I am the owner of an S Corp business. The business is cash based. Can I prepay my 2022 salary on Dec 31st and then pay employment taxes quarterly (Form 941) in 2022?

[michael.s.hammil]

This year's profits amounted to about my annual salary.  My intent is to defer business profits and associated taxes to a future calendar year.

[Anonymous_]

The S corporation will owe employment taxes for the fourth quarter of 2021.

You can, however, take a distribution early (although the corporation still needs to pay you a reasonable salary for your services).

[Critter-3]

Wait a second ... are you trying to get rid of 2021 income by paying your  2022 salary in 2021 ???    That is not allowed  ... you can pay a 2021 salary in 2021 as a  cash based business.  You cannot push 2021 income into 2022 that way.   The 2021 salary must be reported on a 2021 W-2 and you must  file the appropriate 2021 payroll tax returns.  So even though your company would have the 2021 deduction for your payroll you will still have the 2021 wages reported on your tax return.  

[Anonymous_]

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@Critter-3 wrote:

....even though your company would have the 2021 deduction for your payroll you will still have the 2021 wages reported on your tax return.  

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Exactly. What @michael.s.hammil is trying to do simply cannot be done.