E-6. Designation of payment to the trust fund portion of employment tax
Read a model letter designating a voluntary employment-tax payment to the trust fund portion. Check whether payment designation applies to your case.
Use this model letter
Copy or download the blank model letter, then replace every [bracketed field] and remove alternatives that do not apply. Read the guidance below before using it. These are templates, not official IRS forms; nothing is filed or sent for you.
Downloads work without JavaScript. Copy letter becomes available when the page is interactive.
Word is editable; PDF is for reading or printing. No account or personal information is needed.
When to use this
Use this model when a business is making a voluntary payment toward employment-tax debt and wants to state how it requests that payment be applied. Identify the business, tax form, quarter and payment before adapting the letter.
Have the EIN, payment amount, check details or electronic confirmation and the relevant payroll-tax records available. Keep the request with the payment records so you can later compare the requested application with the account transcript. Do not describe a payment that has not actually been made.
The letter is a payment-designation request, not confirmation of how the IRS applied the money or a resolution of other unpaid periods. Read the small-business payroll-tax warning sheet and get qualified help if you are unsure how the payment fits your situation.
Model letter and instructions
Use with every voluntary payment a business makes on a payroll tax liability. Include with a mailed payment; for electronic payments, send the letter separately the same day and keep the confirmation.
[Business name], EIN [number]
Enclosed is [check number] in the amount of $[amount] [or: On [date] the business made an electronic payment of $[amount], confirmation number [number]].
This is a voluntary payment. The business designates this payment to be applied to the trust fund portion of the employment tax liability for Form 941, tax period ending [quarter end date], specifically to withheld income tax and the employee share of Social Security and Medicare tax, before any application to the employer share, penalties, or interest.
Please confirm the application in writing.
[Signature, title]