IRS Updates Form 941, Schedules, Instructions, for First Quarter 2022

On February 28, the IRS released:

• The revised 2022 Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, and its instructions
• The instructions for Schedule B, Report of Tax Liability for Semiweekly Schedule Depositors
• Schedule R, Allocation Schedule for Aggregate Form 941 Filers, and its instructions

The IRS updated the forms to reflect the expiration of COVID-19-related relief provisions at the end of 2021. Form 941 retains lines to claim tax credits for qualified leave wages paid in 2022 for leave taken in 2021. Similarly, some employers may be eligible to claim the COBRA premium assistance credit for the first quarter of 2022.

The instructions no longer have worksheets to calculate the employee retention credit as it expired and may not be claimed for wages paid in 2022.

Only for First Quarter

Form 941, which has a revision date of March 2022, must be used only for the first quarter of 2022 as the other quarters are grayed out. The last time Form 941 was updated was in June 2021 for use in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2021.

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