Minnesota Form IC134 is the contractor affidavit you file with the Minnesota Department of Revenue to show that your state income tax withholding is current on a public project. Once the Department confirms your withholding is in order, it issues a Certificate of Compliance, and that certificate is what the state agency, county, city, or school district needs before it can release your final payment.1Minnesota Department of Revenue. Contractor Affidavit Requirements
Who Has to File
Minnesota Statute 270C.66 prohibits any state department or political subdivision from making final settlement with a contractor until that contractor, and every subcontractor on the job, has shown compliance with the state withholding rules in Section 290.92.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 270C.66 – Contracts With State; Withholding There is no minimum dollar threshold. If you worked on a government contract that involved paying wages, you file.
The form itself has three filer categories, and you check the one that fits your role:3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form IC134, Contractor Affidavit
- Sole contractor: you contracted directly with the government entity and did the work without hiring any subcontractors.
- Subcontractor: someone other than the government entity hired you. You list the name and address of the contractor who hired you.
- Prime contractor: you were responsible for all or part of the project and hired subcontractors. You list every subcontractor’s business name, address, and owner or officer, and attach each one’s Certificate of Compliance or affidavit number.
If you were hired as a subcontractor and then subcontracted part of your scope to another firm, you are both. Complete both sections on a single IC134.3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form IC134, Contractor Affidavit
No Employees
You still have to file even if you had no employees and did all the work yourself. The form asks whether employees worked on the project and, if not, who did. In that situation you don’t need a Minnesota Tax ID number; enter your Social Security number or federal EIN in the Minnesota ID field.3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form IC134, Contractor Affidavit
Out-of-State Contractors
If your business is based outside Minnesota but you employed workers performing labor in the state, you must withhold Minnesota income tax from those wages and file IC134 the same way an in-state contractor would. You’ll need a Minnesota Tax ID number for those employees.
When to File
Timing is where most people get tripped up. The Department will deny any IC134 submitted before your work on the project is finished.3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form IC134, Contractor Affidavit
- Sole contractors and subcontractors: file once your part of the project is complete.
- Prime contractors: wait until the full project is complete and you’ve collected a confirmation page or paper Certificate of Compliance from every subcontractor.
On a project with several subs, one slow subcontractor stalls the entire final-payment chain. Flag the IC134 requirement early, ideally in the subcontract itself, and follow up as each sub closes out their scope.
Filling Out the Form
The form is a single page, but the Department states plainly that it cannot process an affidavit missing required information.3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form IC134, Contractor Affidavit Three groups of fields do the work.
Business Identification
Enter your company name, daytime phone, full address, and Minnesota Tax ID number. The company name must match what the Department has on file; a mismatch is a frequent source of delay. Use your SSN or federal EIN in the Minnesota Tax ID field if you had no employees.
Project Details
You’ll need the total contract amount, the amount still due, the month and year work began and ended, the project number assigned by the contracting agency, the project location, and the name and full address of the government entity that awarded the contract. The start and end dates define the window the Department will audit against your withholding returns, so keep your quarterly MW-1 returns within reach. If the dollar figures on the affidavit don’t line up with what you filed during the project, expect follow-up questions before approval.
Employees, Role, and Signature
Answer whether employees worked on the project. Check the box for your role, fill in the related details, sign, and date. Prime contractors have the most to attach here because every subcontractor’s approved affidavit has to travel with the filing.
How to Submit It
Electronically Through e-Services
The fastest option is the Department of Revenue’s e-Services portal. Log in, go to the “I Want To” tab, and select “Submit contractor affidavits” under the Contractor Affidavit (IC-134) panel.4Minnesota Department of Revenue. Submit Contractor Affidavit Electronically If the Department approves the filing, a confirmation page appears right away. Send that confirmation to whoever hired you.
You’ll enter the same information required on the paper form. Prime contractors also need approved electronic affidavits from each subcontractor before they can file their own through the portal.
By Mail or Email
If any of your subcontractors handed you a paper Certificate of Compliance, you can’t use the electronic portal; the system won’t accept paper certificates as attachments. File by mail or email instead.3Minnesota Department of Revenue. Form IC134, Contractor Affidavit The mailing address is:
Minnesota Revenue
Mail Station 4410
St. Paul, MN 55146-44101Minnesota Department of Revenue. Contractor Affidavit Requirements
Paper filings take four to six weeks for the Department to process and mail back an approval letter. On any job with a payment deadline, that difference matters.
After You Submit
The Department compares your affidavit against the withholding tax payments and returns you filed during the project period. If everything matches, you get either an instant confirmation page (electronic) or an approval letter in the mail (paper). That confirmation or letter is your Certificate of Compliance.1Minnesota Department of Revenue. Contractor Affidavit Requirements
Deliver the certificate to the contracting agency, or to the prime contractor if you’re a sub. No state agency or local government can release final payment without it.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 270C.66 – Contracts With State; Withholding
Why Affidavits Get Denied
- Filing before the project is done. The most avoidable mistake, and the Department rejects these outright.
- Missing information. Every field is required.
- Unpaid withholding tax from wages paid under the project. Approval is blocked until you pay in full.
- Mismatched business name, tax ID, or contract details.
If You Owe Withholding Tax
If the Department finds unpaid withholding tax, penalties, or interest tied to the project, you won’t get a certificate until you pay in full, and you must pay with certified funds. Payment counts as received when you deliver certified funds to the Department’s central office in St. Paul or to any district or subdistrict office.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 270C.66 – Contracts With State; Withholding Personal checks and standard electronic payments won’t satisfy the requirement.
Penalties stack on top of the tax owed. Withholding not paid by the due date triggers a five percent penalty for the first 30 days, with another five percent for each additional 30-day period, capped at 15 percent. A separate five percent penalty applies for filing the return late. If the Department identifies a pattern of repeated late filings or payments and sends written warning, the penalty rises to 25 percent of the unpaid amount for each subsequent failure.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 289A Keeping your quarterly withholding returns current while the project is underway avoids all of this.
How the Certificate Unlocks Your Retainage
Public contracting agencies in Minnesota can withhold up to five percent of each progress payment as retainage. After substantial completion, the agency can continue to hold money pending final paperwork, and the IC134 Certificate of Compliance is specifically part of that paperwork. Once you’ve submitted everything required, including the certified affidavit, the agency has 60 days to release the withheld amount.6Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 15.72
Prime Contractors: One More Step
Prime contractors carry the most paperwork because they can’t file until every subcontractor’s affidavit has been approved. Each subcontractor files their own IC134, receives their own Certificate of Compliance, and hands that certificate to the prime, who keeps it on file.7Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Rule 8092.2000 – Contracts with State; Withholding; Certification Only then can the prime complete and submit their own affidavit. Build this into your closeout schedule from the start of the job rather than chasing it at the end.