How can I withhold FICA for one employee task but not another?

McClerk · ‎December 29, 2022

I am a municipality and we have a person that does taxable work as an employee and also is an election worker which doesn't have FICA withheld unless I expect them to make more than $2,000/year in election wages (I don't expect that to happen)

How can I have FICA withheld from one job duty but not the other?

BigRedConsulting · ‎January 03, 2023

@McClerk RE: How can I withhold FICA for one employee task but not another?

There isn't a way to get QuickBooks do that automatically. If an employee is subject to FICA taxes (almost all are) then it thinks all earnings are subject to the FICA taxes. Generally, QuickBooks doesn't automatically handle edge cases like this (I've actually never heard of this one before.)

In this case, the only way I can think of to make this work is tricky. To do this, I recommend creating a special paycheck just for the election work and on it overwrite both the employee and company FICA taxes to 0.00. Then, so that QuickBooks doesn't defeat your efforts and just add more tax to the next check, enter a liability adjustment for the employee and reduce the wages for all four of the FICA taxes, both company and employee, by the elections earnings amount. I think after doing that then your 941 and W-2 forms will work correctly.

View solution in original post

LeizylM · ‎December 29, 2022

Being able to withhold FICA is my top priority McClerk.

Since every business is unique, I recommend consulting your accountant or tax professional for guidance. They can help you understand the rules and regulations related to the FICA tax. You may also visit the IRS website for more details.

Also, to further guide you in managing your payroll account and employee transactions in QBDT, I'd recommend checking out this article: Desktop Payroll Help Articles. It includes topics about processing payroll, reports, and taxes, to name a few.

Feel free to message me again if you have additional questions about FICA. We're always delighted to help you more.

McClerk · ‎December 31, 2022

Thanks for your reply, but it didn't really address my issue at all.

The link you provided to QBDT didn't provide any guidance about how to withhold FICA for one job duty but not for another job duty. Please advise.

JamaicaA · ‎December 31, 2022

I've got your back in recording and tracking FICA according to your employee’s tasks in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), @McClerk. This way, you're able to manage your taxes and payroll transactions accordingly.

FICA refers to the combined taxes withheld for Social Security and Medicare. Since you need to withhold the one job while the other is nontaxable, I highly advise seeking advice from a tax expert or accountant. They can assist you in comprehending the laws and guidelines pertaining to the FICA tax. For further information, you’ll want to check out the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/.

As much as I'd love to offer help and share how you can get FICA withheld to one job, I've got a separate team who can better address this in no time. Thus, I'd recommend contacting our Payroll Care Team. You can do so by following the steps outlined below:

Go to Help.
Select Contact Us.
Enter your concern, then click Continue.

In the same manner, here's an article you can read to learn more about when are you able to connect with our support: Contact QuickBooks Products and Services Support.

You’ll want to read about Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes in QuickBooks. It ensures everything is accurate. I also have an article that'll be able to help better understand when calculating the FICA payroll taxes correctly. You'll just go to QuickBooks Desktop to calculate wages and/or payroll taxes.

Let me know if you have other payroll concerns and questions about dealing with FICA in QBDT. Don't hesitate to drop a comment below and I'll gladly help. Take care, and advance happy new year!

BigRedConsulting · ‎January 03, 2023

@McClerk RE: How can I withhold FICA for one employee task but not another?

There isn't a way to get QuickBooks do that automatically. If an employee is subject to FICA taxes (almost all are) then it thinks all earnings are subject to the FICA taxes. Generally, QuickBooks doesn't automatically handle edge cases like this (I've actually never heard of this one before.)

In this case, the only way I can think of to make this work is tricky. To do this, I recommend creating a special paycheck just for the election work and on it overwrite both the employee and company FICA taxes to 0.00. Then, so that QuickBooks doesn't defeat your efforts and just add more tax to the next check, enter a liability adjustment for the employee and reduce the wages for all four of the FICA taxes, both company and employee, by the elections earnings amount. I think after doing that then your 941 and W-2 forms will work correctly.

McClerk · ‎January 02, 2024

Thanks for your answer a year ago. This situation currently only applies to two employees. Is there an option to do what you suggested, but instead of overwriting the employee and company FICA to zero, can I overwrite the employee and company FICA on the check they have FICA withheld?

This year they'll work probably three or four elections and get paychecks for each one, but the other job task, they only get one check per year, so I'd like it to default that they are exempt from FICA withholding and then force it on them for the one check.

Topics

Training

Community

Resources

How can I withhold FICA for one employee task but not another?