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KarlaD
Level 1

My employees withholdings seem to change drastically almost every pay period! This can't actually be possible, can it?

I feel like every week there is another update and it changes my employees withholding's drastically in come cases. This doesn't make me feel very confident.

Solved
Best answer April 25, 2019

Best Answers
PreciousB
Moderator

My employees withholdings seem to change drastically almost every pay period! This can't actually be possible, can it?

Greetings KarlaD,

 

We keep updating the tax table to make sure we are compliant to federal and state agency. I can share some details on how QuickBooks Desktop Payroll calculates the employee's withholding.

 

Federal and State Income Tax (FIT and SIT) amount calculations are determined by the following:

  • agency's wage and tax calculation table
  • employee's filing status, number of allowances, or extra withholding amount in the employee setup
  • pre-tax deduction items included on the paycheck
  • changes in pay frequency (creating extra paycheck outside of normal pay schedule)
  • creating a paycheck with wages that has lesser or larger amount than what the employee normally gets in a pay period

To verify if QuickBooks is calculating correctly, you can open a paycheck and take note of the tax amounts. As a reference, you can compare the figure of FIT to the wage calculation table in IRS Pub 15 and SIT to the State Withholding calculation table in your State Agency's website.

 

Here's how to open a paycheck:

  1. Click Employees at the top, then choose Pay Employees.
  2. Select the employee's name and click Open Paycheck Detail.
  3. Observe the taxes.
  4. Click Save and close.

Following these steps should get you back in line.

 

Please let me know how it goes. I'm to here provide you additional assistance if you need anything else. Have a good one.

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3 Comments 3
PreciousB
Moderator

My employees withholdings seem to change drastically almost every pay period! This can't actually be possible, can it?

Greetings KarlaD,

 

We keep updating the tax table to make sure we are compliant to federal and state agency. I can share some details on how QuickBooks Desktop Payroll calculates the employee's withholding.

 

Federal and State Income Tax (FIT and SIT) amount calculations are determined by the following:

  • agency's wage and tax calculation table
  • employee's filing status, number of allowances, or extra withholding amount in the employee setup
  • pre-tax deduction items included on the paycheck
  • changes in pay frequency (creating extra paycheck outside of normal pay schedule)
  • creating a paycheck with wages that has lesser or larger amount than what the employee normally gets in a pay period

To verify if QuickBooks is calculating correctly, you can open a paycheck and take note of the tax amounts. As a reference, you can compare the figure of FIT to the wage calculation table in IRS Pub 15 and SIT to the State Withholding calculation table in your State Agency's website.

 

Here's how to open a paycheck:

  1. Click Employees at the top, then choose Pay Employees.
  2. Select the employee's name and click Open Paycheck Detail.
  3. Observe the taxes.
  4. Click Save and close.

Following these steps should get you back in line.

 

Please let me know how it goes. I'm to here provide you additional assistance if you need anything else. Have a good one.

NeuroDoc
Level 1

My employees withholdings seem to change drastically almost every pay period! This can't actually be possible, can it?

I'm having the issue where it is at 0 and that is NOT correct and has nothing to do with new tax codes. I cannot seem to fix it.

Joyce_P
QuickBooks Team

My employees withholdings seem to change drastically almost every pay period! This can't actually be possible, can it?

Let's get your payroll taxes calculated correctly, NeuroDoc,

 

You'll have to update QuickBooks to the latest release. Then, you can proceed in downloading the latest payroll tax table. This way, the software updates and the newest tax table are downloaded.

 

Once done, let's revert your employee's paycheck. This is to undo the saved payroll information with no taxes calculated.

 

Here are the steps:

  1. Go to Employees and choose Payroll Center.
  2. Click the Pay Employees tab, and click Resume Scheduled/Unscheduled Payroll.
  3. Right click on the employee who is highlighted in yellow, then click Revert Paycheck.

Feel free to post again if you need anything else. I'd be glad to help you some more.

 

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