The summer season is in full swing! Whether that means high demand, lulls, or business as usual for your operation, it’s important to keep up with compliance. Here are the key tax, payroll, and HR compliance dates to mark down this month.
Federal holidays
July 4, 2023
Independence Day
Fourth of July falls on a Tuesday this year, which means many businesses will close for the holiday on Monday and Tuesday. If you can, enjoy the day off!
Tax and payroll compliance deadlines
Payroll tax deposits (for semi-weekly depositors)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires employers who file Forms 940 and 941 to deposit payroll taxes at different frequencies throughout the year.
If you report more than $50,000 in payroll taxes during the lookback period of July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, you’re considered a semi-weekly depositor and must follow the schedule below:
| If payday for your employees is on… | Deposit employment taxes by… |
| Wednesday | The following Wednesday |
| Thursday | The following Wednesday |
| Friday | The following Wednesday |
| Saturday | The following Friday |
| Sunday | The following Friday |
| Monday | The following Friday |
| Tuesday | The following Friday |
However, if you accumulate $100,000 or more of tax liability in a single day, the IRS says you must deposit the amount by the following business day, regardless of whether you normally deposit on a semi-weekly or monthly basis (more on monthly deposits below).
To learn more about federal payroll tax deposits, read Publication 15.
Keep in mind that some state and local governments that collect payroll taxes will also expect their own deposits and those deadlines may be different from the federal ones. For more information, contact your state and local tax agencies directly.
July 1, 2023
Start of Q3 for the calendar year
If your company follows a calendar year cycle, the third quarter of the year begins on July 1.
July 3, 2023
Form 11-C filing deadline
If your business accepts wagers of any kind, you need to file Form 11-C, the Occupational Tax and Registration Return for Wagering, by July 3. You also need to pay any tax due on wagers.
July 10, 2023
Employee tip reporting deadline for June 2023
Your employees are required to report to you any tips of $20 or more that they earned during the month of June 2023. You can learn more about tip withholding and reporting requirements here.
July 17, 2023
Payroll tax deposits for monthly depositors
If your company follows the monthly payroll tax deposit schedule (meaning that you reported less than $50,000 in payroll taxes during the lookback period), your tax deposit for June payrolls is due on July 17.
July 31, 2023
FUTA quarterly tax payment due
The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) says you’re subject to FUTA tax on the wages you paid employees who aren’t household or agricultural employees if:
- You paid wages of $1,500 or more to employees in any calendar quarter during 2021 or 2022, or
- You had one or more employees for at least some part of a day in any 20 or more different weeks in 2021 or 20 or more different weeks in 2022. Count all full-time, part-time, and temporary employees.
If the above applies to you, you have to file Form 940 by January 31 and deposit your FUTA tax before you file your return. If your FUTA tax liability is more than $500 for the calendar year, you must deposit at least one quarterly payment. If your FUTA tax liability is $500 or less in a quarter, you can carry it forward to the next quarter.
That means if your FUTA tax liability through June is more than $500, you need to make your second quarterly payment by July 31.
If you owe $500 or more, you must make electronic fund transfers using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Refer to Publication 966 for electronic federal tax payment system information, and Publication 15 for more information on deposit rules.
July 31, 2023
Form 941 filing deadline for Q2
Most businesses with at least one employee must file Form 941 to report any income taxes, Social Security taxes, or Medicare taxes withheld from their staff’s paychecks and pay their share of payroll taxes every quarter—even if they don’t have any employees for part of the year.
The second Form 941 for 2023 and the accompanying payroll tax payment are due on July 31.
You can mail the document along with your payment voucher to the IRS. Your mailing address depends on the state your business is located in and whether or not your payment is enclosed, so make sure you review the tax form instructions for more information.
You can also e-file instead through the EFTPS.
Form 720 filing deadline
If your business manufactures or sells certain goods and services, you must report and pay excise taxes to the IRS on a quarterly basis using Form 720. You can see the full list of the goods and services that incur excise taxes on the document itself. If your business deals with any of them, the second of your four payments for the 2023 tax year is due July 31.
If you want to e-file, you can pay your excise taxes through the EFTPS. If you want to mail the tax form to the IRS, send the form, along with your check or money order payment and the Form 720-V payment voucher (found on the last page of Form 720) to the following address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0009
Form 730 filing deadline
You have to file Form 730, the monthly tax return for wagers, if you meet the following criteria and accepted wagers during June 2023:
- are in the business of accepting wagers
- conduct a wagering pool or lottery
- are required to be registered and received wagers for or on behalf of another person, but did not report that person’s name and address
Learn more about Form 730 here.
Form 2290 filing deadline
If you’ve registered a heavy highway motor vehicle (with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more) that was first used in June 2023, you have to file Form 2290 by July 31. Per the IRS, you must file the form by the last day of the month following the month in which you first used the vehicle on a public highway. To learn more about Form 2290, review the IRS’ instructions and information.
Unemployment insurance taxes due
Unemployment insurance tax and returns for states are generally due at the end of the month following the end of the calendar quarter, which means July 31 for second-quarter returns.
Check with the unemployment insurance tax collectors for your specific state to confirm when unemployment taxes are due. The Department of Labor (DOL) has a list of all the states’ contact information for their unemployment agencies.
State income tax withholding quarterly returns due
Most states require you to pay income taxes to the state agencies at specific intervals, depending on the amount of tax you pay to the state annually. Many of these states have quarterly returns that are due at the end of each calendar quarter; for Q2, the deadline is July 31.
The states without income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. If you have employees who live outside of these states, you probably owe payroll taxes to the state agencies.
Local payroll taxes due
Some states also impose local payroll taxes. You may owe local taxes and have to file quarterly tax returns this month if you have employees working in the following states:
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
For more information on unemployment insurance tax, state income tax, and local tax deadlines for your business, check with the appropriate tax authorities.
HR compliance deadlines
July 15, 2023
Second quarterly contribution for defined benefit pension plans due
If you don’t meet the funding minimum requirements for your defined benefit pension plans by the end of the plan year, you have to make annual contributions for the following year in quarterly installments. The deadline for the second quarterly payment is July 15.
July 31, 2023
Forms 5500 and 5558 filing deadline (for calendar year plans)
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requires certain employers to file an annual report with the DOL that provides information about certain sponsored health and welfare plans from the company. These plans include:
- Plans covering 100 or more participants on the first day of the ERISA plan year
- Plans sponsored by a Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA)
- Plans funded through a trust or other means
The report, called Form 5500, requests information on a company’s employee benefit plans to ensure they remain compliant with government regulations. You must submit this annual return for the 2022 plan electronically (either with EFAST2-approved software or through IFILE) by July 31.
For more information on the form and its filing instructions, visit the official DOL webpage.
If you need extra time to file Form 5500, submit Form 5558 by July 31. This will extend your deadline by two and a half months to October 15. Keep in mind that you still have to pay any taxes due by July 31; otherwise, you risk incurring penalties.
Compliance check
Every business has its own benefits notices and federal regulations to keep track of. To ensure you’re on top of yours, take the time to review your benefits notice requirements and issue any documents necessary.
Summary of Material Modification due to plan participants
If you made any changes to your business’s retirement plan in 2022, you must submit a Summary of Material Modification (SMM) to all plan participants and beneficiaries by July 31 (210 days after the end of the plan year that the changes were made). If you already published the change in a revised summary plan description and distributed it to participants, you don’t have to send an SMM notice.
