Tax Compliance Resources

To assist with ever-changing payroll and tax-related compliance requirements,
Ahola has put together useful resources to help keep you informed.

  • Social Security Taxable Wage Base per Employee: $160,200
  • Employer Tax Rate for Social Security: 6.2%
  • Employee Tax Rate for Social Security: 6.2%
  • Self-Employed Tax Rate for Social Security: 12.4%
  • Medicare Taxable Wage Base per Employee: No Limit
  • Employer Tax Rate for Medicare: 1.45%
  • Employee Tax Rate for Medicare: 1.45%, wages up to $200,000 and 2.35%, wages over $200,000
  • Self-Employed Tax Rate for Medicare: 2.90%, wages over $200,000 additional rate of 0.90%
  • FUTA Taxable Wage Base per Employee: $7,000
  • FUTA Rate if state UI paid timely is 0.60%

(State Minimum Wage Rates may vary)

  • Minimum Wage: $7.25
  • Minimum with Tips: $5.05

You must make deposits according to one of two deposit schedules, monthly or semiweekly. The schedule you use for the current calendar year depends on the amount of taxes you reported during your lookback period. If you have filed only Form 941, the lookback period is 12 months, covering four quarters ending on June 30th of the prior year. If you filed Form 944 in either of the two previous years or you are filing Form 944 in the current year, the lookback period is the second prior calendar year. (Refer to Chapter 11 of Publication 15, (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide.)

Monthly Schedule Depositor
If you reported taxes of $50,000 or less during the lookback period, you are a monthly schedule depositor, and you generally must deposit your employment taxes on payments made during a given month on or before the 15th day of the following month. For example, you must deposit taxes on payments made in January by February 15. If the 15th of any calendar month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deposit is due by the next business day.

Semiweekly Schedule Depositor
If you reported taxes of more than $50,000 for the lookback period, you are a semiweekly schedule depositor, and you generally must deposit your employment taxes based on the following schedule:

  1. If your payday is on Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday, you must deposit these taxes by the following Wednesday.
  2. If your payday is on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and/or Tuesday, you must deposit these taxes by the following Friday.

If you are required to make a deposit on a day that is not a business day, the deposit is considered timely if you make it by the close of the next business day. A business day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. For example, if you are required to make a deposit on a Friday and Friday is a legal holiday, the deposit will be considered timely if you make it by the following Monday (if that Monday is a business day). The term legal holiday means any legal holiday in the District of Columbia (refer to Chapter 11 of Publication 15). A statewide legal holiday, other than those listed, does not delay the due date of federal tax deposits. Semiweekly schedule depositors have at least 3 business days to make a deposit. If any of the 3 weekdays after the end of a semiweekly period is a legal holiday, you will have an additional day for each day that is a legal holiday to make the required deposit.

$100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule
Regardless of whether you are a monthly schedule depositor or a semiweekly schedule depositor, if you accumulate taxes of $100,000 or more on any day during a deposit period, you must deposit the tax by the next business day after you accumulate $100,000. If this happens, you become a semiweekly depositor for at least the remainder of the calendar year and for the following calendar year. For details on the $100,000 Next-Day Deposit Rule, see Chapter 11 of Publication 15.

New Employer
If you are a new employer, your taxes in the lookback period are considered to be zero for any quarter before you started or acquired your business. Therefore, in the first year of business you are a monthly schedule depositor unless the $100,000 next-day deposit rule applies.

  • Social Security Taxable Wage Base per Employee: $168,600
  • Employer Tax Rate for Social Security: 6.2%
  • Employee Tax Rate for Social Security: 6.2%
  • Self-Employed Tax Rate for Social Security: 12.4%
  • Medicare Taxable Wage Base per Employee: No Limit
  • Employer Tax Rate for Medicare: 1.45%
  • Employee Tax Rate for Medicare: 1.45%, wages up to $200,000 and 2.35%, wages over $200,000
  • Self-Employed Tax Rate for Medicare: 2.90%, wages over $200,000 additional rate of 0.90%
  • FUTA Taxable Wage Base per Employee: $7,000
  • FUTA Rate if state UI paid timely is 0.60%

(State Minimum Wage Rates may vary)

  • Minimum Wage: $7.25

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