Updated October 19, 2026. Quick answer: Form 940 is the Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return. For tax year 2025 the instructions put the due date at February 2, 2026, or February 10, 2026 for an employer that deposited all of its FUTA tax when due. Only employers pay FUTA tax, and it applies to the first $7,000 paid to each employee in a calendar year.
Quick reference
| Item | As the IRS form or instructions state it |
|---|---|
| Form and year read | Form 940 for 2025, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return |
| Wage base per employee | “The FUTA tax applies to the first $7,000 you pay to each employee during a calendar year after subtracting any payments exempt from FUTA tax.” |
| Rate for 2025 | “The FUTA tax is 6.0% (0.060) for 2025.” |
| Maximum credit | “Tax rate (based on maximum credit of 5.4%)” |
| Due date for 2025 | “The due date for filing Form 940 for 2025 is February 2, 2026.” |
| Later date if all tax was deposited on time | “However, if you deposited all your FUTA tax when it was due, you may file Form 940 by February 10, 2026.” |
| Deposit trigger | “If your FUTA tax is more than $500 for the calendar year, you must deposit at least one quarterly payment.” |
| Number of parts on the form | 7 (Part 1 through Part 7) |
What Form 940 is for and who files it
The instructions open with the purpose: “Use Form 940 to report your annual Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax.” They also explain how the tax fits with state programs: “Most employers pay both a federal and a state unemployment tax.” Employees are not charged: “Only employers pay FUTA tax.” “Don’t collect or deduct FUTA tax from your employees’ wages.”
The filing test is two questions. The instructions say “if you answer “Yes” to either one of these questions, you must file Form 940.” The questions are “Did you pay wages of $1,500 or more to employees in any calendar quarter during 2024 or 2025?” and “Did you have one or more employees for at least some part of a day in any 20 or more different weeks in 2024 or 20 or more different weeks in 2025?”
The instructions add special rules. For household employers, “you must pay FUTA tax on wages that you paid to your household employees only if you paid cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter in 2024 or 2025.” They also state that “Generally, employers of household employees must file Schedule H (Form 1040) instead of Form 940.” For farm employers the tests are “Did you pay cash wages of $20,000 or more to farmworkers during any calendar quarter in 2024 or 2025?” and “Did you employ 10 or more farmworkers during some part of the day (whether or not at the same time) during any 20 or more different weeks in 2024 or 20 or more different weeks in 2025?”
When Form 940 is due and where it is filed
For 2025 the instructions give two dates. “The due date for filing Form 940 for 2025 is February 2, 2026.” “However, if you deposited all your FUTA tax when it was due, you may file Form 940 by February 10, 2026.”
A date that falls on a weekend or holiday moves: “If any due date for filing falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, you may file your return on the next business day.”
On timing for paper returns, the instructions say the IRS “will treat Form 940 as filed on time if the envelope containing Form 940 is properly addressed, contains sufficient postage, and is postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on or before the due date”. On method, “You’re encouraged to file Form 940 electronically.” A paper return goes to an address that depends on location and on whether a payment is included, listed in a table in the instructions.
The parts and lines of Form 940
The form has seven parts. Part 1 is “Tell us about your return.” Line 1a covers a single state, line 1b covers a “multistate employer”, and line 2 covers wages paid in a state subject to credit reduction. Both lines 1b and 2 direct the filer to Schedule A (Form 940).
Part 2 is titled “Determine your FUTA tax before adjustments.” Line 3 is “Total payments to all employees”, line 4 is “Payments exempt from FUTA tax”, and line 5 is “Total of payments made to each employee in excess of $7,000”. Line 8 reads “FUTA tax before adjustments (line 7 x 0.006 = line 8)”.
Part 3 is “Determine your adjustments.” Line 9 applies when all taxable FUTA wages were excluded from state unemployment tax: “multiply line 7 by 0.054”. Line 11 carries the credit reduction total from Schedule A. Part 4 is “Determine your FUTA tax and balance due or overpayment.” Part 5 is “Report your FUTA tax liability by quarter only if line 12 is more than $500.” Line 16 then lists four quarters, and line 17 says the “Total must equal line 12.” Parts 6 and 7 cover a third-party designee and the signature.
Deposits, credits and the figures that matter
Deposits depend on quarterly liability. The instructions say “If your FUTA tax is $500 or less in a quarter, carry it over to the next quarter.” “Deposit your FUTA tax by the last day of the month after the end of the quarter.”
For the last quarter, “If your FUTA tax for the fourth quarter (plus any undeposited amounts from earlier quarters) is more than $500, deposit the entire amount by February 2, 2026.”
Where to go next
Employers who also report wages and withholding each quarter will want the quarterly return covered on the Form 941 instructions page. A business that needs an employer identification number first can read the Form SS-4 page, and the year-end wage statements are summarized on the Form W-3 page. Household employers can compare the Schedule 2 line 9 page.
Where this comes from
The editions read for this page are Form 940 (2025) and the Instructions for Form 940 (2025), dated Nov 18, 2025, which are the revisions irs.gov served when they were read on 2026-10-19. Check the revision printed on the form you file, because a later revision can change the lines and due dates. This page describes Form 940 (2025), Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return; Instructions for Form 940 (2025), as served on irs.gov on October 19, 2026. The IRS can revise a form after we read it, and the form you file and its own instructions control. General information, not tax or legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Treating FUTA as something withheld from pay. The instructions say “Only employers pay FUTA tax.”
- Reading the 2025 due date as the only date. The instructions give “February 10, 2026” for an employer that deposited all FUTA tax when due.
- Assuming a household employer always files Form 940. The instructions say “Generally, employers of household employees must file Schedule H (Form 1040) instead of Form 940.”
- Assuming a quarter under the threshold is forgotten. The instructions say “carry it over to the next quarter.”
Related: Form 941 instructions, Form SS-4, Form W-3, and Schedule 2 line 9 household employment taxes.
Sources
- Form 940 (2025), Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f940.pdf
- Instructions for Form 940 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i940.pdf
Read from the IRS pages linked above on October 19, 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice. The IRS form and the instructions for your own form control, and your own facts decide the outcome.