Eye on EOY

With Quarter 4 in full swing and the end of the year quickly approaching, Zeal’s team of tax experts wanted to drop in and share insight on the annual changes that affect your payroll. The Federal Government and State Legislatures release consistent, as well as one-off policy decisions near the end of a calendar year. Read up on recurring tax changes to look out for, below.

SUTA, State Unemployment Tax Act contribution rates

Every year States make decisions on their SUTA tax rate schedules and ranges. Once a schedule is picked, they adjust employers’ rates based on a number of factors.

Things that can affect your experience rate include:

• Number of years you’ve been in business in that state
• Amount of payroll you process
• How many unemployment claims there were against your company and how many claims occurred in your industry at large

It should also be noted that if you're newly registering in a state you’ll see a certain rate assigned to new (to the state) businesses. Your SUTA rate can dramatically influence the amount of taxes that are withheld and remitted. We generally see these notices show up between November and March (yes they can be retroactive!).

Deposit Schedules

Zeal uses the term “deposit schedule” as a reference to how frequently you’ll be remitting withheld funds and employer taxes to any State or jurisdiction. Deposit schedules only move two directions.

Has your deposit schedule become more frequent? That’s great news for your business! A more frequent schedule means you processed more payroll.

Deposit schedules are impacted by the amount of gross wages you’re paying out as an employer at the Federal and State levels. Deposit schedules differ from SUTA rates in that they can change at any time during the year, but schedules most commonly update at the start of a new year.

Anything Else?

In addition to routine updates like SUTA and deposit schedules, our tax team is taking stock of legislative changes in tax jurisdictions that are likely to affect the new tax year. At every turn, Zeal has you covered. We take particular care to reach out and remind partners to share updates that will affect their tax reports and impact end-employee paychecks. It’s a lot to keep track of, which is why we pay attention to the details on your behalf to make a complex system look effortless for your employees and businesses.

We plan to pop back in to the blog before the end of year is up to share more on what is specific to annual filings, and why the new year is the best time to sign up with Zeal and see how payroll can be the ultimate wedge into fintech for your company. Contact us here if you’re ready to start payroll in 2023.

DISCLAIMER: The contents of this communication have been prepared for informational purposes only and do not provide, nor should be relied upon for, tax, legal, or other accounting advice. Please consult with your accountants, attorneys, or other tax advisers for advice regarding your tax obligations.