Payroll tax deposit schedules: monthly vs. semiweekly

When you run payroll yourself, you hold the federal income tax you withheld plus the Social Security and Medicare taxes for each paycheck. You then send that money to the IRS on a set schedule. The IRS has two deposit schedules, monthly and semiweekly. Your schedule depends on how much tax you reported in the past, not on how often you pay people.

This guide explains how to find your schedule, when each deposit is due, and the special rules that catch small employers off guard. It covers federal rules only. Your state withholding has its own schedule. For Oklahoma, see Oklahoma payroll withholding basics.

What the deposit schedule covers

The two schedules apply to Social Security tax, Medicare tax, and withheld federal income tax. These are the taxes you report on Form 941. According to IRS Publication 15 (2026), these schedules "tell you when a deposit is due after a tax liability arises." Your liability is based on the date you paid wages. It is not based on the end of the pay period.

FUTA tax does not follow these rules. It has its own quarterly deposit rule. See Form 940 and FUTA tax for that.

The names can be confusing. Publication 15 says the terms "monthly schedule depositor" and "semiweekly schedule depositor" don't refer to how often your business pays its employees, or even how often you have to make deposits. They tell you which set of deposit rules applies to you.

How to find your schedule: the lookback period

You must work out your schedule before each calendar year starts. For Form 941 filers, the IRS looks at a four-quarter "lookback period" that runs from July 1 through June 30.

For calendar year 2026, the lookback period is July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

Follow these steps, based on the summary in Publication 15:

1. Find your lookback period (for 2026, the four quarters from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025).
2. Add up the total taxes you reported on Form 941, line 12, for those four quarters.
3. If the total was $50,000 or less, you are a monthly schedule depositor for the year.
4. If the total was more than $50,000, you are a semiweekly schedule depositor for the year.

Here is the IRS example. Rose Co. reported $48,000 in total for its 2025 lookback period, so it was a monthly depositor for 2025. Its 2026 lookback period totaled $51,000, so it became a semiweekly depositor for 2026.

Corrections filed later don't change the math. Adjustments made on Form 941-X don't affect the tax liability for earlier periods under the lookback rule.

New businesses

If your S corporation is new, any quarter in the lookback period before you started counts as zero. So a Form 941 filer is a monthly schedule depositor for its first calendar year. The $100,000 next-day rule, covered below, can still change that.

The monthly deposit schedule

Most small S corporations with one owner-employee and a few staff fall here. The IRS employment tax due dates page puts it simply: "deposit employment taxes on payments made during a month by the 15th day of the following month."

For example, taxes on every payday in March are due together by April 15. If you paid no wages in a month, you have no deposit for that month. In the IRS example, Spruce Co. paid wages each Friday in March and none in April. It deposited the March taxes by April 15 and had nothing due on May 15.

Being a monthly depositor does not mean you file Form 941 monthly. Publication 15 says monthly schedule depositors shouldn't file Form 941 on a monthly basis. You still file it quarterly. See How to file Form 941 yourself.

The semiweekly deposit schedule

If your lookback total was more than $50,000, your deposit due date depends on the day of the week you pay wages.

Source: Table 2 in Publication 15 (2026).

A semiweekly depositor who pays wages only once a month still makes only one deposit a month. In the IRS example, Green, Inc. pays wages on the last Friday of each month. It deposits once a month, but the due date follows the semiweekly rule (the following Wednesday), not the 15th.

Semiweekly depositors also have extra paperwork. You must complete Schedule B (Form 941), Report of Tax Liability for Semiweekly Schedule Depositors, and file it with Form 941.

When pay dates cross a quarter

If two pay dates fall in the same semiweekly period but in different calendar quarters, you make separate deposits. The IRS example: a pay date on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 (third quarter) and another on Friday, October 2, 2026 (fourth quarter) need two separate deposits. Both are due Wednesday, October 7, 2026.

Weekends and holidays

Deposits are due on business days only. A business day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. If a deposit falls on a day that isn't a business day, it is on time if you make it by the close of the next business day.

For deposit purposes, "legal holiday" means a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. Other statewide holidays don't count. Publication 15 lists the 2026 legal holidays, including DC Emancipation Day on April 16, which many people don't expect. Check the current list in Publication 15 each year.

Semiweekly depositors always get at least 3 business days after the semiweekly period closes. If a holiday falls in those days, the due date moves out by a day for each holiday. For example, if you paid on Friday and the following Monday is a legal holiday, the deposit normally due Wednesday can be made Thursday.

The $100,000 next-day rule

This rule applies to both schedules. If you build up $100,000 or more in taxes on any day during a deposit period, you must deposit by the next business day.

It also changes your schedule. In the IRS example, Elm, Inc. was a new business and a monthly depositor. On Friday, May 8, its accumulated liability reached $100,000. It had to deposit by Monday, May 11. It became a semiweekly depositor on May 9 and stays one for the rest of 2026 and for 2027.

Most small S corporations will never hit this. A large one-time bonus could, though.

The small-quarter exception

If your Form 941 total tax liability (line 12) for the current quarter or the prior quarter is less than $2,500, and you didn't trigger the $100,000 rule during the current quarter, you can pay with your return instead of depositing. Publication 15 adds a caution: if you aren't sure the current quarter will stay under $2,500 (and the prior quarter wasn't under $2,500), deposit under the monthly or semiweekly rules so you aren't hit with a failure-to-deposit penalty.

How to make the deposit

Federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer. The IRS employment tax due dates page lists your options: your IRS business tax account, IRS Direct Pay for businesses, or EFTPS. All three are free. EFTPS gives you an EFT Trace Number with each successful payment, which you can keep as a receipt. Cutoff times matter, so check the current EFTPS instructions before your first payment. For a walk-through, see How to make an EFTPS payroll tax deposit.

Depositing alone isn't enough. The IRS notes that making a deposit "does not report the taxes or relieve you of the requirement to file a return." You still file Form 941 by the last day of the month after the quarter ends. If you deposited all taxes on time, you get 10 extra calendar days to file.

Why it matters: late deposit penalties

Publication 15 lists failure-to-deposit penalties that grow with time:

• 2% for deposits made 1 to 5 days late.
• 5% for deposits made 6 to 15 days late.
• 10% for deposits made 16 or more days late (before 10 days from the IRS's first notice).
• 10% for amounts that should have been deposited but were paid directly to the IRS or with your return.

See Payroll tax penalties and how to avoid them for more. To keep every due date in one place, use the S-corp payroll calendar or the free payroll deadline calendar.

Where Selfroll fits

Selfroll is a free payroll calculator for small S-corporation owners. It works out the withholding and payroll taxes, keeps a deadline calendar with your deposit dates, and fills draft copies of forms like Form 941 for you to review. You make the deposits in EFTPS yourself and file the returns yourself.

Sources

• IRS Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide
• IRS: Employment tax due dates

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check current IRS, SSA and state rules or ask a CPA.