The EIN is a nine-digit number the IRS issues. The digits are arranged as follows: 00-0000000. It is used to identify the tax accounts of employers and certain others that have no employees. Use your EIN on all the items you send to the IRS and SSA for your business.

If you have not asked for an EIN, request one on Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. Form SS-4 contains information on how to apply for an EIN by mail or by telephone.

If you do not have an EIN by the time a return is due, write Applied For and the date you applied in the space shown for the number. If you took over another employer's business, do not use that employer's EIN. Make your check for any amount due on a return payable to the United States Treasury and show on it your name (as shown on Form SS-4), address, kind of tax, period covered, and date you applied for an EIN.

You should have only one EIN. If you have more than one, notify the Internal Revenue Service Center where you file your return. List the EINs you have, the name and address to which each number was assigned, and the address of your principal place of business. The IRS will tell you which EIN to use.

For more information, see Pub. 1635, Understanding Your EIN, or Pub. 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records. Social security number

An employee's social security number (SSN) consists of nine digits separated as follows: 000-00-0000. You must obtain each employee's name and SSN because you must enter them on Form W-2. You may, but are not required to, photocopy the social security card if the employee provides it. If you do not provide the correct name and SSN, you may owe a penalty. Any employee without a social security card can get one by completing Form SS-5. You can get this form at SSA offices or by calling 1-800-772-1213. If your employee has applied for an SSN but does not have one when you must file Form W-2, enter Applied For on the form. When the employee receives the SSN, file Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, to show the employee's SSN.

If your employee was given a new social security card to show his or her correct name and number after an adjustment to his or her alien residence status, correct your records and show the new information on Form W-2. If you filed Form W-2 for the same employee in prior years under the old name and SSN, file Form W-2c to correct the name and number. Advise the employee to contact the local SSA office about 9 months after the Form W-2c is filed to ensure that his or her records have been updated.

A resident or nonresident alien may request an ITIN for tax purposes if he or she does not have and is not eligible to get an SSN. Possession of an ITIN does not change an individual's employment or immigration status under U.S. law. Do not accept an ITIN in place of an SSN for employee identification. An individual with an ITIN who later becomes eligible to work in the United States must obtain an SSN.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers employers and authorized reporting agents two methods for verifying employee SSNs. Both methods match employee names and SSNs.

Generally, a worker who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. This is so even when you give the employee freedom of action. What matters is that you have the right to control the details of how the services are performed. Get Pub. 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, for more information on how to determine whether an individual providing services is an independent contractor or an employee.

Commodity wages are not cash and are not subject to social security and Medicare taxes or income tax withholding. However, noncash payments, including commodity wages, are treated as cash payments if the substance of the transaction is a cash payment. These payments are subject to social security and Medicare taxes and income tax withholding.

Generally, the wages you pay to family members who are your employees are subject to social security and Medicare, and income tax withholding, and FUTA tax. However, certain exemptions may apply for your child, spouse, or parent. See the table, How Do Employment Taxes Apply to Farmwork?, on page 19.

The wages of an employee who performs household services, such as a maid, babysitter, gardener, or cook, in your home are not subject to social security and Medicare taxes if you pay that employee cash wages of less than $1,200 in 2000 ($1,300 in 2001).

Social security and Medicare taxes do not apply to cash wages for housework in your private home if it was done by your spouse or your child under age 21. Nor do the taxes apply to housework done by your parent unless:

For more information, see Pub. 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide.

Social security and Medicare taxes do not apply to wages paid to share farmers or to alien workers admitted under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act on a temporary basis to perform agricultural labor (H-2(A) workers). Social security and Medicare: Withholding

To know how much income tax to withhold from employees' wages, you should have a Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, on file for each employee. Ask each new employee to give you a signed Form W-4 when starting work. Make the form effective with the first wage payment. If a new employee does not give you a completed Form W-4, withhold tax as if he or she is single, with no withholding allowances. A Form W-4 remains in effect until the employee gives you a new one. If an employee gives you a replacement Form W-4, begin withholding no later than the start of the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day from the date you received the replacement Form W-4.

Use Form W-4 only to determine income tax withholding. It has no effect on social security, Medicare, state income tax, or any other form of withholding.

The amount of income tax withholding is based on marital status and withholding allowances. Your employees may not base their withholding amounts on a fixed dollar amount or percentage. However, the employee may specify a dollar amount to be withheld in addition to the amount of withholding based on filing status and withholding allowances claimed on Form W-4.

