The latest version of Form 941-X and its instructions are now in the draft stage. Although scheduled to be finalized in late September the IRS has issued some advice concerning using the form. This advice appeared in the e-news for Payroll Professionals issued on August 25 and states:
The newest version of the Form 941-X (to allow for corrections to the new lines added to the Quarter 2 Form 941) is expected in late September. In the meantime, for 2020:
- If adjusting Quarter 1 or earlier, you may use the existing Form 941-X.
- If adjusting Quarter 2 (or later) and not making any increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax or to any of the new COVID-related lines that were added to the Quarter 2 Form 941, the IRS strongly recommends not using the existing Form 941-X, but rather waiting for the new Form 941-X revision to be released.
- If adjusting Quarter 2 (or later) and making any increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax, or to any of the new COVID-related lines, do not use the existing Form 941-X; instead, wait for the new Form 941-X revision.
- Please do not send a Form 941 with “Amended” (or similar notation) written on the form.
If you have already done either of 3-4 above, wait for correspondence to find out if the IRS was able to process the tax return or had to reject it. Given the backlog of paper forms and correspondence due to COVID-19, the IRS is unable to estimate when correspondence will go out.