Obligare / Federal / Withholding returns for payments to foreign persons
Federal · Forms 1042 and 1042-S

Withholding returns for payments to foreign persons

File Form 1042 and a Form 1042-S for each foreign person paid US source income in the previous year (royalties, interest, dividends, services performed in the United States), and give each payee their copy. Keep a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E on file for every foreign payee before you pay them.

When
By March 15 each year.
Agency
IRS
Form
Forms 1042 and 1042-S
Applies to
Every company in the United States, paying people or companies outside the US.
If missed
$60 to $340 per form for late or missing 1042-S forms (the figures for forms due in 2026, adjusted yearly); 5% a month on unpaid withholding, up to 25%, and personal liability for tax that should have been withheld
Source
www.irs.gov, read October 22, 2026
J
Jay explains

Paying people and companies outside the United States is simpler than most owners fear, with one rule at the center: income is reported and withheld on only when it is US source. A developer in Lagos or Manila paid for work done there is foreign source and needs no 1042-S, only a W-8BEN on file to prove it. Royalties, interest, dividends and services performed on US soil are US source, taxed at 30% unless a treaty lowers it, and reported on Form 1042-S by March 15 with the Form 1042 summary. The W-8 forms are the whole defense if the IRS asks why nothing was withheld, so collecting them is the part to do every time.

Next dates

For a calendar year company. Weekend and holiday dates are moved to the next business day, as the IRS does.

Also in the federal calendar

Federal corporate income tax returnFederal S corporation returnFederal partnership returnBusiness income on the owner's personal returnNonresident owner's US return, if one is owedAnnual electronic notice for small exempt organizationsShort annual return of an exempt organizationAnnual return of an exempt organizationAnnual return of a private foundationExempt organization business income tax returnWritten acknowledgments to donorsCorporate estimated tax payment

See it on your company's calendar

Your company's compliance calendar

Three answers to start. Refine it after.

An LLC's tax treatment decides which federal return it files. Choose the line that matches yours. Nonprofits are covered too.
Count everyone on payroll. An S corporation's working owners are employees: they are paid a salary.
A company based outside its state of formation is registered in both and files in both.
More about the company: other states, payroll, dates, abroad
Other states where you have employees or an office
Other states where you have employees or an office
Each one adds that state's registration, employer and tax filings. A state where you only keep inventory or make sales belongs under sales tax states below, not here.
Date registered in each other state
Optional. Some states key their report to the day you registered there rather than your date of formation; without it, the formation date stands in and the calendar says so.
States where you collect sales tax
States where you collect sales tax
Needed for states that key filings to the anniversary of formation.
Some taxes start at a revenue threshold.
Outside the United States
Each adds the FinCEN or IRS form that comes with it: the FBAR, Form 5472, Form 5471, Forms 1042 and 1042-S.

No account needed. Nothing is stored until you save it.

Put it in your calendar

The calendar is free to read and to print. A subscription keeps it alive.

$190 a year ($15.83 a month), or $19 month to month
Put it in my calendar

Advisors: $49 a month for up to ten companies, $4 each after. Details