Employees may claim fewer withholding allowances than they are entitled to claim. They may do this to ensure that they have enough withholding or to offset other sources of taxable income that are not subject to withholding.

Pub. 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, contains detailed instructions for completing Form W-4. Along with Form W-4, you may wish to order Pub. 505 and Pub. 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?, for your employees.

When you receive a new Form W-4, do not adjust withholding for pay periods prior to the effective date of the new form; that is, do not adjust withholding retroactively. Also, do not accept any withholding or estimated tax payments from your employees in addition to withholding based on their Form W-4. If they want additional withholding, they should submit a new Form W-4 and, if necessary, pay estimated tax by filing Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals. Exemption from withholding

An employee may claim exemption from income tax withholding because he or she had no income tax liability last year and expects none this year. However, the wages are subject to social security and Medicare taxes.

An employee must file a Form W-4 each year by February 15 to claim exemption from withholding. Employers should begin withholding after that date for each employee who previously claimed exemption from withholding but who has not submitted a new Form W-4 for the current year. Withhold tax as if the employee is single with zero withholding allowances.

In general, if you pay wages to nonresident aliens, you must withhold income tax (unless excepted by regulations), social security, and Medicare taxes as you would for a U.S. citizen. However, income tax withholding from the wages of nonresident aliens is subject to the special rules shown in Form W-4 below. You must also give a Form W-2 to the nonresident alien and file a copy with the SSA. The wages are subject to FUTA tax as well. However, see Pub. 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Corporations, for exceptions to these general rules.

You must send the IRS copies of certain Forms W-4 received during the quarter from employees still employed by you at the end of the quarter. Send copies when the employee claims (1) more than 10 withholding allowances or (2) exemption from withholding and his or her wages would normally be more than $200 per week. You are not required to send any other Forms W-4 unless the IRS notifies you in writing to do so.

Each quarter, send to the IRS copies of any Forms W-4 that meet either of the above conditions. Complete boxes 8 and 10 on any Forms W-4 you send in. You may use box 9 to identify the office responsible for processing the employee's payroll information. Also send copies of any written statements from employees in support of the claims made on Forms W-4. Do this even if the Forms W-4 are not in effect at the end of the quarter. You can send them to your IRS service center more often if you like. Include a cover letter giving your name, address, employer identification number, and the number of forms included. In certain cases, the IRS may notify you in writing that you must submit specified Forms W-4 more frequently to the IRS.

Base withholding on the Forms W-4 that you send in unless the IRS notifies you in writing that you should do otherwise. If the IRS notifies you about a particular employee, base withholding on the number of withholding allowances shown in the IRS notice. You will get a copy of the notice to give to the employee. Also, the employee will get a similar notice directly from the IRS. If the employee later gives you a new Form W-4, follow it only if (1) exempt status is not claimed and (2) the number of withholding allowances is equal to or fewer than the number in the IRS notice. Otherwise, disregard it and do not submit it to the IRS. Continue to follow the IRS notice.

If the employee prepares a new Form W-4 explaining any difference with the IRS notice, he or she may either submit it to the IRS or to you. If submitted to you, send the Form W-4 and explanation to the IRS office shown in the notice. Continue to withhold based on the notice until the IRS tells you to follow the new Form W-4. Magnetic media reporting: Form W-4

Form W-4 information may be filed with the IRS magnetically or electronically. If you wish to file magnetically or electronically, you must submit Form 4419, Application for Filing Information Returns Magnetically/Electronically, to request authorization. See Pub. 1245, Specifications for Filing Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, Magnetically or Electronically, for information on filing Form W-4 magnetically or electronically. To get additional information about magnetic or electronic filing, call the IRS Martinsburg Computing Center at 304-263-8700.

Any unauthorized change or addition to Form W-4 makes it invalid. This includes taking out any language certifying that the form is correct. A Form W-4 is also invalid if, by the date an employee gives it to you, he or she indicates in any way that it is false.

If you receive an invalid Form W-4, do not use it to figure withholding. Tell the employee it is invalid and ask for another one. If the employee does not give you a valid one, withhold taxes as if the employee were single and claiming no withholding allowances. However, if you have an earlier Form W-4 for this worker that is valid, withhold as you did before.

If you receive a Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income (Form 668-W(c) or 668-W(c)(DO)), you must withhold amounts as described in the instructions for these forms. Pub. 1494, Table for Figuring Amount Exempt From Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income (Forms 668-W(c) and 668-W(c)(DO)), shows the exempt amount. If a levy issued in a prior year is still in effect, use the current year Pub. 1494 to compute the exempt amount. Income tax withholding: How to figure:

Form W-5 states the eligibility requirements for receiving advance EIC payments. On Form W-5, an employee states that he or she expects to be eligible to claim the EIC and shows whether he or she has another Form W-5 in effect with any other current employer.

