Updates to QuickBooks Online Payroll Taxes

What about those of us who LIKE doing payroll taxes for clients, and those clients WANT us to do their payroll tax returns? Is there NO way to opt out of this?

This is the final nail in the coffin for me and QuickBooks/Intuit. The thought of a piece of software taking over my payroll filing and CONNECTION TO MY BANK ACCOUNT to make payments on my behalf without authorization from me, is absurd.

And then they try to pawn it off on "making it easier for me to do other things" is laughable. Anytime a company removes the ability for customers to make their own choices is never a good thing, particularly when it has access carte blanche to my bank account.

I will be moving to another solution and I encourage everyone else impacted by this ridiculous requirement to do the same.

This is the final nail in the coffin for me and QuickBooks/Intuit. The thought that a piece of software taking over my payroll filing and CONNECTION TO MY BANK ACCOUNT to make payments on my behalf without authorization from me, or even the option to authorize, is absurd.

And then they try to pawn it off as "making it easier for me to do other things" instead of manage payroll filings is laughable. Anytime a company removes the ability for customers to make their own choices is never a good thing, particularly when it has access carte blanche to my bank account.

I will be moving to another solution and I encourage everyone else impacted by this ridiculous requirement to do the same.

I agree with you. Intuit is FORCING its customers into this. I began a new job, and they had to switch to QBO, and I could not process payroll until I entered the information to allow them to auto-pay/file. It will be a disaster since I need a corrected 941. The migration with payroll did not go smoothly, and there is an error. There is no way to stop the filing. To make things worse, the support department never has answers or can help. 

I'm about to process the quarterly payroll tax and is now forced to "acknowledge" in the web browser that Quickbooks will be automatically paying payroll tax in three months with no opt-out option. This is frankly out-of-touch with how your product is currently used with the clients and, at best, extremely naive on the time needed for your customers to agree and test out how payroll tax is handled with the client. My clients have businesses in multiple states and your Quickbooks product cannot even handle more than one state to be processed automatically. I'm in a position that handles Quickbooks for multiple clients and they each prefer to have their own process of checks and balances. Forcing them to an automated process without consultation or time to test is going to stray away many clients from keeping Quickbooks. I know that many of my clients will be interested in alternatives.

We are immediately exploring other payroll provider options because of this change.  I've already submitted feedback, but would like to document our strong opposition to being forced into using automated payroll.  Based on over a decade of experience using your payroll product, I have zero trust in our taxes being handled correctly, not to mention the fact that you'll be withholding funds from us weekly, when several of our taxes are due monthly, quarterly and even annually, in some cases.  We process payroll in multiple states.  I currently have three outstanding issues with our payroll taxes, for which I've wasted hours on the phone without resolutions.  I have to spend extra time each month on work arounds due to the lack of help on your end.  I am already shopping around for third party payroll apps that will integrate with our QuickBooks accounting.  This decision is a mistake and I hope that enough of your clients speak out against it that you change your plans.

Am I to understand that for example, a payroll processed on the 1st of the month for a business that is a monthly (tax) depositor, will have the 941 income tax and state income tax totals taken from the businesses bank account and held by Intuit for what will be up to 45 days before it is paid to either the state or the IRS?

I am not sure how legally you can take money from a business that isn't due to be paid for over a month and deny them the ability to earn interest on their own money for that period of time.  If there is some legal loophole you are slippipng through it certainly isn't ethical.  

I hope everyone that looks for alternatives will share their findings here.  Intuit forcing this is not acceptable.  I also have multi-state payroll which makes it more difficult to find options.  

This is terrible.  I control my own money, pay my taxes when they are due, and handle my own payroll.  I don't need to be treated like a child.  I am switching to Xero.  Good bye, QBO.

Good luck waiting for refunds from amended 941's! It's been eight months for one that I e-filed!

This is my understanding!  Can you imagine the interest income they'll make across all accounts, by making this change?

This is the final nail in the coffin for our business as well...no option to opt-out? You all must be really confident in your services. The reason we handle our taxes manually is because of all the errors and mistakes that QB made when I let them handle something. And what happens when I have an problem? Any issue requiring any kind of brain power to solve takes at least an hour on the phone. I just had an issue where my state didn't receive the proper forms on time, they were supposed to be filed at the same time as the federal forms. They weren't and the solution was "well we are showing they were filed so they should have them." I called the state to confirm they did not receive them, only solution QB could come up with was to have me upload the notice so they could investigate how that happened but they couldn't file them for me again because "they were already filed." I had to file them myself, late, and am now waiting for a penalty notice to arrive in the mail. Thanks QB, should I send you the bill?

