Payroll 101: Paying Payroll Taxes

Today we’ll talk about when you need to pay the payroll taxes. As an employer, there are multiple due dates that you need to keep in mind. Or you can use a full-service payroll provider like QuickBooks Online Payroll, and we’ll take care of it for you!

Remember - QuickBooks Online Payroll puts you in control of who pays and files your payroll taxes and forms. Read more about it in my blog post. 

Just like everyone else, our California based sample company that we’ve been using has to pay: 

Federal Income Tax, Social Security & Medicare

Monthly or Semiweekly Filers and $100,000 rule

• Monthly
  Previous month is due by the 15th of the next month
• Semiweekly
  Paychecks made on:
  Saturday through Tuesday are due by the following Friday
  Wednesday through Friday are due by the following Wednesday
• Over $100,000 in taxes in a single deposit period
  Due by the next banking day
  “Regardless of whether you're a monthly schedule depositor or a semiweekly schedule depositor, if you accumulate taxes of $100,000 or more on any day during a deposit period, you must deposit the taxes by the next business day” Source: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc757
  More details at: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15#en_US_2022_publink1000202463 

Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)

Due Annually due by Jan 31st  (tax period 1/1 - 12/31) or due Quarterly if you accrue $500 or more in FUTA.

Since this company is based out of California, it also has to pay:

• State Income Taxes and State Disability Insurance
  Some states, like California, follow the Federal filing timelines while others, like Delaware, have their own schedule. 
• California  Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Employment Training Tax (ETT)
  Quarterly payment due by end of April, July, Oct and Jan.
  For example, for paychecks dated 1/1 - 3/31 is due by 4/30

Fortunately, being based out of California, this company doesn’t have to worry about any of the >7,000 local taxes that exist. If you happen to be in an area with local taxes, QuickBooks has your back and will calculate them in all of our payroll products and even pay and file them in our Premium and Elite versions of our payroll service!

Let’s take a look at the paycheck again.
If this company is a monthly filer when are the Payroll Filings due?

Note: 9/9/2022 is a Friday

Take a moment to think about when each of the below filings are due before continuing on to the answers.

• Federal Income Tax, Social Security & Medicare
• CA Income Tax and State Disability Ins
• California Employment Training Tax (ETT)  and California State Unemployment Insurance (UI)
• Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)

Ok, ready for the answer?

Since this a monthly filer and the pay date, September 9, 2022 was a Friday, then:

• Due by the October 15th:
  Federal Income Tax, Social Security & Medicare
  CA Income Tax and State Disability Insurance
• Due by October 31st:
  California  Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Employment Training Tax (ETT) 
• Due by January 31th
  Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)
  

How did you do for this very simple paycheck?
Don't worry if you didn't do well. Remember that if you're using a full-service payroll solution, like QuickBooks Online Payroll with "Taxes and forms" turned on, we'll take care of all this for you! If you have local taxes, we'll even handle those in our Premium and Elite Payroll offerings.

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