The end of the year is fast approaching, and this means payroll and tax administration experts in numerous businesses and HR departments will be hard at work in a few specific areas. One of these that’s necessary for any business that employs a staff of any size is the realm of annual payroll reports.
At WTA Inc., we’re proud to offer comprehensive payroll and tax administration services to a variety of business clients in Salt Lake City and other parts of Utah. We assist them with all sorts of documentation, tax forms and more, including with annual payroll reports and all their various sub-categories. What are annual payroll reports for employers, and which specific forms will need to be filled out depending on your business type and some other factors? Here’s a basic primer.
Basics on Annual Payroll Reports for Employers
Put simply, there are several different forms of annual payroll reports your business may need to fill out. These are tax forms that are used to report income, unemployment insurance and other data to government agencies. The forms you’ll need to fill out will vary depending on the size of your business, the type of business, as well as its location.
In almost 100% of cases, payroll reports will be due within the first quarter of the year following the year they cover. This means, for example, that your 2021 annual payroll reports will be due on or before April 15th, 2022.
Our next several sections will go over the payroll report forms your business may need to fill out, plus the factors that determine whether it’s required for you.
Form W-2
Perhaps the most well-known of these forms is the W-2, which is the one used by employees to file personal income taxes. Your employees will fill one of these out when they are hired.
As longtime HR experts know, employers themselves don’t actually report from W-2 forms at all, except for receiving them from employees. Rather, employers fill out the Form W-3, which we’ll go over next.
Form W-3
Form W-3, on the other hand, is used to report the total wages and tax withholdings of an employer. The W-3 form will be submitted alongside a copy of each W-2 that was issued to employees in that calendar year, in order to make reporting easier.
This can be done electronically or via paper, depending on preference and which method is allowed by the relevant agencies. Most businesses today submit their forms electronically. In either case, these forms must be submitted to the SSA (Social Security Administration) by February 1 of the following year.
For more on the various employer payroll report forms your business may need to fill out, or to learn about any of our HR services in Salt Lake City or surrounding areas, speak to the staff at WTA Inc. today.