Utah W2 efile

Hello russa,

It'll be my pleasure to help you get to the bottom of this issue concerning the grayed out button.

There are several reasons for the E-File button to be grayed out. We can isolate the problem by checking the status of your payroll subscription within QuickBooks Desktop or through the Camps website.

To check the subscription within the software, follow these steps:

1. Click the Employees tab.
2. Select My Payroll Service.
3. Click Manage Service Key.

Following the steps above will lead to the QuickBooks Service Keys window. This pop-up window will show you the type of subscription you have and the status. You must select the E-file method for this form under the Filing Methods window to ensure you can click the option.

To verify the Filing Method, kindly follow these steps:

1. Click the Employees tab at the top menu bar.
2. Click Payroll Center.
3. Go to the File Forms tab.
4. Below Other Activities, click Change Filing Method to open the QuickBooks Payroll Setup window.
5. Click Filing methods.
6. Select the form.
7. Click Edit.
8. Select E-file.
9. Click Finish.

Please note all the forms that we support E-File will have the option through the QuickBooks Payroll Setup window.

E-File Forms button is grayed out.

Please know that you can always come to the Community whenever you need further help. I'm eyeing on your response.
 

I think what Intuit failed to mention in their email about being able to e-file Utah State W-2s was that the feature is only available in their online version.  The desktop version doesn't seem to support it even though there is a grayed-out link suggesting that it should somehow.

Here is a link showing what you can and cannot do regarding e-filing between the desktop and online versions.  I got all excited for nothing, apparently.

https://community.intuit.com/articles/1458595-utah-payroll-tax-compliance

You can still create a text file and upload that if you have a TAP account, but we've been able to do that for years.

I take it back, creating a text file for Utah is not available anymore.  I guess I'm calling customer service.

Sorry, BRC I'm not seeing your other answer but after experimenting with a nice customer support lady named Marie, we figured out if the E-filing button is grayed out,  from the File Forms tab in the Payroll Center, click on 'Manage Filing Methods', then after payroll setup loads, click on 'Filing methods' then click 'Continue'.  Close the 'View Enrollments' window and you should now see 'UT State Tax Commission (State W2)' as one of your forms.  Hit 'Finish' and you are now good to go!

54mike, 

I'm trying to efile the W-2 in Utah as well, but I'm having the same problem as was mentioned earlier. 

I tried to follow your instructions, but I can't seem to get it to work on Quickbooks Desktop Pro 2017.

Here's a quick video showing my issues: https://cl.ly/4accd6

Thanks!

Hi dannym32123,
I watched your video and you did everything right.  After you see the UT State Tax Commission (State W2) form listed all you need to do is hit 'Finish' to back to the Payroll center.  Select the form 'UT State W-2s - UT State W-2s Workhseet (E-file Only) and when you are ready to submit, you will find that the 'E-file button which was previously grayed-out is now active.  Good Luck!

Hi dannym32123,

I apologize if this message shows up twice, I responded some time ago but my answer never showed up.
I watched your video and you did everything right.  If you go back to the submit button, you will now find that where it was previously grayed-out, it is now active.

I experienced the same problem with my Desktop version of Enterprise 19.0.

It is unable to create a W-2 worksheet or E-File for the state of UT - W-2 submission . 

I have downloaded the excel worksheet Utah TAP provides and will also export the "Employee Earning Summary" report from Quick-books to edit/filter all employees information to then copy/paste into the states submission sheet. I am very sad that Quick books desktop can't provide the same options for Utah as it does for so many other states through excel reports.

If anyone has a better solution for getting the data out of QB's into the Utah excel file more efficiently. Please share. Thanks!

We appreciate your feedback, @bookkeeper100.

Unlike other states, filing the Utah W-2 state tax form can now be done using the standard payroll forms feature within QuickBooks. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the Payroll Center.
2. Proceed to the File Forms tab.
3. Look for the UT State W-2s -UTState W-2 Worksheet (E-file Only).
4. Complete the Utah State W-2 Interview and verify your data.
5. On the Submit Form window, select the E-file button.
6. In the Agency Login Information screen, enter your e-mail address and contact phone number. Select Submit.

Once done, check the E-file status of the form you've submitted within 24-48 hours.

To ensure compliance with the Utah state payroll tax regulations, please check this article: Utah Payroll Tax Compliance.

Let me know if you have other questions about the forms. I'm always here to provide more help.

What report do you run in QB to create the text file?

Hello Courtney79,

We can create a text file for State W-2 E-file through these steps:

1. Click Employees at the top menu and select Payroll Tax Forms & W-2s > Create State W-2 E-file.
2. You can click Enable Content to enable Macros.
3. In the QuickBooks Payroll - State W-2 Electronic Filing window, select Continue.
4. In the next window, click Continue.
5. Select the State you want to create a report and click Get QuickBooks Data.
6. To review the data for any missing details, you can go to the Add-Ins tab.
7. Select Start Interview. Make sure to enter the details on the highlighted cells.

Once you're ready to save the file, here's how to do it:

1. Click the File menu and select Save As.
2. Enter the File name.
3. Make sure the Save as type is Text.
4. Hit Save.

That's how we do it! Give this a shot and let me know if you require additional assistance. Have a great day!

