Goldenseal Payroll
Software Info
US Federal Withholding
Tables
Free 2021 Payroll
Tax Table Updates

New & Used
Swiss Army Knives
|
Turtle Creek Software provides free annual updates for California and
federal payroll tax tables. To download the latest
version, click here.
California has state income tax withholding. Rates changed in 2021,
as they have done consistently every year since
we introduced our payroll software back
in 1988. The California payroll tax tables
use "stepped" rates
similar to the federal withholding tax tables
(CA added a new step in 2005, and then two
more steps in 2013).
There is also a state disability insurance withholding (SDI) and an
employer training tax. Worker's comp insurance is also issued through
a state agency, with rates that depend on the type of work done by each
employee.
For a few years, San Francisco added a payroll expense tax of 0.38%, but it has been repealed for 2021.
HINT-- Goldenseal is set up to base worker's comp
rates on the type of work done on an hourly basis. That is usually cheaper
than using a flat rate for each employee, especially if they do work
that uses a variety of worker's comp rates.
California
State Withholding Instructions |
To enter California withholding information
for an employee in your Goldenseal company file, follow these steps:
- Choose
Employees from the
Accounts menu.
- Locate
the employee record.
- Click
the Payroll Setup
button.
- Enter
the employee's marital
status into the Marital
Status field (see
note below).
- Enter
the number of federal
dependents into the
Federal Exemptions
field.
- Enter
the number of California
dependents into the
State Exemptions
field.
- Enter the California
Tax Package
into
the Tax
Package
field. HINT--
If you
don't
see it
in the
list,
you'll
need
to import the
tax info
first.
- Click OK.
Additional California allowances are
claimed by the employee on the DE-4 or W-4 form, and each
may be allocated as either an Estimated Deduction or as
a Tax Exemption Credit (see CA Employers Guide, Method
B).
Allowances to be used as Tax Exemption
Credits should be entered into the State Exemptions
field in the Employee Account. Allowances to be used
as Estimated Deductions should be entered into
the Other Exemptions field in the Employee Account. |
California
State Unemployment Tax Instructions |
California charges SUTA on the first $7,000
of wages for each employee.
The percentage rate depends
on the employer's experience
rating. In 2020 UI taxes
are 3.4% for
new companies, and between
1.5% and 6.2% for
established firms.
To enter your California SUTA tax rate
into our California
payroll software, follow
these steps:
- Choose
Payroll Setup from
the Costs menu, and
choose Tax Items
from the submenu.
- You'll
see a list of Tax
Items. Locate California
SUTA tax in the list,
and double-click
on it. HINT:
If you don't see
California SUTA in
the list, you'll
need to import your
state's payroll info
first.
- Enter
the percentage rate
that you pay into
the percentage field
to the right of Calculation
method.
- If
the cutoff amount
has changed, enter
it into the dollar
field to the right
of First Adjustment.
|
California
State Disability Insurance (SDI) |
California has a compulsory
state disability insurance
which is a fixed percentage
of wages, up to a cutoff
amount. This is an employee
deduction.
|
California
Worker's Compensation |
California Worker's Comp
Insurance charges different
rates for different types
of work. in Goldenseal,
you can handle that by
entering the comp rates
as a category
tax, with different rates for different types
of work. You set the
rates in the Category
Systems that you use
for your job costs.
For some industries
there are two
different comp
rates for experienced
and inexperienced
employees (with
a cutoff wage
rate to distinguish
between them).
You can enter
two different
rates into each
Category System
to handle that.
Click the link for
more about setting up California
Worker's Comp Rates.
|
Other
California Taxes |
California assesses an employment
training tax. This tax
is paid by the employer,
and is in the CA Employee Training tax item.
In 2021 this tax is .1%
of wages, applied only
to the first $7,000 in wages.
|
California
Marital Status |
Use the following to determine the value for
the Marital Status popup menu in each Employee account:
- Single-
single employee with
one personal exemption
- Married-
married employee
with two personal
exemptions
- Dual
Income- married
employee with one
personal exemption
- Head
of House- employee
claims Head of
Family status or
is single and claims
2 or more withholding
allowances
- Other-
not used
|
California
Tax Contacts |
Withholding tax website
Payroll Tax Office-- 916 255-1965
Worker's Comp-- 415 777-0777
State of California-- Employment Dev.
Dept
Box 942880 Sacramento CA 94280 |
Official
State Lawn Ornament |
Northern California-- Medical Recreational marijuana plant.
Southern California-- Pink plastic flamingo, wearing shades, carrying movie
script and smoking pink medical marijuana joint.
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