Wisconsin Payroll Instructions

Wisconsin has state income tax withholding. No changes in 2023. There have been 5 changes in the past 33 years, most recently in in 2011, 2015 and 2022. Withholding calculations use "step table" formulas that are similar to the federal payroll tax tables and most other states. They also use a "step table" to calculate the base deductions, which is unusual.

HINT: TurtleSoft provides free annual updates for US federal and Wisconsin state tax withholding rates.

Wisconsin State Withholding Instructions

To enter withholding information for an employee who lives in Wisconsin, follow these steps:

Open the Payroll tab on the left, and choose Employees.
Locate the employee's record.
Click the Payroll Setup button.
Enter the employee's marital status into the Marital Status field (see note below).
Enter the correct Wisconsin Tax Package, based on the employee’s W4 form and marital status (see Marital Status note below. It has gotten more complicated.)
Enter the number of federal dependents into the Federal Exemptions field.
Enter the number of Wisconsin dependents into the State Exemptions field.
Click OK.

If an employee uses the 'zero deduction' option for State Withholding, assign the Zero Deduction tax package to them in the Tax Package field of the Employee account. Otherwise use the standard state Tax Package.

Wisconsin State Unemployment Tax Instructions

In 2023, Wisconsin SUTA state unemployment insurance tax is calculated on the first $14,000 of each employee's wages (unchanged from last year). The starting tax rate is 3.05% for employers with payroll under $500,000 and 3.25% for those over-- with a higher rate for construction companies. After three years the rate is adjusted based on the employer's experience factor.

To enter your Wisconsin state SUTA tax rate into Goldenseal payroll software, follow these steps:

Choose Payroll Setup from the Costs menu, and choose Tax Items.
You'll see a list of Tax Items. Open the Wisconsin SUTA item. HINT: If you don't see Wisconsin SUTA in the list, you'll need to import your state's payroll info first.
Enter the percentage rate that you pay into the field to the right of Calculation method.
If the state SUTA cutoff amount has changed, enter it into the dollar field to the right of First Adjustment.

Wisconsin Marital Status

Enter one of the following marital status values for each employee:

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
Other- not used

Starting in 2011, you'll need to assign either the single or married Tax Package to each employee, depending on their marital status. In prior years we were able to combine everything into one Tax package.

Starting in 2021, you also need to choose a Wisconsin Tax Package based on the employee’s federal W-4 form. Choose Old W4 if they use a pre-2020 form. Choose New W4 Step2- if they did not check the box in step 2 of the new form. Choose New W4 Step2+ if they did check it.