Honestly, this update is a blessing - I've been putting off switching payroll services because it's a hassle but this is the final push we needed to make a decision. I'm hoping to switch out of QB completely. 

What about 1099s? Will those forms be automatically filed?

Your notice is unclear on key points: when will QuickBooks actually withdraw payroll taxes from the bank account?

Right now, QuickBooks calculates payroll taxes when payroll is run, but I manually go in later and pay each tax before its due date.

After this change, for taxes such as federal withholding, FICA, FUTA, and state payroll taxes:

• Will QuickBooks withdraw the money immediately when payroll is processed?
• Or will it withdraw the money only on the normal tax due date for each agency?

Related questions:

• Does QuickBooks debit the funds as soon as payroll is run and then hold/remit them later?
• Or does it wait and debit closer to the agency due date?
• Will each tax be withdrawn on its own schedule, or pulled together at payroll time?
• Where in QuickBooks can I see the exact withdrawal timing before I submit payroll?

That timing difference matters a lot for cash flow, and the notice does not clearly explain it.

I am NOT happy about this. I don't trust Intuit to automatically withdraw and pay my taxes! And there are times when I need them paid immediately - I don't know when Intuit will pay them but I'm guessing it won't always be when I want them paid. I can't believe there is not an option to opt out of this. I will also be looking into other options for online payroll.

I 100% agree with this. I had a preview in October of 2025 of how problematic this forced auto tax payment process is. I decided to give it a try, and immediately noted that QB was attempting to withdraw payroll taxes from my bank account that were not due for multiple weeks and months. I spent hours and hours on phone calls and chats with QB attempting to get help. This is so frustrating.

Horrible idea!!!  You're simply doing this to make money as you can bank the payroll tax deposits and make interest income until you have to pay them for us!  We don't want this...period.  Please do not force us into automated payroll tax payments.  As a small business that is struggling, I have to have the control to pay taxes when they are due and not before.  I guess it's time to start looking elsewhere so we can survive...

I have one specific client that is a work from home model so they have employees across three states. QBO does not handle these types of situations well. We will have to find a new payroll system for them before this change goes into effect unless the decision is reversed. I also want to note that there is a lack of transparency on how QBO holding said funds. Is QBO withdrawing and holding the payments in an interest earning account? Therefore they are potentially collecting a benefit from money that is not theirs. This feels icky to take away company autonomy. 

Is this even legal? To force me to pay for taxes 3 weeks before the Government says its due? I believe , we just need to find another service provider. Quickbooks have forced us to buy desktop versions every 2 years, made us purchase payroll services, closed down the desktop apps and moved us to online. Now this. Enough is enough. 

Well I guess Intuit's email wasn't an April Fools joke. After 18 years of loyalty to Quickbooks payroll, we will be switching to a different payroll service provider due to this change. To not give businesses the option to manually pay and file their tax forms is ludicrous. As a payroll and tax professional, there have been countless times when the Quickbooks calculations and/or tax forms were wrong and required manual adjustment due to both business tax complexities and Quickbooks errors. If these had been automatically paid and filed, tax payments and filings would have been incorrect requiring amended tax forms and refund requests. Quickbooks payroll support does not have the knowledge to resolve even simple tax and filing issues. Requiring all businesses to use the automated feature is a recipe for disaster. Not to mention that Intuit will be coming into your bank account the day you submit payroll and taking money that isn't actually due for weeks or months. In other words the money is being taken before employees have even been paid. Intuit can invest this and help improve their cash flow until the due date...how convenient for them. This takes all of the control away from Quickbooks payroll users and payroll professionals. Based on issues we have dealt with, Quickbooks payroll has a long way to go until it will be ready for payroll tax automation. Some payroll complexities require some manual adjustment and human skill. In talking to other colleagues who have tried the automated filings, it has been a disaster. We have already become frustrated the level of automation within Quickbooks online, because half the time the automation is wrong and we have to go back and fix it anyway. In no way to I trust Quickbooks to completely automate the payroll tax payments and filings, what a joke. Time to find a new payroll processing software. 

You hit nail on head, they dump us and now we dump them and their trying to control everything 

I could not agree more. I have felt the same angst toward Intuit ever since they dropped Desktop and forced QBO on me. Desktop could handle multiple companies for the same price. Not QBO - you pay for each company separately. And it's a product which does not communicate at all with another of their products - TurboTax Business. You should see the convoluted process it takes to get your QBO data into TurboTax. What an absolute joke.

And now, they're going to take payroll taxes immediately, keep it and earn interest on OUR MONEY, and then say they're doing us a favor and simplifying our lives. What a joke.

Please, everyone, show them enough is enough - they're no longer holding us hostage - and look elsewhere.