Confirm the population.
Identify employers and pay groups, review employee details securely, verify payroll access and ownership, and plan how record questions will be handled.
2026 year-end field guide
Your year-end.
One place to
plan the work.
Bring employee setup, wages and benefits, reconciliations, returns, W-2s and next-year readiness into one source-linked review plan. Keep OBBB tips and overtime reporting in the same close process.
Selected U.S. federal employee-payroll guidance. State and local treatment needs separate review.
These provisions do not make every tip or overtime dollar tax-free. Keep reporting, federal withholding and the individual’s final deduction separate. This guide is educational information, not individualized tax or legal advice, a filing service or approval of your payroll.
Your November–February plan
Six review areas.
A practical close calendar.
Start with suggested internal targets, then adapt them to your employer, provider and jurisdictions. This free desk does not calculate taxes, file returns or retain payroll records.
Explain the totals.
Review manual and off-cycle activity, taxable benefits and deductions. Reconcile comparable wage and tax definitions and assign unresolved differences.
Separate the obligations.
Identify applicable quarterly and annual returns and the employer’s deposit schedule. A return filing date does not replace deposit deadlines.
Test the output and handoff.
Trace source records to a preview, confirm furnishing and filing arrangements, retain outcomes and route corrections through the approved process.
Verify each jurisdiction.
Check the official agencies for actual registration, returns, annual reconciliations, delivery and program requirements. Federal guidance does not establish state conformity.
Review the next first pay.
Verify the correct year’s published limits, tax tables, forms and configuration. Run fictional tests before the first 2027 payroll and retain the review.
Keep legal dates and internal targets distinct.
Coming up first: the IRS 2026 fourth-quarter calendar lists Q3 Form 941 filing on November 2, 2026. The timely/full-deposit condition may allow filing by November 10. Verify the employer’s actual obligation. Current IRS quarter calendar ↗
2026 W-2s: the regular employee furnishing and SSA filing date is February 1, 2027. Under the general IRS January 31 and next-business-day rules, Q4 2026 Form 941 and annual 2026 Form 940 are generally due February 1, 2027. Qualifying employers that timely deposited all required tax in full may have until February 10, 2027 to file those returns. That condition does not extend W-2 dates or tax deposits.
Check the applicable final instructions and any special relief. Form 944, 943 or another return may apply instead; this is not an exhaustive filing calendar. IRS employment-tax due dates ↗ · Form 941 instructions ↗ · FUTA filing and deposit guidance ↗
Build a plan with your free profile
Use this interactive tool with your free P.A.Y. profile. Newsletter and promotional email are optional.
OBBB / The 2026 reporting map
Three fields.
Three checks in your preview.
Use the final 2026 form and instructions. Confirm the fields your provider actually produces, then reconcile their source data.
| Field | What it reports | What to review |
|---|---|---|
| 12 · TPCash tips | Total cash tips reported to the employer. | Reconcile employee tip reports. This is not the employee’s final allowable tip deduction. |
| 14bOccupation code | Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s), when cash tips are reported with TP. | Use the IRS list and actual occupation. Review multiple occupations and the instructions for nonqualifying code 000. |
| 12 · TTQualified overtime | Total qualified overtime compensation: the FLSA-required premium above the regular rate. | Separate the qualifying premium from other overtime earnings. Do not cap employer reporting at the individual deduction limit. |
Sources: 2026 W-2/W-3 instructions, 2026 Form W-2 and IRS overtime FAQ, August 2026.
Start with the payment.
Then the occupation.
The Treasury/IRS final tipped-occupation regulations were issued in April 2026 and became effective June 12, 2026. Qualified tips must meet the applicable rules, including voluntary customer payment and a listed occupation. A mandatory, nonmodifiable service charge is not a qualified tip.
A tip pool can include a mandatory sharing arrangement while the customer’s original tip is voluntary. Do not confuse those two meanings of mandatory.
Read the final rule ↗Open the occupation list ↗$180 in overtime earnings.
$60 qualifying premium.
Fictional employee; FLSA overtime applies after 40 hours. The employee works 45 hours at a $24 regular rate, with no other remuneration affecting that rate.
- Five overtime hours at $36
- $180
- Regular-rate portion: 5 × $24
- $120
- FLSA premium: 5 × $12
- $60
Only the $60 premium is qualified overtime in this example. It is not a promised refund or paycheck increase. State-only, contractual or extra premiums are not automatically qualified; regular-rate and special FLSA rules need their own review.
Review IRS examples and limits ↗DOL regular-rate and overtime principles ↗02 / Reporting is one part
Keep withholding
in the review.
