Payroll taxes

Are you using QuickBooks payroll?  Semi-monthly filing is misleading.  It does not mean that you file twice a month.  You are required to pay the withholding taxes and employers match within a few days of the payroll date.  If you pay on Friday, your tax deposit is due the following Wednesday. 

The IRS has a schedule available for went the taxes are due based on the payroll date.  As long as you keep current, the liabilities shown in QuickBooks should be accurate.

Hello there, @ronda5 and @QBsguru .

Welcome to the Community. I'd be glad to help share some additional details about payroll tax calculation in QuickBooks.

If you have an active payroll subscription, QuickBooks automatically calculate the taxes for you. The payroll wage and tax calculations are derived from the payroll data and transactions you entered in QuickBooks Desktop.

Additionally, your employees and payroll items should be set up correctly to ensure accurate calculation of wages and tax amounts. 

If you just recently change the payment frequency, it'll not affect the calculation for flat rate taxes, like Social Security and Medicare. However, for Federal Withholding, QuickBooks calculate your payroll taxes using the percentage method. 

For more details about the Federal Income tax withholding methods, you may check this link: IRS Publication 15.

I've attached some articles for additional reference:

•  How QuickBooks calculates payroll taxes and how you can verify tax calculations
• Set up and pay scheduled or custom (unscheduled) liabilities 

If you need to reach out for more help, our phone agents will be able to help you get to a resolution quickly.

Here's how you can reach them: 

1. Go to: https://payroll.intuit.com/support/contact/?infosrc=qs&service=16.
2. Select your Payroll Subscription type.
3. Click Payroll.
4. Click on the View Contact Info button to get their contact number. 

These resources should help to get you back on track. 

Feel free to drop a comment below if you've got other questions in mind about payroll calculation in QuickBooks Desktop. I'll be happy to help you further.

Make sure to understand this difference, as well: "for each payroll period?"

It isn't Payroll Period. Everything about taxes is based on Pay Date = when the money happens.

There is no Semi-Monthly. The Feds have "monthly" which = by mid-month of the month Following the date on the paychecks. Or, "semi-weekly" or what is called Accelerated = within three banking dates of each Pay Date. They call it "semi" = 2, and Weekly, because they offer Two Due Days: Wed or Fri.

"Under the semiweekly deposit schedule, deposit employment taxes for Paychecks dated on Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday by the following Wednesday. Deposit taxes for Paychecks dated on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and/or Tuesday by the following Friday."

= Three Banking dates. They want the taxes quickly = accelerated.