Topic 760 – Form 943 – Reporting and Deposit Requirements for Agricultural Employers
Employers who paid wages to agricultural employees that are subject to income tax, social security or Medicare withholding must file a Form 943 (PDF), Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees, to report those wages.

Additionally, you’re subject to withholding on wages if:

You pay an employee cash wages of $150 or more in the year for farm work, or
The total wages (cash and noncash) you pay all farm workers in the year is $2,500.
There are some exceptions for hand-harvest workers you pay less than $150 during the year in Publication 51, (Circular A), Agricultural Employer’s Tax Guide.

Generally, you must file your Form 943 by January 31 of the year after you paid the wages, unless you made timely deposits during the year that full pay your liability. In that case, you must file by February 10. You must also file Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, by January 31. Generally, you must furnish Copies B, C, and 2 of Form W-2 to your employees by January 31. For information on meeting the furnish requirement and/or to request an extension of time to furnish Forms W-2, see the Form W-2 and W-3 General Instructions. When the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is delayed until the next business day.

If your total employment taxes will exceed $2,500 in the year, you’ll have to make electronic deposits throughout the year on a monthly or semiweekly schedule. When depositing the taxes, usually using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), you’ll have to make the deposit by 8 p.m. Eastern time the day before the due date to be considered timely.

Additionally, if you accumulate $100,000 of liability in any deposit period, you must deposit the taxes using EFTPS by 8 p.m. EST the next day.

You’ll use your look-back period to determine whether you have to pay the tax monthly or semiweekly. For Form 943, the look-back period is the second calendar year preceding the current calendar year. For example, the look-back period for 2017 is 2015. If, during the look-back period, you reported $50,000 or less of tax on Form 943, you’re on a monthly deposit schedule. If you had over $50,000 in Form 943 liabilities, you’re on a semiweekly deposit schedule.

See section seven of Publication 51, (Circular A), Agricultural Employer’s Tax Guide, for information and rules to determine whether your deposits are due on a monthly or semiweekly schedule.

Information for Employers of H-2A Visa Workers
Foreign agricultural workers temporarily admitted to the United States on H-2A visas are exempt from U.S. social security and Medicare taxes on payments for services performed under the H-2A visa. Their compensation isn’t considered wages for purposes of federal income tax withholding and isn’t subject to mandatory income tax withholding unless backup withholding applies.

You may voluntarily withhold U.S. federal income tax from the H-2A worker’s wages if both you and the worker agree.

You must report wages paid to an H-2A worker on a Form W-2 (PDF), Wage and Tax Statement, if the worker presents a U.S. social security number, and was paid $600 or more during the calendar year.

You don’t report any Medicare or social security wages or Medicare or social security withheld taxes in the applicable boxes on the H-2A worker’s Form W-2.

Wages may be subject to backup withholding at the rate of 28 percent if the H-2A worker didn’t provide you with a U.S. social security number or an ITIN issued by the IRS and the aggregate annual wages you paid to the H-2A worker is at least $600. If backup withholding applies, then you must report the wages subject to backup withholding and the U.S. federal income tax withheld from those wages on Form 1099-MISC (PDF), Miscellaneous Income, and Form 945 (PDF), Annual Return of Withheld Federal Tax. If an employer doesn’t properly withhold the 28 percent tax from such payments, the employer may be liable for the amount of tax that should have been withheld.

Additional Resources

Foreign Agricultural Workers page
Form 943 Instructions, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employers
Notice 931, Deposit Requirements for Employment Taxes
Publication 515 (PDF), Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities
Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
Publication 5144 (PDF), Federal Income Tax and FICA Withholding for Foreign Agricultural Workers with an H-2A Visa