Tips and overtime generally remain subject to federal income tax withholding and applicable Social Security and Medicare taxes. Do not remove amounts from taxable wages simply because a deduction may be available.
An employee may submit an updated, valid Form W-4 to account for an expected deduction. Apply the appropriate 2026 withholding procedures; payroll does not independently award the employee’s return deduction.
2026 Publication 15 · 2026 Publication 15-T
Separate 2026 baseline
The Social Security taxable maximum is $184,500; Medicare has no wage-base limit. These are federal payroll baselines, not new OBBB exemptions. SSA 2026 fact sheet ↗
03 / Keep the years separate
2025 relief is
not a 2026 shortcut.
Notice 2025-62 provides specified information-reporting penalty relief only for tax year 2025. It does not authorize omission of the 2026 reporting fields. Identify the year before reusing an old procedure or employee message.
Do not confuse that reporting relief with the separate SSTB transition discussed in Notice 2025-69 and the final tip regulations. The April 2026 tip rule reserves the SSTB exclusion for later guidance. Confirm the applicable guidance before deciding a person’s tip-deduction eligibility.
04 / Turn research into a close plan
Your year-end
readiness checklist.
Assign owners and retain evidence in your approved employer systems. These checkmarks stay in this page’s memory and reset when you leave.
Use the checklist with your free profile
Use this interactive tool with your free P.A.Y. profile. Newsletter and promotional email are optional.
Marking an item records your own review activity; it does not certify compliance or approve a live payroll. No employee records are requested here.
The checklist is P.A.Y.’s original operating aid, informed by IRS reporting instructions and SSA’s 2026 electronic specifications.
Know what is final.
Know what is still a draft.
At this review, the IRS draft-forms index lists a 2026 Schedule 1-A draft, while the current final Schedule 1-A PDF is for 2025. Do not file or rely on draft instructions. This guide does not provide final 2026 individual-return line instructions; recheck the final forms when preparing a return.
The final 2026 W-2 and its instructions are available. This draft-status note does not postpone their reporting requirements.
Check the IRS draft index ↗Check the current final Schedule 1-A ↗05 / Go to the source
A dated source record.
A defined scope.
Original guide review October 30, 2026. See the current source-check record above. Reopen the applicable official guidance before making a real payroll or tax-return decision.
- IRS · 2026 W-2/W-3 instructions ↗Reporting fields, furnishing/filing date, corrections and special cases.
- IRS · Final 2026 Form W-2 ↗Actual form and employee code explanations; downloadable Copy A is informational, not a scannable paper filing form.
- IRS · Overtime FAQ, FS-2026-13 ↗August 6, 2026 update; FLSA scope, employer reporting and withholding. Supersedes January’s FAQ.
- IRS · Publication 15 (2026) ↗Federal employer-tax treatment and withholding context.
- IRS · Publication 15-T (2026) ↗Dated withholding procedures and updated Form W-4 context.
- Treasury/IRS · TD 10044 final tip regulations ↗Effective June 12, 2026; qualified tips, occupations, applicability and reserved SSTB guidance.
- IRS · Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes ↗The current occupation list; a listed occupation alone does not establish every deduction condition.
- IRS · Individual deduction overview ↗2025–2028 period, limits, phaseouts, SSN and joint-filing conditions.
- IRS · Notice 2025-62 ↗Specified reporting-penalty relief for 2025 only.
- SSA · W-2 filing deadlines ↗January 31 deadline and next-business-day rule.
- SSA · 2026 EFW2/EFW2C specifications ↗Use the correct tax-year format and validate actual file production.
- IRS · 2026 fourth-quarter tax calendar ↗Current near-term calendar, including the November 2 Q3 Form 941 date; check applicability and deposit conditions.
- IRS · Employment tax due dates ↗General return dates, next-business-day rules and conditional additional filing time; deposit dates remain separate.
- IRS · Form 941 instructions ↗Quarterly filing and timely-deposit condition; verify the actual return that applies.
- IRS · Form 940/FUTA filing and deposits ↗Annual filing and FUTA deposit requirements; verify applicability and final instructions.
- SSA · 2027 fact sheet ↗Published 2027 Social Security taxable maximum; distinct from the 2026 close.
- SSA · 2026 tax baseline fact sheet ↗$184,500 Social Security taxable maximum; Medicare wage-base distinction.
Payroll Practice Academy · Within Payroll All Year
Build the reasoning
behind your next close.
Explore practical courses in payroll operations, reconciliation, multi-state review and leadership. Use fictional examples to strengthen the method before applying it at work.