Hi. I appreciate your trying to help but we can not run that report and e-file, even though we are supposed to be able to. Our file is too large and a window does not pop up that allows us to modify how many records are created at a time (i.e. A-K, L-Z). We have been talking with tech support for several HOURS this week, been hung up on several times, and eventually told they don't know how to help us. So, we are now resorting to piecing together several reports within QBs to populate the Utah State template. Frustrating doesn't begin to describe our feelings right now. We have 700 W-2s to file. Had ZERO issues filing the Federal form. I was hoping I could just find out if there is a report in QBs that has all the fields that I can easily cut and paste into the State template.

Hi,Courtney79.

I can see how this feature would be useful. I’ll speak with our engineering team about these options and features and will let you know whenever we have it available for our users.

As a workaround, you can pull up and run the Tax Form Worksheets report. Gather the information and manually file the form.

To ensure compliance with the Utah state payroll tax regulations, please check this article: Utah Payroll Tax Compliance.

Additionally, I'd encourage you to visit our Firm for the future to be updated with our latest news and updates including product improvements. Just go to https://www.firmofthefuture.com/product-industry-news/product-updates/.

Please know that you can always come to the Community whenever you need further help. I'm keeping an eye on your response.

Well, when that report finishes running in 12 hours, it should only take another 12 hours to manually enter in all information for 697 employees. What a great help. 

How is this extract even remotely helpful?  The spreadsheet provided by the state of UT is very simple with employee names on the left and data in columns to the right.  Can QB extract it in this format?  Have I missed something new in the last year?

Hi Lisa,
Don't even bother with creating an Excel spreadsheet for Utah in QuickBooks anymore.  In QuickBooks, from the Payroll Center, select File Forms then scroll down to the bottom and select UT State W-2s - UT State W-2s Worksheet (E-file Only) then hit the Submit Form button. If the E-File button is grayed out, go back up and read some of my earlier posts in this thread.  Or you can call me [removed].  I'm happy to help.  This is even faster than the spreadsheet method which isn't even available anymore through QuickBooks.
Michael Dean, CPA  

Michael - Geez Louise!  That was so simple.  I didn't realize that it would upload directly from QB.  Life is good.  Thank you so much!

Lisa

You are welcome.  Glad I could help.

Happen to have a solution for if your file is too big? The QB window that pops up suggests that I run the report in two groups (i.e. a-g and h-z), however, you don't get that option to do that. It just runs for awhile after I click on create form and then tells me the file is over $9,999,999.99. Oh, the conundrum. 

Let's fix the issue so you'll be able to create the form, Courtney79.

You can use the verify and rebuild tool to fix data issues that you encounter within your company file. To do this, you can follow the steps below:

To verify: 

1. Choose Window then Close All.
2. Verify Data. Choose File then Utilities. Select Verify Data.If you see:
   • "QuickBooks detected no problems with your data," no further action is needed.
   • A specific error message, there may already be an article for it. Try searching for it in our QuickBooks Desktop support site for specific instructions.
   • "Your data has lost integrity," indicates there is data damage in the file.  Continue to the steps below to Rebuild Data to correct the problem.

To rebuild: 

• Choose File, Utilities then Rebuild Data.
• You will receive a warning message to backup your company file, press OK.A rebuild requires a company file backup beforehand because in rare cases the process may need to delete transactions or list entries to fix the file.  A backup of your company file will ensure you have a secured copy of your company file before any changes are made to it.
  1. Select where you want to save your backup, then select OK at the bottom of the QuickBooks Desktop Backup window.
     • If a message asks if you want to replace another backup file, select NO. Enter a new name in the File name field and click Save.
     • If the backup fails, select Cancel at the Rebuild prompt and contact Payroll Support for additional assistance.
  2. The Rebuild Data utility starts as soon as the backup is finished.
  3. Click OK when you get the message "Rebuild has completed".

Finally, check for the remaining data damage. 

1. Run Verify Data again to check for remaining data damage. Select File, Utilities then Verify Data.
2. If the Verify detects additional damage it means the damage will need to be manually corrected. Locate the error within the qbwin.log and search for a resolution at the QuickBooks Desktop Support site.
3. If your error cannot be found, you can try restoring a recent backup. Choose File then Restore.
   *Make sure that you do not overwrite your existing company file. Any information entered in the company file since the backup was created must be manually reentered after you restore.

In addition, you can run the report in 3 groups instead of 2, to prevent any errors. In case you'll encounter issues within your company file, read this article for more information: Fix common problems and errors with the QuickBooks Desktop Tool Hub.

Feel free to let us know if you're still getting the same error. I'll always be here to further assist you.

As usual, that was completely unhelpful. I have dealt with this issue for 2 years now. Spent several hours on the phone and reached out to this community. Nobody has an answer. There is no window that pops up that lets me split up the report into groups, whether that is 2 groups or 3 groups. It doesn't matter, because there is no option to do it. There is for the Federal filing. But not for the State filing. I went and verified our data. We had two errors. They were corrected. Still the same issue. Looks like I will be piecing together reports, again, to get all the necessary information. Time to look for a new accounting/payroll company. Done.