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Set up Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave

SOLVED•by QuickBooks•150•Updated September 12, 2023

Learn how to set up QuickBooks Payroll to track paid family and medical leave in Washington.

Washington has implemented Paid Family and Medical Leave. All employers within the state of Washington State (with very few exceptions) must report your employees’ wages and hours and pay premiums each quarter. If you have full service payroll, we'll pay and file this tax for you.

How the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave program works

Checkout the WA Paid Family & Medical Leave website and their Premiums Calculator to learn about your rates. The size of your company will determine how much you'll pay.

Note: Not sure which payroll service you have? Here's how to find your payroll service.

Add Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave to your employees

  1. Go to Settings ⚙, then Payroll Settings.
  2. Next to Washington tax, select Edit ✎ to view your rates.
  3. In the Paid Family and Medical Leave section, select Edit.
  4. From the dropdown menu, choose the new rate and enter an Effective date.
  5. Select OK, then Done.

Taxes will deduct from your employees paychecks on the effective date.

Download and install the latest payroll update payroll update.  When you add a new or an employee that is subject to Washington Paid Family leave, the tax will appear on the Other tab in the Taxes window.  You can remove items or adjust the rates from this tab.

Important: If you’re asked during the interview if this rate is part of the UI rate, select No. The tool will create two new payroll items related to the WA tax.

To enter or change the tax rate for each employee:

  1. Go to Employees and select Employee Center.
  2. Double-click the employee's name to open the Edit Employee window.
  3. Select the Payroll Info tab and select Taxes.
  4. In the Taxes screen that pops up, select the Other tab.
  5. Make sure the Washington Paid Family Leave items are there.
    • WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Emp: Employee portion of the total insurance premium
    • WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Co: Employer portion of the total insurance premium will be added to the Payroll Item List.
  6. Select the tax to change the rate.
  7. Select OK twice to close the window.

To add your account number for this tax:

If you aren’t sure what your account number is, look it up with the Washington State Department of Revenue.

  1. Go to Lists then Payroll Item List.
  2. Double-click the payroll item called WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Emp or WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Co.
  3. Select Next until you get to the Agency for company-paid liability window.  Next to Enter the number that identifies you to the agency window enter your EIN.
  4. Select Next.
  5. Verify your rate.
  6. Select Next then select Finish..

If you have already run paychecks this year before setting up this rate, the employee will have any catch-up amounts deducted from their next paycheck.

Exempt employees from Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave

Check with your state if you're exempt from this tax.  To set up your payroll file as exempt:

  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
  2. Select your employee.
  3. From Tax withholding, select Edit.
  4. In the Tax exemptions section, select WA Paid Family and Medical Leave Premium. 
  5. Select Save.
  1. Go to Employees and select Employee Center.
  2. Double-click the employee’s name.
  3. Select Payroll Info, then Taxes.
  4. Select the Other tab.
  5. In the Item Name, select the WA – Paid Fam Med Leave items, then Delete.
  6. Select OK twice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Washington Paid Family Leave should not include any tipped wages. If you have any tipped employees or income - they will require payroll adjustments to ensure the tipped income is not included in the reported wages. Please refer to this article for help on how to run a payroll check up.

If your employees earn tips, you must edit both tax items.

  1. Update to the latest tax table.
  2. From the Payroll Item List, edit the WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Emp and WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Co payroll items.
  3. Select Next until you see the Taxes window.
  4. In the Taxes window, select Default.
  5. Select Next until you see Finish, then select Finish.

If your employees earn tips, and you have NOT paid any employees with tips, you must edit both tax items.

  1. Update to the latest tax table.
  2. From the Payroll Item List, edit the WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Emp and WA – Paid Fam Med Leave Co payroll items.
  3. Select Next until you see the Taxable Compensation window.
  4. In the Taxable Compensation window, select unmark all tips payroll items.
  5. Select Next until you see Finish, then select Finish.

Assisted customers who have paid employees with tips, contact customer service for support.

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