Where do I mail or submit Tax Form 843 for Excess FICA withholding refund?

7 You need to mail Form 843 to the IRS service center where you would normally file a paper tax return. The address depends on where you live. If you filed electronically (which it sounds like you did with FreeTaxUSA), check the Form 843 instructions on the IRS website. There's a section that lists all the mailing addresses based on your state of residence. Make sure to include copies of your W-2s showing the excess FICA tax withheld when you send in the form. Also, double check that you've completed Form 843 correctly - you'll need to check box 4 for "Social Security tax" or "Medicare tax" (or both if applicable), and explain that the excess withholding was due to multiple employers. Be specific about the exact amount of excess withholding.

15 I went through this exact situation last year when my company split me between two entities! I was super frustrated trying to figure out where to send Form 843 until I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that walked me through the whole process. You upload your documents and it analyzes them, then gives you step-by-step instructions for your specific situation. For Form 843, it told me exactly which address to use based on my state, what supporting documentation to include, and even flagged that I needed to include a specific explanation about the multiple employer situation. Saved me so much time googling around and trying to interpret the IRS instructions!

9 Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai that was mentioned earlier. I decided to try it despite my initial skepticism, and I'm honestly impressed! I uploaded my husband's three W-2s, and it immediately calculated we had $3,412 in excess FICA withholdings. The tool generated a perfectly filled-out Form 843 with the exact explanation language the IRS needs, and gave me the correct mailing address for our state (Oregon). It also recommended including specific supporting documentation that I wouldn't have thought to include. My refund was approved much faster than I expected - about 8 weeks total. Just got the check last week!

22 If you're having trouble getting a response from the IRS about your Form 843 (which happens A LOT), I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I submitted my excess FICA form back in February and heard nothing for 3 months. I was going crazy trying to call the IRS but could never get through - always got disconnected after waiting forever. I used Claimyr and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to tell me my Form 843 was received but sitting in a backlog. They escalated it and I got my refund check two weeks later. Saved me months of waiting and wondering!

19 I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still getting nowhere with the IRS about my Form 843 refund from excess FICA taxes. Out of desperation, I tried the service - figuring I had nothing to lose at that point. Within 15 minutes, I was talking to an actual IRS representative! They confirmed they had received my Form 843 (which was a relief since I'd been wondering if it was lost). The agent explained it was assigned to a specific department and gave me a timeframe for processing. They even provided a reference number I could use for follow-up. I received my refund check last week - $2,862 for excess FICA. Would have been waiting much longer without being able to speak with someone directly.

5 Make sure you're filling out Form 843 correctly or your refund could be delayed. The most common mistakes I see people make with excess FICA claims: 1. Not checking the correct tax type boxes (should be box 4) 2. Forgetting to attach all W-2s showing FICA withholding 3. Not providing a clear explanation in Section 7 4. Forgetting to sign and date the form Also, keep in mind that for 2024, the Social Security wage base limit was $168,600, so you only pay Social Security tax on wages up to that amount. Calculate your excess by figuring out how much you paid beyond what would be due on $168,600.

3 Has anyone successfully e-filed a Form 843 for excess FICA? All the instructions I'm seeing talk about mailing it, but I'd rather submit electronically if possible.

I just went through this same process a few months ago with my wife's excess FICA situation. She worked for two different companies that were subsidiaries of the same parent company, and we ended up with about $2,100 in excess withholdings. The key thing I learned is that you absolutely must include a detailed explanation in Section 7 of Form 843 about WHY you have excess FICA. Don't just write "multiple employers" - be specific. I wrote something like "Taxpayer was employed by three separate entities (Company A, Company B, Company C) that are subsidiaries of the same parent company. Each entity withheld FICA taxes separately, resulting in total withholdings exceeding the 2024 Social Security wage base limit of $168,600." Also, make sure you're calculating the excess correctly. For 2024, the Social Security tax rate is 6.2% on wages up to $168,600. So if your husband earned more than $168,600 total across all three companies, you should only pay $10,453.20 in Social Security taxes ($168,600 × 6.2%). Anything beyond that is excess and refundable. Medicare tax doesn't have a wage base limit, so you can't claim excess Medicare tax unless it's the additional 0.9% Medicare tax on high earners. Our refund took about 9 weeks to process, and we got the full amount back with no issues.

Just wanted to add something that might help others - when you're dealing with excess FICA from multiple employers under the same parent company, make sure to check if any of the companies issued corrected W-2s after year-end. I had a similar situation where one of the three entities my spouse worked for automatically issued a W-2c (corrected W-2) in March that reduced the Social Security wages to account for the excess. This actually reduced our excess FICA amount by about $800, so we had to recalculate our Form 843 before submitting. Also, if you're using tax software like FreeTaxUSA, TurboTax, etc., most of them will automatically calculate excess FICA and include it as a credit on your regular tax return if the software detects it. But this only works if you had two employers max - if you had three or more employers like in your case, you'll likely need to file the separate Form 843. The IRS processing center addresses are definitely state-specific, so don't just use a generic IRS address. For most states, you'll be mailing to either Ogden, UT; Kansas City, MO; or Austin, TX depending on your location.

I had to deal with this exact situation last year when my company restructured and split payroll between different subsidiaries mid-year. The excess FICA refund process through Form 843 was actually pretty straightforward once I figured out the correct procedures. A few important points that haven't been mentioned yet: 1. **Timing matters** - You generally have 3 years from the date you filed your original return (or 2 years from when you paid the tax, whichever is later) to claim a refund for excess FICA. Don't wait too long! 2. **Interest on refunds** - The IRS actually pays interest on Form 843 refunds if they take longer than 45 days to process. It's not much, but it's something. 3. **Amended returns vs Form 843** - Some tax professionals will tell you to file an amended return (Form 1040X) instead of Form 843 for excess FICA, but Form 843 is specifically designed for this situation and tends to process faster. 4. **Record keeping** - Keep detailed records of when you mailed Form 843, including copies of everything. If there are any issues or delays, having this documentation will be crucial when you need to follow up. The processing time really varies - I've seen people get refunds in 6 weeks and others wait 4+ months. The key is making sure your form is filled out completely and accurately the first time to avoid any back-and-forth with the IRS.