Sanity and laziness aside, you still need to deal with state payroll taxes. However, that you apply the same basic mechanics to state payroll taxes that you apply to federal payroll taxes. State income tax works the same way as federal income tax; employer-paid state unemployment taxes work like employer-paid federal taxes; and employee-paid state taxes work like employee-paid Social Security and Medicare taxes.
If you’re tuned in to how federal payroll taxes work in QuickBooks, you really shouldn’t have a problem with state payroll taxes — at least not in terms of mechanics. Also note that QuickBooks can now print most state forms for most states. Check the QuickBooks Intuit website for more information about this service.
The one thing you need to figure out is what your state wants. To do that, you need to get the state’s payroll tax reporting instructions. You may need to call the state. Or with a little luck, you may find online instructions at your state government’s website. If that isn’t much help, you can probably look up the state tax people’s telephone number by searching online, using a search phrase that includes your state’s name and the phrase payroll tax returns.
