There's more to paying taxes than just federal and state income taxes. Another major tax chore for employers is payroll taxes. These expenditures can be significant, and the reporting requirements can be onerous. So it's important for small business owners to understand the basics.
First off, employers are required to report and deposit payroll taxes on a regular schedule, typically on a quarterly basis. This includes amounts withheld from employee compensation based on the frequency of payment. Failure to meet these obligations can trigger back taxes, interest and penalties — a veritable tax disaster.
Here's a quick rundown of six major types of payroll tax obligations that employers must contend with during the year.
Employers are required to withhold federal income tax from the paychecks of their employees. The amount of income tax to be withheld from regular pay depends on two factors:
Additional withholding rules apply to commissions and other forms of compensation. Ask your tax pro for more information.
Employers generally must withhold state income tax from the wages of employees. However, seven states — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — have no state income tax. Plus, two states — New Hampshire and Tennessee — don't tax wages.
In addition, certain cities — including New York City, Detroit, Philadelphia and San Francisco — also impose income taxes. Finally, in several places, withholding is required to cover short-term disability, paid family leave or unemployment benefits.
Important: The withholding requirements are more complicated for employees that live and work in a different state than where their employers are located. (See "Beware: Remote Work May Complicate State Income Taxes" at right.)
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) authorized a payroll tax that includes the following components:
For example, say that your company's CIO earns $200,000 in 2023.The OASDI portion would be $9,932 (6.2% of $160,200), and the HI portion would be $2,900 (1.45% of $200,000). The combined total would be $12,832 ($9,932 plus $2,900). All amounts are rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
Employers withhold the employees' share from their paychecks, and they're also responsible for matching the amount withheld. Thus, in the example above, the employer would have to pay $25,664 ($12,832 times 2).
Uncle Sam helps states pay employees who have been involuntarily terminated from their jobs. Accordingly, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) created a special tax that applies to each employee's first $7,000 of wages.
The basic FUTA rate is 6%. However, employers can benefit from a credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment tax, creating an effective 0.6% FUTA tax rate. This credit may be reduced if a state borrows from the federal government to cover its unemployment benefits liability and doesn't repay the funds.
States are responsible for paying unemployment benefits to eligible workers who are involuntarily terminated. Much like insurance, the rate that employers pay is based on their claims experience.
The more claims that are made by former employees, the higher an employer's tax rate will be. The state updates this rate, which can't fall below a specified minimum, on an annual basis.
An additional Medicare tax of 0.9% is required to be withheld on all wages above $200,000. Note that while the employee may or may not ultimately be liable for the tax, the employer is still required to withhold it. Unlike FICA, employers don't have to pay a corresponding amount of the additional Medicare tax.
When the employee files a personal income tax return, the additional Medicare tax is treated like other federal withholding. Whether the employee is subject to the additional Medicare tax depends on the total amount of earned income on the employee's personal income tax return. For example, an unmarried individual will be subject to the additional Medicare tax on earned income in excess of $200,000. In contrast, the threshold for a jointly-filed return is $250,000 of earned income.
Also, be aware that the six responsibilities outlined above apply only to amounts paid to employees. If your business uses independent contractors, they're not covered by these rules, although other reporting requirements may apply.
That's far from the end of an employer's payroll tax requirements. There are several other issues for small business owners to consider.
Notably, payroll taxes must be deposited with the government promptly. The IRS sets the tax deposit deadlines for federal payroll taxes. Most employers fall under the monthly schedule, but larger corporations must deposit taxes semi-weekly.
As you might expect, there's some additional paperwork involved. This includes various tax returns that must be filed for federal payroll taxes, such as:
Employers must also report withholding to employees and Social Security tax withholding to the Social Security Administration (SSA). For this purpose, they must send Form W-2 to employees and Form W-3 to the SSA. The latter summarizes all the W-2s sent to employees.
Payroll taxes are a necessary part of doing business. Contact your tax or payroll advisor for help navigating the rules.
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