When are employers required to deposit federal income tax withholding and FICA?
In general, there are two deposit frequencies used to remit income tax withholding, along with both the employee and employer portion of FICA. These two deposit frequencies are monthly and semiweekly, and are determined company by company based upon the amount of taxes paid during the lookback period.
Monthly: If an employer is deemed a monthly depositor, then the employer must remit all income tax withholding and employment taxes on payments made during a month by the 15th day of the following month. For example, all income tax withholding and employment taxes for paydays in January are due by February 15th. Note: All new employers are considered monthly depositors for the first calendar year of business unless the $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule applies.
Semiweekly: If an employer is deemed a semiweekly depositor, then the employer must remit all income tax withholding and employment taxes based on the following schedule:
| IF the payday falls on a... | THEN deposit taxes by the following... | |
| Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday | Wednesday | |
| Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and/or Tuesday | Friday | |
Next Day Rule: If an employer accumulates $100,000 or more of taxes on any single day during a deposit period, you must deposit the tax by the next banking day, whether the company is a monthly or semiweekly depositor. If an employer accumulates $95,000 on a Tuesday and another $10,000 on Wednesday, the $100,000 deposit rule does not apply.