Liabilities (Schedule B or Form 945-A entries)
One row per payroll or deposit period. The due date fills from the schedule and can be overwritten (for example, from a Letter 2782-C or CP 276B schedule).
| Payroll (liability) date | Tax accumulated | Deposit due date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 |
Deposits and payments
Check the EFT box for an amount paid directly to the IRS or with the return instead of deposited. The designation column lets you test applying a deposit to a specific liability under IRC 6656(e); leave it at the default rule to see the IRS application.
| Date | Amount | Not by EFT | Designate to | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 |
Notices
The tiers and what the days count from
IRC 6656(a) imposes a penalty “equal to the applicable percentage of the amount of the underpayment” on any failure to deposit on the prescribed date, unless the failure is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. The percentage is “2 percent if the failure is for not more than 5 days,” “5 percent if the failure is for more than 5 days but not more than 15 days,” and “10 percent if the failure is for more than 15 days” (IRC 6656(b)(1)(A)); it becomes 15 percent for any tax not deposited by the earlier of “the day 10 days after the date of the first delinquency notice to the taxpayer under section 6303” or the day a demand for immediate payment is given (IRC 6656(b)(1)(B)). The underpayment is “the excess of the amount of the tax required to be deposited over the amount, if any, thereof deposited on or before the date prescribed therefor” (IRC 6656(b)(2)). Pub 15 (2026) adds that “Late deposit penalty amounts are determined using calendar days, starting from the due date of the liability,” so the calculator counts deposit date less due date, with a due date that falls on a weekend or legal holiday moved to the next business day under IRC 7503 (IRM 20.1.4.7.2). A fifth category is not a lateness tier at all: IRM 20.1.4.7.1 lists “10 percent for required deposits not paid by EFT,” and states that “Effective October 17, 1995, any non-EFT deposit made by a taxpayer who is required to deposit via EFT is subject to a 10 percent avoidance penalty for not being made in the correct manner.” Since 2011 every deposit must be by EFT, so an amount paid with the return or by check to the IRS carries that 10 percent even if paid on time. The failure-to-deposit penalty guide covers the notices and abatement routes.
How deposits are applied, and why designation matters
Before 2002 the IRS applied deposits to the oldest open liability first, so one missed deposit cascaded through every later one. Since 2002 a deposit “shall be applied to the most recent period or periods within the specified tax period to which the deposit relates, unless the person making such deposit designates a different period or periods to which such deposit is to be applied” (IRC 6656(e)(1)). Rev. Proc. 2001-58, section 4.01, states the rule the calculator runs: the IRS applies deposits “to the most recently ended deposit period or periods within the specified tax period to which the deposit relates and will apply any excess to deposit periods ending on or after the date of the deposit in period-ending-date order.” The period that has “ended” is the deposit period, not the due date: a monthly depositor’s May payroll sits in a period that ends May 31, so a deposit on May 28 goes to April, which is exactly the trap in Example 2 of the revenue procedure. Semiweekly periods end on Friday (Wednesday to Friday payrolls) or Tuesday (Saturday to Tuesday payrolls), and a $100,000 next-day liability is its own period ending the day it accrues (Rev. Proc. 2001-58, sec. 4.04).
The depositor can override the default. IRC 6656(e)(2) allows a designation “only during the 90-day period beginning on the date of a notice that a penalty under subsection (a) has been imposed,” by calling the number on the notice or writing to the campus with a revised schedule (Rev. Proc. 2001-58, sec. 4.02). IRM 20.1.4.26.3 is strict on timing: “A request not received within 90 days of the 23C date of a notice containing an FTD penalty assessment cannot be considered per IRC 6656(e)(2).” The same section notes that a taxpayer may designate a FIFO computation, and that “If the re-designation results in a higher penalty amount, provide an explanation to the taxpayer along with the option of keeping the lower penalty amount.” The calculator shows the default application, the oldest-first order and your own designation, with the saving and the last day of the 90-day window; a request letter is on the deposit designation letter page.
Due dates: monthly, semiweekly and the $100,000 rule
A monthly depositor deposits taxes on payments made in a calendar month by the 15th of the next month (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(c)(1)). A semiweekly depositor deposits Wednesday, Thursday and Friday payrolls “On or before the following Wednesday” and Saturday through Tuesday payrolls “On or before the following Friday” (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(c)(2)(i)). The regulation guarantees time to act: “Semi-weekly depositors have at least three business days following the close of the semi-weekly period by which to deposit employment taxes accumulated during the semi-weekly period,” and if any of the three weekdays after the period closes is a legal holiday in the District of Columbia the employer gets an extra day for each (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(c)(2)(iii)); Pub 15 gives the Friday payroll before a Monday holiday as the example, due Thursday instead of Wednesday. The calculator reproduces the regulation’s examples (a Friday, January 14, 2011 payroll due Thursday, January 20 because of the Martin Luther King holiday) and the due-date columns of the Rev. Proc. 2001-58 examples. If $100,000 or more accumulates on any day in a deposit period, the tax is due by the close of the next business day (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(c)(3)); the calculator applies that to any single row of $100,000 or more and leaves accumulation across rows to you. Pub 15 (2026) lists the 2026 legal holidays, including April 16 (District of Columbia Emancipation Day) and June 19.
