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Request an amendment for payroll

by Intuit•55• Updated a day ago

If you fixed a paycheck from a previous quarter or year in QuickBooks Online, you might need an amendment. If you have QuickBooks Workforce Premium or QuickBooks Workforce Elite , you can now request an amendment for your payroll taxes directly in QuickBooks Online.

What's an amendment?

Payroll tax filings report employees’ wages, withheld taxes, and company taxes to tax agencies. You'll need to file an amended tax return if you made any changes or entered new paychecks in a quarter or year in which you've already filed.

The forms you’ll need to file depend on what corrections you made ‌to the previous quarter or year. If the previous year was affected, W-2 forms may also need to be amended. If you only updated your unemployment rate, no amendments are needed.

What you’ll need

You must have an active QuickBooks Workforce Premium or QuickBooks Workforce Elite subscription to request an amendment in your company file.

Important: If you have QuickBooks Workforce Payroll, you’ll need to prepare the amendments, and pay taxes directly to tax agencies, or contact your accountant or a tax expert. In the Payroll Tax Center, be sure to mark the payment as paid.

Request an amendment

Step 1: Correct your payroll

Determine if you need to to fix your payroll. These are the most common reasons for payroll corrections:
- Underpaid employee
- Overpaid employee
- Paychecks not recorded
- Changes to employee or company contributions
- Uncashed paychecks (escheatment)
- Replacement for lost or destroyed paycheck
Pick the correction method that fits your situation:

You underpaid an employee and haven't paid them yet

Add pay to the next payroll. Create a new paycheck for the amount owed or add it to their next regular paycheck.

You paid an employee too much

Subtract pay from the next payroll. Create an agreement with them to collect the money back on future paychecks or outside payroll. Contact your accountant or a tax professional for guidance

You paid an employee but never recorded it

Create a new paycheck. Create a new paycheck with the date you paid the employee. This impacts your tax liability and requires an amendment.

You already collected overpaid wages

Edit or void the paycheck to adjust the amount. If you’ve already collected overpaid wages, you can adjust the paycheck. If the employee no longer works for you and you can’t collect the money, contact us.

Note: Do not void any uncashed, lost, or destroyed paycheck. Instead, check out Understand the process for unclaimed wages, or Replace a lost or expired paycheck to make sure it's handled correctly.

Correct your QuickBooks.
- Every corrected paycheck can affect your tax liability. Be sure to include this amount when you report to tax agencies as part of the same amendment.

Step 2: Submit an amendment in QuickBooks Online

California and federal tax forms

If you have California or federal tax forms to amend, QuickBooks will complete additional tasks to finalize your amendments.

To submit your amendment request:

On the Let us know how to handle your amendments and books screen, make sure Submit an amendment request is toggled on, then select Save and preview payroll.
Select Create an amendment on the confirmation screen. If you skip this, a reminder pop-up will appear — select Take care of my amendments to continue.
On the Review your tax amendments page, review your Case ID, review-by date, estimated payment or refund, estimated filing date, and amendment reasons. Select Looks Good to confirm.
- Important: Be sure all corrections for the specific quarter are in QuickBooks by the review by date. If you have changes for other quarters, a new case will be opened.

Go to the Payroll Tax Center to track your return. Once ready, select Review to see a draft the form, or Check case details to go to the Resolution Center to follow your case through each filing stage.

All other payroll tax forms

After you complete your prior period correction in QuickBooks, you may be asked will to submit an amendment request. This is part of your payroll plan if you have QuickBooks Workforce Premium and QuickBooks Workforce Elite.

How it works:

Timing: Once you open your amendment case, it usually takes 6–8 weeks for us to process your amendments and submit them to the tax agencies. If your amendments require corrected W-2s, they take about 1–2 weeks to process. Processing times can vary by season.
Tax payments: If you owe extra taxes, we’ll let you know how to pay them.
Copies of the amendments: We’ll share copies of the amended tax returns with you, so you can save a copy for your tax records.

How the amendment process works:

Timing: Processing typically takes 6–8 weeks after you open a case. Corrected W-2s take about 1–2 weeks. Processing times may vary by season.
Tax payments: If additional taxes are owed, QuickBooks will notify you of next steps for payment.
Copies: QuickBooks will share copies of the amended tax returns for your records.

Fines and penalties: If your payroll corrections affect taxes owed to a tax agency, you may receive notices or penalties for late tax payments. You're responsible for any such penalties.

Next steps

You’ll get an email after you submit your amendment request.