An employee may have only one Form W-5 in effect with an employer at one time. If an employee is married and his or her spouse also works, each spouse should file a separate Form W-5.

For more information, see Form W-5 or Circular E.

You must include advance EIC payments with wages you pay to eligible employees who give you a signed and completed Form W-5. Form W-5 is effective for the first payroll period ending (or the first wage payment made without regard to a payroll period) on or after the date the employee gives you the form. It remains in effect until the end of the year or until the employee revokes it or gives you a new one. Employees must give you a new Form W-5 each year.

Figure the amount of advance EIC to include in the employee's pay by using either the wage bracket or percentage method tables that begin on page 42. There are separate tables for employees whose spouses have a Form W-5 in effect.

Advance EIC payments are not wages and are not subject to withholding of income, social security, or Medicare taxes. An advance EIC payment does not change the amount of income, social security, or Medicare taxes you withhold from the employee's wages. You add the advance EIC payment to the employee's net pay for the pay period. At the end of the year, you show the total advance EIC payments in box 9 on Form W-2. Do not include this amount as wages in box 1.

Beginning in 2001, you may make payments with Form 943 instead of depositing if:

If you file Form 943 and pay wages to household workers who work on your for-profit farm, you may include the wages and taxes of these workers on Form 943. If you choose not to report these wages and taxes on Form 943, or if your household worker does not work on your for-profit farm, report the wages of these workers separately on Schedule H (Form 1040), Household Employment Taxes. If you report the wages on Form 943, include the taxes when you figure deposit requirements or make deposits. If you include household employee wages and taxes on Schedule H (Form 1040), do not include the household employee taxes when you figure deposit requirements or make Form 943 deposits. See Pub. 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide, for more information about household workers.

Send Form 943, with payment of any taxes due that are not required to be deposited, to the IRS by January 31 following the year for which the return is filed (or February 12 if the tax was timely deposited in full). Please note that there may be different addresses for filing returns, depending on whether you file with or without a payment.

For each month or part of a month a return is not filed when required (disregarding any extensions of the filing deadline), there is a penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax due with that return. The maximum penalty is 25% of the tax due. Also, for each month or part of a month the tax is paid late (disregarding any extensions of the payment deadline), a penalty of 0.5% of the amount of unpaid tax may apply. The maximum amount of this penalty is also 25% of the tax due. The penalties will not be charged if you have reasonable cause for failing to file or pay. If you file or pay late, attach an explanation to your Form 943. In addition, interest accrues from the due date of the tax on any unpaid balance.

If income, social security, and Medicare taxes that must be withheld are not withheld or are not paid, you may be personally liable for the trust fund recovery penalty. See section 7.

Generally, deposit FUTA tax quarterly. To figure your FUTA tax, multiply .008 times the amount of wages paid to each employee during the quarter. When an employee's wages reach $7,000, do not figure any additional FUTA tax for that employee. If the FUTA tax for the quarter (plus any undeposited FUTA tax from prior quarters) is more than $100, deposit the FUTA tax with an authorized financial institution, or by using EFTPS, explained in section 7, by the last day of the month following the close of the quarter. If the amount is $100 or less, you do not have to deposit it, but you must add it to the amount subject to deposit for the next quarter. To help ensure proper crediting to your account, write your employer identification number, Form 940, and the tax period the deposit applies to on your check or money order.

By January 31, file Form 940 or 940-EZ. If you make deposits on time in full payment of the tax due for the year, you may file Form 940 or 940-EZ by February 12.

Form 940-EZ is a simpler version of Form 940. You can generally use Form 940-EZ if:

If you do not meet these conditions, file Form 940 instead.

If the FUTA tax reported on Form 940 or 940-EZ minus the amounts deposited for the first three quarters is more than $100, deposit the whole amount by January 31. If the tax (minus any deposits) is $100 or less, you may either deposit the tax or pay it with the return by January 31.

Once you have filed a Form 940 or 940-EZ, you will receive a preaddressed form near the end of each calendar year. If you do not receive a form, request one by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM in time to receive it and file when due.

Reporting agents filing Forms 940 for groups of taxpayers can file them on magnetic tape. See Rev. Proc. 96-18, 1996-1 C.B. 637. Recordkeeping