Federal Wage and Tax Statement
Every year, employers must report to the federal government wages paid and taxes withheld for each employee. This report is filed using Form W-2, wage and tax statement. Employers must complete a W-2 form for each employee who they pay a salary, wage or other compensation.
Employers must send Copy A of W-2 forms to the Social Security Administration by the last day of February to report wages and taxes of your employees for the previous calendar year. In addition, employers should send copies of W-2 forms to their employees by Jan. 31 of the year following the reporting period. Visit SSA.gov/employer for more information.
Depending on the state where your employees are located, you may be required to withhold state income taxes. Visit the state and local tax page for
Form 941 Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.
Register NJ’s New Hire Reporting Program. (See attached PDF.)
All employers are required to report newly hired and re-hired employees to a state directory within 20 days of their hire or rehire date.
https://nj-newhire.com/
(There is no need to report terminated employees.)
Employers do not need to submit the I-9 form with the federal government but are required to keep them on file for three years after the date of hire or one year after the date of the employee's termination, whichever is later.
Employers can use information taken from the Form I-9 to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees by registering with E-Verify .
-----
Employee records (this is all stored in QB):
- Employee's full name and social security number
- Mailing address, including ZIP code
- Birth date, if the employee is younger than 19
- Sex and occupation
- Time of day and day of the week when employee's workweek begins, hours worked each day, and total hours worked each workweek
- Basis on which employee's wages are paid (weekly, bi-monthly, and so on)
- Regular hourly pay rate
- Total daily or weekly "straight time" earnings for each workweek
- Total overtime earnings for each workweek
- All additions to or deductions taken from employee's wages
- Total wages paid each pay period
- Date of payment and the pay period covered by each payment
- A W2 form to the Social Security Administration and a share of a full- or part-time employee's Social Security payroll taxes (FICA) once a year to your state and federal governments
- An I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form for every new hire
- Taxes on 1099 workers (independent contractors) either quarterly or once a year to the federal government
- The same forms must also be submitted to the your state's department of labor or taxation
- Proof of worker's comp insurance. Such a policy indemnifies a business against its legal liabilities towards accidental or fatal injuries sustained by employees during working hours. Although this is required by federal law, the administration of this benefit is at the state level.
- State and federal unemployment taxes, but only if (1) they pay wages to employees totaling $1,500 or more in any quarter of a calendar year, or (2) they employed at least one person during any day of the week during any 20 weeks in a calendar year, regardless of whether or not the weeks were consecutive. In some states, this is tied to a worker's status as part time or full time, but you should contact your state workforce agency to learn the exact requirements.