Shortfalls, the 98 percent rule and de minimis amounts
Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(f)(1) treats a deposit obligation as satisfied if “The amount of any shortfall does not exceed the greater of $100 or 2 percent of the amount of employment taxes required to be deposited” and the shortfall is deposited by the make-up date: the return due date for monthly depositors, and for semiweekly and next-day depositors “the first Wednesday or Friday (whichever is earlier), falling on or after the 15th day of the month following the month in which the deposit was required to be made or, if earlier, the return due date for the return period.” The calculator tests each liability against that rule and zeroes the penalty when it is met. Rev. Proc. 2001-58, sec. 4.03 and Example 4, apply a deposit made on the make-up date to the shortfall first and a deposit made earlier to the most recently ended regular period. Separately, if the accumulated tax for the return period is under $2,500 (or the prior quarter’s was, with no $100,000 obligation in the current one) and it is paid with a timely return, the amount is deemed timely deposited (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(f)(4)). When the record of liability is missing or does not reconcile, the IRS averages the total tax over the period before computing (IRM 20.1.4.8.8.1; Exhibit 20.1.4-3); this calculator uses the liabilities you enter and does not average.
Worked example: Rev. Proc. 2001-58, Example 1
A semiweekly depositor with biweekly Friday payrolls in the second quarter of 2002 had deposits due April 17 ($8,000), May 1 ($6,000), May 15 ($5,000), May 30 ($7,000), June 12 ($8,000) and June 26 ($9,000), and deposited $6,000, $6,000, $5,000, $7,000, $7,000 and $9,000 on those dates. In July it found the two shortfalls and deposited $3,000 with the Form 941 on July 31. Applying each deposit to the most recently ended period leaves $2,000 of the April 17 liability and $1,000 of the June 12 liability open until July 31; the procedure’s table shows 105 and 49 days late, both at 10 percent, for a penalty of $300, with the notice dated October 21, 2002 opening the 90-day designation window. The calculator reproduces the $300 and the day counts from the 2002 dates (its first example button shifts the same payroll pattern into 2026 so that the due dates are computed from the current calendar). Example 3 (weekly $10,000 Friday payrolls, each deposit after the first made two days early for the prior week) produces a single $1,000 penalty on the April 12 period paid June 26, 70 days late, and the calculator matches that table including the May 30 and July 3 due dates. Example 2, a monthly depositor who missed April and kept depositing on the 25th, is the cascade: with $5,000 liabilities the default rule charges 5 percent on all three months ($750), while designating the May and June deposits to those months leaves only April late, 71 days at 10 percent ($500).
What the calculator does not do
It does not decide reasonable cause, apply the IRC 6656(c) first-time depositor waiver or the IRC 6656(d) wrong-depository abatement (the first is systemic for new Form 941, 943 and 944 filers per IRM 20.1.4.26.3), average liabilities, accumulate several payrolls toward the $100,000 threshold within a period, or handle Form 720 or Form 1042 deposits. For relief after the penalty posts see first-time abate and reasonable cause; for the exposure of responsible persons, the TFRP guide.
Questions practitioners ask
Why did a deposit made in May get applied to April?
Because the default rule applies a deposit to the most recently ended deposit period. For a monthly depositor the May period does not end until May 31, so a deposit on May 28 lands on April (Rev. Proc. 2001-58, sec. 4.01 and Example 2). A designation within 90 days of the penalty notice moves it to May.
How long is the designation window and when does it start?
IRC 6656(e)(2): only during the 90-day period beginning on the date of the notice that the penalty was imposed. IRM 20.1.4.26.3 measures it from the 23C date of the notice containing the assessment and says a late request cannot be considered. The calculator shows day 90 counting the notice date as day 1.
Can designation ever increase the penalty?
Yes, and IRM 20.1.4.26.3 instructs employees to explain a higher result and offer the option of keeping the lower amount. Run the designation here first; the FIFO row shows the oldest-first order some depositors request by habit.
Is a deposit one day late if the due date was a holiday?
No. A due date that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or District of Columbia legal holiday moves to the next business day under IRC 7503 (IRM 20.1.4.7.2), and semiweekly depositors get an extra day for each holiday among the three weekdays after the period closes (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(c)(2)(iii)). State holidays do not count.
The shortfall was small. Is there really a penalty?
Not if it is within the greater of $100 or 2 percent of the required deposit and made up by the make-up date (Treas. Reg. 31.6302-1(f)). A $400 shortfall on a $10,000 deposit is outside the limit, as Example 4 of Rev. Proc. 2001-58 shows, and the ordinary tiers apply.
Does paying the tax with the Form 941 avoid the penalty?
Only when the de minimis rule applies (under $2,500 for the period, or the prior quarter under $2,500 with no $100,000 obligation). Otherwise an amount that should have been deposited by EFT but was paid with the return is charged the 10 percent avoidance rate (Pub 15; IRM 20.1.4.7.1).