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Version: 2.0.0

Overview

District of Columbia employers who withhold DC income tax from employees must file withholding returns with the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR). The filing frequency depends on the employer's withholding liability. Separately, employers subject to unemployment insurance must file quarterly contribution and wage reports with the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES).

The TaxBandits Public API supports automating Form FR-900Q for quarterly DC withholding.

Forms supported​

FormTypeFiling frequencyDue date
Form FR-900QWithholdingQuarterly20th day of the month following the quarter

Form FR-900Q — DC Quarterly Withholding​

Form FR-900Q (Employer's Quarterly Return of Income Tax Withheld) is used by employers whose DC withholding liability falls within the quarterly filing threshold. The return and applicable payment are due by the 20th day of the month following the quarter.

The quarterly due dates are:

  • Q1 (January–March): April 20
  • Q2 (April–June): July 20
  • Q3 (July–September): October 20
  • Q4 (October–December): January 20

The District's 2026 filing specifications continue to support FR-900Q for quarterly withholding taxpayers.

DC Withholding Filing Frequency​

DC withholding employers are assigned a filing frequency based on their withholding liability:

  • Annual — FR-900A: Generally applicable when withholding liability is consistently $200 or less per period. The annual return is due January 20 following the tax year.
  • Quarterly — FR-900Q: Generally applicable when withholding liability is between $201 and $1,200 per period. The return is due by the 20th of the month following the quarter.
  • Monthly — FR-900M: Applicable when the employer's withholding liability requires monthly filing. The return is due by the 20th of the following month.

TaxBandits Public API currently supports only FR-900Q for DC withholding. FR-900Q is listed as the supported withholding form; FR-900A and FR-900M are not currently presented as supported API filings.

Key compliance notes​

  • Withholding filing frequency varies. DC employers may have annual, quarterly, or monthly withholding filing obligations depending on their withholding liability.
  • Quarterly withholding due date. FR-900Q is due by the 20th day of the month following the quarter.
  • Electronic filing. Employers with 250 or more employees are required to file UI wage reports electronically through the Employer Self-Service Portal (ESSP); electronic filing is encouraged for other employers as well.

API endpoints​

For these forms, the state-specific methods — Create, Update, and Get — differ by form because each form has its own field structure. The utility methods — List, Delete, Transmit, RequestPdfUrls, and Status — are shared across State Withholding and UI reporting.

Form FR-900Q (DC Withholding)​

  • Create — Create a new DC FR-900Q quarterly withholding return.
  • Update — Update an FR-900Q return that was created but not yet transmitted.
  • Get — Retrieve the details of a created FR-900Q return.

Common endpoints: For the remaining methods — List, Status, Transmit, RequestPdfUrls, and Delete — refer to the common endpoints shared across State Withholding.

State New Hire Reporting​

TaxBandits also supports District of Columbia New Hire Reporting through the common State New Hire Reporting API for reporting newly hired and rehired employees.

All endpoints require an OAuth 2.0 access token. Call the Auth method and pass the token as a Bearer token in the request header.

Testing & notifications​

Before filing, you can simulate the entire verification flow in the TaxBandits Sandbox environment without submitting real data to state agencies.

As an alternative to polling the Status endpoint, you can configure a webhook for the Status Payroll Filings Status Change event type to receive automated status updates.