Are you aware of all the payroll and benefits compliance deadlines that fall in February? We’ve got you covered. Check out this compliance calendar, and never miss an important date.
Ongoing deadlines from February 1 – February 28
February is Black History Month.
Employment tax deposits (for semi-weekly depositors)
If you are a semi-weekly depositor make sure you stick to the schedule. (If you report more than $50,000 in taxes during the lookback period, you’re required to deposit employment taxes on a semi-weekly basis.)
Here’s a cheat sheet for those who have trouble remembering the semi-weekly payroll schedule:
| If payday for your employees is on . . . | Deposit employment taxes by . . . |
| Wednesday | The following Wednesday |
| Thursday | |
| Friday | |
| Saturday | The following Friday |
| Sunday | |
| Monday | |
| Tuesday |
February 1
Because January 31, 2020 fell on a Sunday, all the compliance deadlines that would have been on that day were pushed to February 1. If you didn’t make these deadlines in January, make sure get them in under the wire.
Form W-2
A W-2 also must be filed with the Social Security Administration and with state and local taxing authorities.
You also ust provide this for to your employees by this date.
Get details about Form W-2 here.
Form W-3
File Form W3 with the Social Security Administration by this date (even if you have only one employee).
Get details about Form W-3 here.
Form 1099-NEC
Things have changed with the 1099 form in 2021, so make sure you’re filling out the form. Here’s what you need to know about Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC.
File the 1099-NEC with the IRS, with state and local authorities (check your state’s website), and provide copies to independent contractors you have worked with.
Form 940
Report annual FUTA tax on Form 940 and file with the IRS.
Form 941
File Form 941 with the IRS.
Form 943
Form 943 is due to the IRS for those who employ agricultural workers.
Form 944
Form 944 is due for smaller employers whose annual tax liability is less than $1,000 for federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare.
Form 945
Use Form 945 to report income tax that is withheld from non-payroll payments, like 401(k)s or gambling winnings.
Form 1096
If you submit forms to the IRS electronically, you don’t need to submit this. Form 1096 is only for those who submit paper copies to the IRS.
February 15
It’s President’s Day.
Payroll tax deposits (for monthly depositors)
If you reported less than $50,000 in taxes during the lookback period, then you are a monthly schedule depositor. This means that you will typically, have to deposit employment tax payments on or before the 15th of the next month.
February 28
Form 827
Form 8027 is for employers in the food or beverage business. This for is also known as the Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips and is used to record the total amount of tips a business has earned over the year.
Form 8027 is due to the IRS at the end of the month.
Creditable Coverage
The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) requires any business that:
a) employs Medicare eligible employees, and
b) offers healthcare that includes prescription drug coverage, to
disclose the credible coverage status of the prescription drug plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This disclosure should be done yearly no later than 60 days from the beginning of a plan year (and most plan years start on January 1). Get more information about creditable coverage here.
