one box on line 15b, and give your routing number, account type and account number on lines 15c to 15e if you want a refund by direct deposit.

6. 6

   Page 2: Parts 5 and 6

   Enter your name and EIN at the top of page 2. Fill in Part 5 only if line 12 is more than $500: enter your FUTA tax liability for each quarter on lines 16a to 16d (not the amounts you deposited), and line 17, which must equal line 12. In Part 6, check Yes if you want someone to be able to discuss this return with the IRS: give the name of a specific person (not a firm) and their phone number, and have that person choose a 5-digit PIN. Otherwise check No.

7. 7

   Part 7: Sign, and Form 940-V if you pay by check

   Sign, print your name and title, and enter the date and your best daytime phone number. The instructions list who may sign for each type of business, such as the owner of a sole proprietorship or a principal officer of a corporation. A paid preparer who is not your employee completes and signs the Paid Preparer Use Only section. Page 3 is Form 940-V, the payment voucher, which you fill in only if you send a balance due with the return by check or money order.

After you fill it out

Form 940 goes to the IRS once a year, after the end of the calendar year. You can mail the paper return or file it electronically through IRS-approved software or an authorized e-file provider. If you mail it, the address depends on your location and on whether you include a payment, so check the current mailing address in the Form 940 instructions. If you pay a balance due electronically, the instructions say to use the address for returns without a payment and not to send Form 940-V.

Signing: The instructions say to sign Part 7 on page 2 and print your name and title, and that failing to sign delays processing. Corporate officers or duly authorized agents may sign by rubber stamp, mechanical device or computer software (Rev. Proc. 2005-39 gives the details and required documentation), and paid preparers must sign paper returns by hand.

Questions about Form 940

Official information

• About Form 940 (IRS)
• Instructions for Form 940 (IRS)
• Instructions for Form 940, PDF (IRS)
• E-file employment tax forms (IRS)

Page text last reviewed November 7, 2026.

Related forms

• Form 941Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return
• Form SS-4Application for Employer Identification Number
• Form W-2Wage and Tax Statement
• Form 8822-BChange of Address or Responsible Party — Business
• Form 843Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement