Overview
As an employer, you withhold federal, state, and (sometimes) local taxes from your employees' pay. You also must pay matching amounts of Social Security and Medicare taxes. How often you pay and report payroll taxes depends on the size of your payroll.
In QuickBooks Desktop, you can customize the Payroll Center to keep track of the due dates for your taxes, as well as any of your other payroll liabilities, such as payments to your 401(k) vendor or your health-insurance carrier. The due dates appear in the Payroll Center.
Details
To set your tax desposit due dates:
- Choose the Payroll Center.
- In the Pay Liabilities tab, under Other Activities at the bottom, choose Change payment method.
- Edit the necessary due dates.
When are my payroll tax deposits due?
| When | Then |
| The payroll tax liability period is Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday | Make the tax deposit by the following Friday |
| The payroll tax liability period is Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday | Make the tax deposit by the following Wednesday |
| A holiday falls on a weekday after the payroll tax liability period and before or on the normal deposit day | Extend the deposit due date one business day for each day of holiday |
Monthly payroll tax depositors must make their tax deposits by the fifteenth of each month. When the fifteenth falls on a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, tax deposits are due on the next business day.
If you're not sure what your tax schedule is, consult your accountant or your tax advisor.
Notes for Quickbooks Desktop Payroll Assisted customers
- Assisted payroll customers cannot set deposit frequencies for the fields Federal Withholding, Medicare Company & Employee, Social Security Company & Employee, Federal Unemployment, State Unemployment & Surcharge, and State Withholding taxes. These tax deposits are made on your behalf as part of your Assisted payroll subscription. However, because the Assisted payroll service does not report or deposit local taxes for you, most local taxes require a frequent deposit frequency from your company.
- If you are an Assisted payroll customer and you receive a Tax Deposit Frequency Change notice from a tax agency, see State Withholding Tax Deposit Frequencies for more information.
Related articles
Set up and pay scheduled or custom (unscheduled) liabilities