The IRS recently released its 2024 Form 941, Schedule B, and Schedule R along with the accompanying instructions. Several changes have been made to the 941 and to Schedule R, while Schedule B remained largely unchanged for 2024. Many of the changes found throughout the form, schedules, and instructions this year are related to the expiration of portions of the Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 regarding sick or family leave.
For Form 941 and its accompanying instructions, all changes are related to the removal of the expired credits from the Tax Relief Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. The form itself has been updated for the 2024 tax year and should be used exclusive of prior versions for reporting taxes for the first quarter of 2024. Several lines have been removed, including Part 1 lines 5a(i) and 5a(ii), lines 11b through 11g, lines 13b through 13i, and Part 3 numbers 19 through 28, all of which are either related to qualified sick or family leave wages or were lines reserved for future use. In the instructions, aside from the removal of sections relating to the expired credits, the references for information about certified professional employer organizations (CPEOs) requirements to file electronically have been updated to access Rev. Proc. 2023-18. Additionally, notice is given regarding the new Spanish-language Pub. 15 which contains information previously found in Publications 51, 80, and 179. The sections referencing medical and family leave specific to the expired portions of the two Acts were removed from the instructions, leaving the majority of the remaining instructions untouched.
For Schedule R, a great many of the fields have changed due to the expiration of the leave credits previously mentioned. These include fields F, and K through Y, all of which were related to lines which were removed from Form 941 for 2024. While some of the changes reserve lines for future use, others are now used for the sum of two different lines and fields Q and R now reference data from lines 12 and 13 on Form 941 respectively. The instructions for Schedule R were similarly updated with changes reflecting the changes found with the fields on the form itself.
More information about Form 941 and its Schedules can be found on the IRS Form 941 page, here.
