Withholding formatted Excel file and Upload Instructions

The following is a formatted sample Excel spreadsheet. Please use it as a guide in order to create a correctly formatted spreadsheet or retype over the sample data and use for uploading.

Click the link below to download the formatted spreadsheet.

941ME Withholding only filers formatted spreadsheet (MS Excel)

General File Specifications

Only Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files with a file format of .xls or .xlsx will be accepted.

• The file will contain only data; no headers, titles, or footers of any kind are to be entered.
• The data must be on the first Worksheet in the Workbook.
• The Worksheet within the file must contain exactly five (5) columns as described below.
• The rows are to be contiguous; no empty rows are allowed.
• Hidden columns are not allowed.
• Formulas are not to be used.

For Withholding form 941 ME

• Employee's Social Security number (SSN).
• Employee Last Name
• Employee First Name
• Employee Middle Initial
• Maine income tax withheld.

Please note that if you copy your data from one Excel file to paste into another Excel file, you should highlight only the cells you want to copy; do not highlight the entire worksheet as doing so may create hidden formatting errors.

Specifications for Each Column

Column A- Social Security Number (SSN)

Column A contains the Social Security Numbers of employees. IMPORTANT: Be sure this column is formatted as text before any entries are made. To do this, highlight Column A and then in your Excel toolbar click "Format", then "Cells", "Text" and then "OK". It is important this is completed in advance, otherwise any entries made which start with zero (e.g. 001223333) will drop the leading zeroes. Numbers can be entered with or without hyphens (e.g. 001223333 or 001-22-3333). If the Social Security Number for a particular employee is unknown enter 999999999. Generally, Column A cannot contain the same Social Security number for an employee more than once. However, duplicates are allowed in the case of unknown SSN (999999999) as described above.

Column B- Employee Last Name

This column must contain a valid name. Enter each employee's last name. The maximum field length is 20 characters. Required field.

Column C- Employee First Name

This column must contain a valid name. Enter each employee's first name. The maximum field length is 12 characters. Required field.

Column D- Employee Middle Initial

This column must contain a valid initial. The maximum field length is 1 character. Optional field.

Column E- Maine Income Tax Withheld

Enter the amount of Maine income tax withheld for each employee. Enter numbers only; do not include a dollar sign. Either whole numbers or numbers containing dollars and cents are acceptable. If the data has cents to report then the cents must be preceded with the decimal point and the value may not contain embedded spaces. Example: 148.35.

Excel Upload Instructions

File Format Instructions for Uploading Withholding Detail

Maine Revenue Service's Internet Filing System offers withholding filers the convenience of uploading withholding information rather than entering Schedule 2 data manually. To utilize this feature, users organize data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet file and uploaded to the internet filing system. When the file is uploaded, the system will read the data from the first Worksheet in the file and place the data in the appropriate fields on the withholding detail screen. The user should then review the data in the fields to verify its accuracy.

To take advantage of this feature, users must upload a file that conforms to the specifications. Failing to format the file correctly will result in processing errors or inaccurate reporting.