Last year Florida passed an Unemployment Compensation Tax rate and wage threshold hike, increasing the taxable wage threshold to $8,500. What this meant was that payroll software programs were calculating taxes on the first $8,500 that each employee made, instead of just the first $7,000. Then, partway through the first quarter, Florida repealed portions of the tax increase including the higher wage threshold. While most payroll services and software programs adjusted for the retroactive change, Quickbooks did not. If you use Quickbooks payroll, here is what you need to know:
Quickbooks did issue a payroll update correcting the wage base to $7,000, but the update was not retroactive. This means that the payrolls you ran before putting in the Quickbooks update are using the $8,500 wage base. If you use Quickbooks to calculate your liability, but then file online through the Florida DOR website, then the only issue you will have is adjusting the liability in Quickbooks.
On the other hand, if you file your forms as printed out of Quickbooks, you may have overpaid and are entitled to a refund. You can get this by filing Florida Form UCT-8A. I recommend working with your accountant to figure out what how much of a refund you are entitled to and how to properly fill out this form.
While Quickbooks payroll is a an inexpensive option for do-it-yourself clients, this glitch illustrates why we recommend turning over your payroll needs to professional service companies who focus on payroll and payroll tax laws. With new payroll tax credits and reporting requirements, self-service payroll may not even be an option in the near future.
As always, we will keep you posted on any new updates or problems we discover to help your business succeed in this ever changing economy.
