For our child employee I've set "don't withhold" and unchecked the Medicare, Social Security and FUTA. When I run payroll, SS & Medicare are being withheld. How do I fix?

I'm glad to lend a hand, barrybinns.

Let's fix the tax calculation in QuickBooks Desktop.

It's recommended to update the payroll tax table to the latest release every time you pay your employees. Not doing so can cause QuickBooks to withhold taxes.

To download the latest tax table:

1. Go to the Employees menu, then pick Get Payroll Updates.
   
2. Choose Download entire payroll update, then click Update.
   
3. A window appears when the download is complete.

Once done, let's go back to the employee's profile and toggle the filing status to withhold taxes. Click OK, then change again to "Don't Withhold".  The detailed steps below will guide you through:

1. Go to the Employees menu, then select Employee Center.
2. Double-click on the employee’s name.
3. Go to the Payroll Info tab, then click Taxes.
4. Check the Filing Status under the Federal and State tabs.
   
5. Click OK once done.

After that, make sure to delete the paycheck, then recreate it for changes to take effect.

Let me know how this goes by clicking the Reply button for your response. I'm always around to help ensure your success.

Thank you for your quick reply and willingness to help me.

I followed your steps and nothing changed – it is still withholding Social Security & Medicare taxes after those steps.

I have not created the paycheck yet – it is only on a scheduled payroll and a paycheck preview (inserted below). If this is a paycheck or if the scheduled payroll needs to be deleted please advise how that is accomplished – the funds have yet to be removed from the account and no paystub has been created yet.

I am unable to find a way to eliminate the preview which shows the social security and medicare taxes withheld.

Can only post on picture - will replay again with the second. 

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Barry

Thank you for your quick reply and willingness to help me.

I followed your steps and nothing changed – it is still withholding Social Security & Medicare taxes after those steps.

I have not created the paycheck yet – it is only on a scheduled payroll and a paycheck preview (inserted below). If this is a paycheck or if the scheduled payroll needs to be deleted please advise how that is accomplished – the funds have yet to be removed from the account and no paystub has been created yet.

I am unable to find a way to eliminate the preview which shows the social security and medicare taxes withheld.

I cannot figure how to post two pictures - if you need a shot of the check preview I'll paste it in another reply.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Barry 

Not sure what else to do the solution did not work.

I've replied twice and both responses have disappeared. 

Thank you for coming back here in the Community and provided a screenshot, @barrybinns.

Since nothing happens after doing the steps provided by my colleague above, I suggest contacting our payroll support. They have the tools to pull to investigate what caused the problem. And create an investigation if necessary. 

Here's how to contact them:

1. Select Help (?) menu, click QuickBooks Desktop Help or F1. 
2. Scroll down, then select Contact Us. 
3. Enter your concern in the description field, then tap Continue.
4. Choose either Start messaging or Get a callback.
5. Complete the information needed and tap Confirm my call. 

Please know that the Community is always here if you need assistance with QuickBooks. Have a good one!

There was no solution because quick books support is so awful. We scheduled the first call with the title "payroll" on the submission form. The agent called after about 45 minutes and said she verified our account and that we now need to go request "payroll". Argh, so we scheduled a second call with the same heading and that took another 2 hours for a callback and were told by the agent that she was only online payroll. She said she couldn't help with our problem and we needed to go back to the submission form and submit for "desktop payroll"  WTF quickbooks? Why is there a difference? and if there is, maybe you should put a pick list on the submission form to avoid frustrating the hell out of your customers and wasting our time.

So I gave up, I deleted the employee, re-input the employee with the exact same settings and all worked fine  - it does not deduct any payroll taxes as requested. Solved my own problem after many hours of frustration because the company that is supposed to support us has crappy service protocols.

However, now I cannot delete the original employee because it thinks it was used in a transaction (it wasn't) so I just made it inactive.

I give up with quick books, I'm completely defeated trying to get actual help from them. We own 2 seats of their software and have for almost 20 years plus have subscribed to their enhanced payroll service for a similar time period and their customer service has almost always been rotten. This issue is the straw that broke the camels back. We will be looking for another business finance software solution.

I want to regain your confidence in QuickBooks, @barrybinns.

This isn't the kind of experience we want you to have when contacting our phone support. Part of my job is to ensure we’re able to assist our customers properly in a manner that your experience is marked as outstanding.

Meanwhile, there are different version of QuickBooks. To better assist you, we have dedicated specialist for each versions of QuickBooks. I understand how the pick list on the submission form would route you to the correct phone support.

Feel free to drop your comments below if you have other questions with setting up your employee's payroll. I'm always here to help.