IRS Releases Quarterly Tax Form in Spanish, Discontinues Other Returns

IRS recently made changes to Form 941. For one thing, a Spanish version of the federal tax form is now available starting with the first quarter of 2024.

On February 28, 2024, IRS released final versions of the 941, Schedule B and their corresponding instructions, all written in Spanish.

With that, two other forms have been discontinued, IRS noted during its March Payroll Industry Call. Those forms are:

• Form 941-PR, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return (Puerto Rico Version), and
• Form 941-SS, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return – American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Employers that once filed those now-discontinued forms can choose to submit either Form 941 (sp) or the version of the form written in English, IRS further explained.

Lines removed on tax form

The English versions of the 941, Schedule B and Schedule R along with their instructions have been available since February 26, 2024.

You’ll notice some minor changes. For example, lines 5a(i), 5a(ii) and other lines have been removed on the tax form because the credits for qualified sick and family leave wages related to COVID-19 are no longer available.

On the 941 instructions, IRS reminds employers that they should use the March 2024 version of the form for the first quarter of 2024, instead of using earlier revisions.

Also, IRS says it expects that the latest revision of the form and instructions will be used through the rest of the year – unless changes in the law require additional revisions.

Withholding for Social Security & Medicare

Of particular note during this presidential election year, employers should withhold Social Security tax and Medicare tax if election workers are paid $2,300 or more in cash or an equivalent type of compensation, the 941 instructions explain.

That’s up from $2,200 in 2023.