941 Schedule B - Need clarification on liability dates for tax deposits

The "payday" for Form 941 Schedule B purposes is definitely the date that your employees receive their wages, not when you process payroll or when the taxes are due. So in your case, that's Wednesday when the direct deposits hit their accounts. Schedule B is meant to track your tax liability (when you're obligated to pay the taxes), not the actual date you make deposits. Your tax liability occurs on the day the wages are paid to employees. The deposit due date is a separate issue from when the liability is incurred. For your situation, you should record the tax liabilities on Schedule B according to the Wednesday payday dates, even though you're making the actual deposits earlier on Monday. The IRS wants to know when the liability was incurred, not when you paid it. Regarding quarter-end scenarios: If payroll is processed in Q3 but employees aren't paid until Q4, the liability belongs in Q4 (when employees actually received the money). This is why the example shows September 30 and October 1 paydays as separate entries - they fall in different quarters. Late payment penalties are based on when the liability was incurred (the payday) versus when you actually paid. Since you're paying early, you shouldn't have any penalty issues.

I used to struggle with the same exact issue until I found taxr.ai. I was constantly confused about when to report liabilities on Schedule B versus when to make deposits. The IRS instructions aren't exactly clear, and I was worried about penalties. I uploaded my payroll records and tax forms to https://taxr.ai and their system analyzed everything and explained exactly how to complete Schedule B correctly. They showed me how to reconcile my payment dates with the tax liability dates, and now I know precisely which dates to use for each pay period. The best part was they checked all my past filings and found a quarter where I'd reported incorrectly. They helped me understand how to fix it before it became an issue with the IRS. Saved me from potential penalties!

I was really skeptical about taxr.ai since I've tried other tax tools that just confused me more. But after that last discussion, I decided to give it a shot with my complex payroll schedule. I'm actually impressed with how it handled our situation. We have employees paid weekly, biweekly, and monthly - it's a scheduling nightmare. The tool correctly identified when tax liability occurs for each different pay schedule and showed me exactly how to record everything on Schedule B. It even caught a mistake in how I was handling quarter-end payrolls that cross months. What really surprised me was how it explained the reasoning behind each recommendation, citing the specific IRS rules. I finally understand why the liability date (payday) matters more than the deposit date for Schedule B reporting. Seriously saved me hours of frustration!

If you're really stuck with these Schedule B issues, don't waste hours on hold with the IRS. I spent 3 days trying to reach someone who could answer questions about liability dates versus deposit dates on the 941. I finally tried https://claimyr.com because I was desperate, and they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to confirm exactly how to handle the quarter-end scenario the original poster was asking about. The agent explained that the liability date on Schedule B should always be the date employees have constructive receipt of their wages (when it hits their bank account), not when you process payroll or when deposits are due. Saved me from continuing to do it wrong!

I have to apologize for being so skeptical about Claimyr in my earlier comment. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3+ hours multiple days, I decided to try it out of desperation. I got connected to an IRS representative in about 20 minutes (not quite 15, but still incredible compared to my previous attempts). The agent was able to explain exactly how to handle my Schedule B situation with crossed quarter payrolls. They confirmed that the liability date is when employees receive the money, not when you process payroll or make the deposit. The agent also explained why I'd been getting penalties - I was recording liabilities on the deposit due dates instead of actual paydays. For anyone struggling with 941 Schedule B issues, getting direct answers from the IRS saved me from making the same mistake again. Worth every penny just for the time saved not listening to that horrible hold music!

I was an IRS agent for 17 years and can confirm what others have said. Schedule B is reporting when the TAX LIABILITY occurs, not when you make the deposit. The liability date is the date the employees receive/have access to their wages. A common mistake I saw was employers using the date they processed payroll instead of when employees were actually paid. Another was using the deposit due date instead of the payday date. Both are incorrect for Schedule B purposes. For quarter-end situations, always go by the actual payday. If employees are paid on October 1, that liability belongs in Q4, even if the work was performed in Q3. The IRS system tracks these liabilities by the date recorded on Schedule B and will auto-generate penalties if deposits don't align with the reported liability dates.

The 941 Schedule B has caused me so many headaches! One thing I learned the hard way is that if you're a semi-weekly depositor and file Schedule B incorrectly, the IRS doesn't just send a nice reminder - they hit you with failure-to-deposit penalties. For the original question - the date that matters for Schedule B is 100% when employees have access to their funds (payday). I use ADP for payroll and they helped explain that I should list the payday date on Schedule B, not when I process payroll or when I make the deposit. Another tip - if you use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), it shows your tax payment history with "settlement dates." Don't use those dates on Schedule B either. Those are when the money moved, not when the liability was incurred.

I'm glad this thread cleared up the Schedule B confusion! As someone who handles payroll for multiple small businesses, I've seen this exact issue come up repeatedly. One additional point that might help others - make sure your payroll software is configured to report the correct payday dates, not processing dates, especially if you're generating any automated reports for tax purposes. I've found it helpful to create a simple spreadsheet tracking our actual paydays alongside deposit dates and due dates. This makes it much easier when completing Schedule B and helps avoid the confusion between these different dates. The key takeaway from everyone's responses is crystal clear: use the date employees actually receive their wages, period. Thanks to everyone who shared their expertise, especially the former IRS agent - that perspective was invaluable!