Payroll tax registration by state
Your first employee in a new state brings registrations before the first paycheck. Each state page lists them in order, with the agency, the online portal and the deadline, and works out the dates from your start date and first pay date.
What to register, and when
Withholding account
42 of the 50 states and DC tax wages, and each needs a withholding account before you withhold and remit its tax. The other 9 have no income tax on wages, so there is no withholding account there.
Unemployment insurance account
Every state needs an unemployment insurance account, usually with its labor or workforce agency. A new employer pays the state's new employer rate until it has a rating history; the unemployment tax table lists each state's rate.
New hire reporting
Every state requires a report of each new hire, within 7 to 20 days depending on the state, counted from the start date or the date of hire, not from the first paycheck.
Workers' comp and posters
Workers' comp coverage, where the state requires it, and the required workplace posters come before the first employee starts work.
Local taxes and paid leave
Some cities, counties and school districts levy their own payroll taxes: check the work location, not just the state. 14 of the 50 states and DC fund paid family, medical or disability leave through payroll, and some need their own registration.
The first return
In most states, the first state unemployment return is due by the last day of the month after the quarter of the first pay date; Michigan and New Jersey use the 25th and the 30th. The account must exist before then, and federal returns follow the compliance calendar.
What registration is, in the glossary: State tax registration.
Registration by state
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
WORKLIO HCM
Hiring in a new state? We help open the accounts.
We help open state withholding and unemployment accounts when you hire somewhere new, and our registration service can register your employer tax accounts for you: withholding, unemployment and paid leave contributions where the state's tax agency collects them. After that, Worklio HCM calculates, deposits and files your payroll taxes in every state and locality, new-hire state reporting is automatic, and rates and rules update without you noticing.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the relevant agency or your advisor. You remain responsible for registering and for your employment taxes.