Your year end payroll checklist has one big date for 2027: Monday, February 1, 2027. Form W-2 filing, Form W-2 copies for employees, Form 940 and Form 1099-NEC all land then. Form 941 for Q4 2026 follows the same rule.
Last updated October 22, 2026. Reviewed by Aryan Patel, founder of Senvora Group, a bookkeeping firm that supports CPA firms and business owners in the US and Canada. Dates below come from the IRS employment tax due dates page and the IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, both on irs.gov. Here is a due date table, then a 12 step checklist you can run before the year closes.
Before the year closes, confirm which deposit schedule applies to you in 2026. Our payroll deposit schedule guide walks through the monthly and semiweekly rules.
Key takeaways
- Form W-2 and W-3 for 2026 are due to the SSA on February 1, 2027. Employee copies are generally due the same day.
- Form 941 for the fourth quarter is due January 31. In 2027 that day is a Sunday, so the next business day, Monday, February 1, applies.
- Form 940 and Form 1099-NEC are also due February 1, 2027.
- You have about 14 weeks from October 22 to January 31. Use them to fix data now, not in the last week.
- Start with names, SSNs and addresses. Bad data is the most common reason a W-2 has to be corrected later.
Year end payroll due dates for 2027
Most payroll deadlines bunch up at the end of January. That is a lot of paperwork in a few days. Put every one of these on your calendar today.
| Item | Due date | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Form 941 for Q4 2026 | January 31, 2027 falls on a Sunday, so Monday, February 1, 2027 | Quarterly federal payroll tax return for October to December |
| Form 940 | Monday, February 1, 2027 | Annual federal unemployment tax return |
| Form W-2 and Form W-3 to the SSA | February 1, 2027 | Wage statements for tax year 2026 |
| Form W-2 copies to employees | Generally February 1, 2027 | Copies B, C and 2 for each employee |
| Form 1099-NEC | Monday, February 1, 2027 | Payments to independent contractors |
The IRS employment tax due dates page lists January 31 for these forms. It also says that if a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, you may file on the next business day. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, which is how we get February 1. The IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 state February 1, 2027 directly for Forms W-2 and W-3.
The same IRS page gives a 10 day bonus on Form 941 and Form 940 if you deposited all taxes on time. Treat that as a safety net, not a plan.
Deposit rules to keep in mind in December
Year end does not pause your deposits. The IRS page describes the schedules this way:
- Monthly depositors deposit by the 15th day of the month after the payments.
- Semiweekly depositors deposit the following Wednesday for payments made Wednesday to Friday. They deposit the following Friday for payments made Saturday to Tuesday.
- If you accumulate $100,000 or more in taxes on any day, deposit by the next business day.
Late December paydays are where people slip. A holiday week can push a deposit past its date without anyone noticing. Check which schedule you are on before your last payroll of the year.
The year end payroll checklist: 12 checks
None of these steps need a tax law degree. They need a calm afternoon and a clean payroll report. Work through them in order.
- Confirm names and SSNs. Compare each employee record to their Social Security card. A typo here causes a W-2 correction later.
- Confirm mailing addresses. Ask every employee to verify theirs in writing, including anyone who moved this year. Paper copies get lost fast.
- Review worker classification. List everyone paid as a contractor. Ask if they set their own hours, use their own tools and work for others too. If the answers look like an employee, talk to your CPA before January.
- Reconcile payroll liability accounts to your Form 941 filings. Your books should show the same wages and taxes as each quarterly return. Fix any gap now.
- Match deposits to liabilities. Every tax payment you made should clear the matching liability account. Leftover balances need an explanation.
- Collect final timesheets. Get hours for the last pay period in before you run the final payroll of the year.
- Review bonuses, commissions and reimbursements. Make sure each one is coded the way your payroll provider and CPA expect.
- Check for taxable benefits. Things like a personal use vehicle or gift cards may count as wages. Ask your CPA how to report them.
- Run a W-2 preview. Most payroll systems let you see draft W-2s early. Read a few line by line against your payroll reports.
- Compare totals. Add up the W-2 wages and compare them to your four Form 941 filings and your profit and loss statement.
- Gather W-9 forms for contractors. You need a name, address and taxpayer ID before you file Form 1099-NEC. Our guide to the 1099 deadline explains why this matters.
- Decide who files and when. Assign each form to a person with a date. If you outsource payroll or bookkeeping, confirm in writing who owns each filing.
If you want the logic behind steps 4 and 5, our quarter end close checklist walks through a clean close. For the 1099 side, read the 1099 filing deadline guide. And if you missed the last quarter, our Form 941 Q3 2026 guide covers what to do.
Where the books usually break
Payroll mistakes rarely start in payroll. They start in the books. In the QuickBooks files we review, unreconciled history showed up in a lot of them. That is a reason to check that your payroll liability accounts tie out before year end. Read the full 5 QuickBooks setup errors we see most for the other setup errors.
Here is a quick test. Pull your payroll liability balances as of December 31. Do they match what you still owe? If a balance sits there with no explanation, find out why before the W-2s go out.
What to do if a W-2 is wrong
Mistakes happen. The IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 say that if you find an error after sending a Form W-2 to the SSA, you correct it with Form W-2c. They also say that if you were required to e-file the original W-2, you must e-file the correction. The instructions also say you must e-file Forms W-2 if you are required to file at least 10 information returns.
The fix is easier when your records are clean. That is why the checks above matter so much.
A simple timeline from now to February 1
- Late October: run the data checks on names, SSNs and addresses.
- November: reconcile payroll liabilities through October and review contractor classification.
- Early December: confirm your deposit schedule and your holiday payroll dates.
- Last payroll of the year: collect timesheets and review bonuses and benefits.
- Early January: run the W-2 preview, compare totals and gather W-9 forms.
- By February 1, 2027: file and furnish everything.
If your books are months behind, start with our retroactive bookkeeping guide so your payroll numbers have something solid to tie to.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Form 941 deadline for Q4 2026?
The IRS lists January 31 for the fourth quarter. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, and the IRS says a return due on a weekend may be filed on the next business day, so the date is Monday, February 1, 2027.
When are W-2s due in 2027?
The IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 say the filing date with the SSA for 2026 forms is February 1, 2027. Employee copies are generally due by the same date.
How do I fix a wrong W-2?
File Form W-2c. If you were required to e-file the original Form W-2, you must e-file the correction too.
Do I have to e-file W-2s?
The IRS instructions say you must e-file if you are required to file at least 10 information returns. Check the instructions for your own count.
What is a good time to start my year end payroll checklist?
Now. Data checks and reconciliations take time, and the last week of January is too late to find a bad SSN or a payroll liability that does not tie out.
Sources
- IRS employment tax due dates page (irs.gov)
- IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (irs.gov)
Want help with payroll books before year end?
Senvora Group handles monthly outsourced bookkeeping for business owners and CPA firms, including payroll liability reconciliations that tie to your filings. You can also see our outsourced bookkeeping pricing breakdown, or DM Aryan. Which year end item worries you most right now?
