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marting
Level 2

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

I am a QuickBooks Online user and the Enhanced Payroll subscription.  I am having difficulty with the Iowa electronic submission.  How do I generate a txt file to submit to the State of Iowa?  They no longer accept paper filings for the year-end W-2 information.

 

17 Comments 17
Anonymous
Not applicable
sfriederick6
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

how about for quickbooks online? Not desktop

marting
Level 2

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Thanks for the reply. My situation is a little different in that I am using the Online version of Quickbooks and am unable to generate the export file like I could with the desktop version in the past. 

 

Do you you have any other suggestions I could try?

Anonymous
Not applicable

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hi, @marting.

 

Are you referring to the W-2 forms that you need to manually file to the agency? If so, let me help route you to the following helpful articles below for more information about W-2 forms in QuickBooks Online:

 

How Do I Prepare and File W-2 Forms

View and print W-2 forms in QuickBooks Online Payroll 

 

 

Please let me know if this is not what you're referring to. I'll be on the lookout for your reply if you mean something else. Have a good one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

sfriederick6
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Iowa requires you to submit electronically W-2/1099 (new requirement) if you have anybody with Iowa withholding,please see website below:

https://tax.iowa.gov/tax-year-2018-news-w-21099-electronic-filing

We need a .txt file to do so through the QuickBooks Online version.

You cannot send anything manually to the State of Iowa.

marting
Level 2

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

@Anonymous

We are getting closer.  My understanding is that Iowa requires electronic filing of the W2 information. I am unable to file electronically with the Quickbooks Online (with Enhanced Payroll) and this version does not seem to allow me to generate the same txt file that I could manually upload to the states website. the desktop version did this in the past. Iowa no longer allows paper filing of W2 information by employers. 

 

Federal forms worked great. 

HoneyLynn_G
QuickBooks Team

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hi there, marting and sfriederick6.

 

Allow me to step in and provide some more insights about State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2.

 

Currently, the option to e-file your state W-2 is unavailable. As a suggestion, you can run and download the form, and use a 3rd party application to convert it as a .txt file.

 

Our goal is to make QuickBooks as user-friendly as possible and be a one-stop-shop for business owners in filing the forms. I appreciate you for voicing out your feedback, with that we can then address what needs to be improved to give our customers a better customer service experience. I personally sent this request to our engineers, and I recommend you do the same.

 

How do I submit feedback?

 

Let me know if there's anything else you need or other questions about payroll. I'm here to provide further assistance. Have a good one.

jazmc08
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

I am also having problems with this using QB Online.  I have had Quickbooks online and in previous years it has given me the option to file this form online.   It was called the IA Form W-2 in the Taxes section.   I can still see my archived forms from previous years that were e-filed.   It used to say "If you have less than 50 employees you do not need to file."   I do not see this form anywhere this year.   Can you tell me why it no longer shows up?

Anonymous
Not applicable

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hello jazmc08,

 

The state of Iowa is still working on third-party vendors that will support filing of W-2/1099 forms. For now, we don't have any updates from them. In the meantime, you can e-file the form directly to the state agency's website

 

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks! 

jazmc08
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hello, I still do not understand how this works.   By the way, according to the IA state web site at the top of this page it says:

 

https://tax.iowa.gov/electronic-filing-w-2-wage-statements-and-1099-information-returns

"The Department has extended the electronic filing deadline of W-2s and 1099s until February 28, 2019."

 

Also, the state of Iowa you can't directly submit, you need an actual export TXT file in the proper format.   It also lists Intuit as one of those vendors who should be supporting this:

https://tax.iowa.gov/tax-year-2018-approved-software-vendor-list

 

So, can you please give me detailed instructions on how I am supposed to get the file in the format specified in this document which Iowa says should be supported by the vendors on the list

https://tax.iowa.gov/sites/files/idr/documents/2018%20IDR%20Pub%2044082_1.pdf


I am using QB online.  

Thanks!

Kristine Mae
Moderator

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

I can help you take out your confusion, Jazmc08.

 

Intuit is one of the supported vendors. Though, as what my colleague @GarlynGay provided, the state of Iowa is still working with the third-party vendors regarding the filing.

 

For now, the .txt file is unavailable in QuickBooks Online. You may want to use the PDF copies of the Federal W-2, then convert it to a .txt format using a third-party app. Once converted, e-file the form directly to the state agency's website.

 

We're just around if you need further help. 

 

 

jazmc08
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Thank you, and do you expect that they have delayed this until the end of February to get the vendors up to speed?   Also, where are these third-party apps that one could use to go from a PDF to the exact format they expect which seems very specific to them?  Thanks!

Kristine Mae
Moderator

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hello again, Jazmc08.

 

You can verify it to your state agency if they have delayed any submission while working with us. 

 

Regarding the third-party app that will help you convert the PDF file to a txt file, I saw some converters available on the web. You can go ahead and check them.

 

Don't hesitate to reach out if you need more help from us. 

 

 

jazmc08
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Just in case anyone is wondering, I asked the state of IA about this and their response was pretty much to ask Intuit as they say if the vendor is listed, they must have tested it with their system.   They said the desktop version is listed so maybe the desktop works and online does not.

 

Here is the response:

 

The list of vendors on our website are companies that called in and tested with our system. I assume you are referring to this listing:
Intuit, Inc.
7535 Torrey Santa Fe Rd
San Diego, CA 92129
Ph: [removed]
Website: https://payroll.intuit.com/desktop-payroll/

Products: QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced
Forms Supported: W-2

You would have to call this company directly and talk with them about any questions you are having. I see that it is specifically for Desktop Enhanced but we do not have any information on how that applies to their different products or what they are requiring of the taxpayer.

Other options for filing would include:
Creating the file if you do not want to pay for an outside service provider to create the file for you. 

 

 

MaryGraceS
Moderator

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hello there, @jazmc08.

 

Thank you for getting back to me in this thread and for posting additional information about e-filing the Iowa state W-2.

 

You're right. Currently, you can file the state forms electronically if you're using QuickBooks Desktop Payroll. It has a feature that'll help you create a file that can be uploaded to the agency website or sent via electronic media.

 

I appreciate you sharing another option to submit the form in the Community. With your additional input, we have two workarounds available for how to send the form-Creating it manually, or you can use a third-party app to convert the file to .txt, then upload it to the state's website.   

 

I've also attached an article for further reference: Iowa Payroll Tax Compliance.

 

Additionally, sending your feedback will help us not only improve the product, but also will help us know what works best for you. Just click on the Gear icon and choose Feedback.

 

Feel free to drop by if you have any other questions about filing payroll forms in QuickBooks Online. I'll be glad to help you out. Wishing you and your business continued success.

eyang
Level 1

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hello , 

Do you know that QB online will be able to do the filing to IA for 2020 W2 ? I know that last year they are not an option. I wonder if this year has any improvement. 
Thanks,

AlcaeusF
Moderator

State of Iowa electronic reporting of W-2

Hi @eyang,

 

Welcome to the Community. Let me share some clarification about filing IA W-2s in QuickBooks Online.

 

Currently, an option or ability to file IA W-2 is still unavailable. For now, I recommend following the workaround provided by my colleague @HoneyLynn_G above.

 

I appreciate your input on this feature. To stay up-to-date about the availability in QuickBooks, you can visit this link: Iowa Payroll Tax Compliance.

 

You can also check the articles for more details about filing W-2 forms, as well as some information about which states do and do not require employers to submit the form:

 

Drop me a comment below if you have any other questions. I'll be more than happy to help. Wishing you a good one.

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