Please note that the OMB number and expiration date may not have been determined when this Information Collection Request and associated Information Collection forms were submitted to OMB. The approved OMB number and expiration date may be found by clicking on the Notice of Action link below.

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion

OMB Control No: 1545-0029	ICR Reference No: 202006-1545-004
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 202004-1545-007
Agency/Subagency: TREAS/IRS	Agency Tracking No: Ready
Title: Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return
Type of Information Collection: No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 03/31/2020
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 06/18/2020
	Date Received in OIRA: 06/18/2020
Terms of Clearance: OMB is approving the revision to the existing collection as a non-sub change due to the recent emergency approval of the collection. OMB is approving the forms attached to this ICR change request on the basis that the only change made in the version released to the public for filing will be the removal of draft cover page language and watermarks. Treasury will submit a further ICR change to reflect the final version of the forms without that draft language concurrently with the forms' release to the public. Treasury will go through the usual PRA public comment process before seeking an extension of this OMB control number.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	09/30/2020	09/30/2020	09/30/2020
Responses	40,361,546	0	40,361,546
Time Burden (Hours)	578,219,960	0	415,521,474
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: Form 941 is used by employers to report payments made to employees subject to income and social security/Medicare taxes and the amounts of these taxes. Form 941-PR is used by employers in Puerto Rico to report social security and Medicare taxes only. Form 941-SS is used by employers in the U.S. possessions to report social security and Medicare taxes only. Schedule B is used by employers to record their employment tax liability. The Form 8974 was developed to determine the portion of the elected amount that can be claimed for the quarter on the Form 941. The new Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19, is used to request an advance payment of the tax credits for qualified sick and qualified family leave wages, and the employee retention credit.

Emergency Justfication: Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR 1320, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests that the following collection of information, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, be processed in accordance with section 1320.13 Emergency Processing. The IRS has determined that this information must be collected prior to the expiration of time periods established under Part 1320, and that this information is essential to the IRS’s ability to effectively implement Division G of P.L. 116–127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Section 2301 of P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, addressing the economic disruption stemming from the Novel (new) Coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”) global pandemic. New Form 7200 was developed for an employer to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of credit for qualified sick and family leave wages or compensation pursuant to Division G of the FFCRA, and to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of the employee retention credit pursuant to Section 2301 of CARES, that will be claimed on Form 941, Form 943, Form 944, or Form CT-1. Because an employment tax return isn’t filed until some period of time (generally, a month after the end of the quarter for which wages are being reported) after wages are required to be paid, an employer may not be able to fund the sick leave or family leave required by the FFCRA, or fund the qualified wages under CARES Act. This may create financial hardship to businesses that are unable to request an advance payment, so the agency is requesting an emergency approval of Form 7200. Given the critical impact of the global pandemic of 2019-nCoV, and the damaging effects on the US economy, Treasury has directed an extremely expeditious implementation of the new legislation, to be able to inject the necessary funds to the impacted employers. As a result, Treasury is unable to consult with the public prior to issuing the forms, however the IRS has ample experience designing other similar forms in a way that is clear and minimizes burden. Also, due to the nature of this ICR, being voluntary and only one avenue to receive the benefit of the tax credit (the preferred and recommended avenue is for employers to reduce their FICA deposits, as noted in the Form 7200), the estimated number of respondents, and the associated burden is extremely preliminary and provided only to comply with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.3. Updated burden estimates will be provided as part of the renewal of OMB #1545-0029, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Treasury requests approval of the submission by March 31, 2020. Given the inability to seek public comment during such a short timeframe, Treasury requests a waiver from the requirement to publish notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment during the period of OMB review. Public comment will be solicited in conjunction with any future extension of the approval to collect this information.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 26 USC 3102 Name of Law: Deduction of tax from wages
   US Code: 26 USC 3405 Name of Law: Special rules for pensions, annuities, and certain other deferred income
   US Code: 26 USC 3504 Name of Law: Acts to be performed by agents
   US Code: 26 USC 3101 Name of Law: Rate of tax
   US Code: 26 USC 3511 Name of Law: Certified professional employer organizations
   US Code: 26 USC 3111(d) Name of Law: Rate of tax
   PL: Pub.L. 116 - 127 7001 ad 7003 Name of Law: Families First Coronavirus Response Act
   PL: Pub.L. 116 - 136 2301 Name of Law: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
   US Code: 26 USC 3501 Name of Law: Collection and payment of taxes

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: PL: Pub.L. 116 - 127 7001 and 7003 Name of Law: Families First Coronavirus Response Act
PL: Pub.L. 116 - 136 2301 Name of Law: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute
Annual Number of Responses	40,361,546	40,361,546	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	578,219,960	415,521,474	162,698,486
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR 1320, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests that the following collection of information, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, be processed in accordance with section 1320.13 Emergency Processing. The IRS has determined that this information must be collected prior to the expiration of time periods established under Part 1320, and that this information is essential to the IRS’s ability to effectively implement Division G of P.L. 116–127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Section 2301 of P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, addressing the economic disruption stemming from the Novel (new) Coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”) global pandemic. The Form 7200 was released in March 2020 for an employer to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of credit for qualified sick and family leave wages or compensation pursuant to Division G of the FFCRA, and to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of the employee retention credit pursuant to Section 2301 of CARES, that will now be claimed on second quarter Form 941, Form 941-SS, or Form 941-PR. Significant changes were made to Form 941 series to allow for the reporting of new employment tax credits and other tax relief related to COVID-19. The estimated number of respondents and the associated burden have been updated to reflect the changes but are preliminary and provided only to comply with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.3. Updated burden estimates will be provided as part of the renewal of OMB #1545-0029, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return in September 2020. Treasury requests approval of the submission by June 18, 2020 accommodate upcoming second quarter filings which are due on July 31. Given the inability to seek public comment during such a short timeframe, Treasury requests a waiver from the requirement to publish notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment during the period of OMB review. Public comment will be solicited in conjunction with the upcoming renewal of this collection. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests a non-substantive change to OMB Control No. 1545-0029, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, in order to update the 941 series forms to incorporate provisions of recent legislation. In March 2020, the IRS revised 1545-0029 under emergency procedures in order to implement Division G of P.L. 116–127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Section 2301 of P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, addressing the economic disruption stemming from the Novel (new) Coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”) global pandemic. The new Form 7200 was added during that revision, enabling employers to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of credit for qualified sick and family leave wages or compensation pursuant to Division G of the FFCRA, and to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of the employee retention credit pursuant to Section 2301 of the CARES Act, that will now be claimed on second quarter Form 941, Form 941-SS, or Form 941-PR. Given the urgency of the pandemic response it was not possible to include updates to the Form 941 series during the previous revision, however updated versions of the Form 941, 941-SS and 941-PR are now being added for usage in the quarterly filings due on July 31. These forms incorporate fields for the reporting of new employment tax credits and other tax relief related to COVID-19. The estimated number of respondents and the associated burden have been updated to reflect the changes, but are preliminary. Updated burden estimates will be provided as part of the renewal of OMB #1545-0029, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return in September 2020.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $12,235,028

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Yes

Agency Contact: Michael Ecker 202 622-3144