Montana payroll tax registration
What to set up in Montana before the first payroll, in date order, with each agency, online portal and deadline. Enter the first employee's start date and the first pay date to see the dates.
Setup steps before the first payroll
- Workers' comp
Get workers' compensation coverage
- Deadline
- Before anyone starts work
- Source
- erd.dli.mt.gov/work-comp-regulations/uninsured-employers-fund/index (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- Posters
Put up the required posters
- Deadline
- Before the first employee starts work
- Source
- wsd.dli.mt.gov/employers/labor-law-posters (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- State tax accounts
Register for a Montana withholding account in TAP
- Deadline
- Before the first payday
- Agency
- Withholding: Montana Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab)
- Returns
- Monthly: new businesses pay by the 15th of the following month until the annual lookback review sets another schedule.
- Source
- revenue.mt.gov/taxes/withholding-tax/accounts (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- New hire reporting
Report each new hire to the state new hire registry
- Deadline
- Within 20 days of the hire dateCounted here from the start date; report sooner if the employee was hired before it.
- Source
- dphhs.mt.gov/cssd/employerinfo/newhirereporting (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- State tax accounts
Register for an unemployment insurance account in UI eServices, then post the coverage notice it sends
- Deadline
- Once liable, and before the first quarterly report is due (the last day of the month after the quarter)
- Agency
- Unemployment: Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Unemployment Insurance Division (UI Contributions Bureau) (opens in a new tab)
- Source
- uid.dli.mt.gov/_docs/contributions-bureau/employer-handbook.pdf (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
- State tax accounts
File the first quarterly unemployment tax and wage report
- Deadline
- Last day of the month after the quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31; a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day. Filed electronically (ARM 24.40.1609(7)).January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so it moves to the next business day.
- Source
- uid.dli.mt.gov/_docs/contributions-bureau/employer-handbook.pdf (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
Federal dates for this pay date
Federal returns follow the compliance calendar, which dates them for every employer:
A 501(c)(3) organization generally owes no FUTA tax and files no Form 940 (Form 940 instructions (opens in a new tab)).
Not confirmed: no official source settled it on the check date, so none is shown.
Not needed in Montana
- No state paid leave program funded through payroll.erd.dli.mt.gov/labor-standards/wage-and-hour-payment-act/wage-and-hour-faq (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
Also in Montana
- Whether any city or county taxes wages: not confirmed.
More on Montana
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.
Registration in other states
- 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
- 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
Sources
The agency page or document behind each fact, as checked.
- erd.dli.mt.gov/work-comp-regulations/uninsured-employers-fund/index (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
- wsd.dli.mt.gov/employers/labor-law-posters (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- revenue.mt.gov/taxes/withholding-tax/accounts (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- revenue.mt.gov/taxes/withholding-tax/wage-withholding-returns-and-payments (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- uid.dli.mt.gov/employers/index (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
- uid.dli.mt.gov/employers/ (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
- uid.dli.mt.gov/_docs/contributions-bureau/employer-handbook.pdf (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
- dphhs.mt.gov/cssd/employerinfo/newhirereporting (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
- erd.dli.mt.gov/labor-standards/wage-and-hour-payment-act/wage-and-hour-faq (opens in a new tab), checked October 5, 2026
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.