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If you run a business in Washington, you’ll want to know these fun facts about paying and filing payroll taxes in Washington.

Washington payroll taxes

Here’s what you need to know about withholding payroll taxes in Washington.

• Washington payroll taxes start with employees filling out Form W-4. This information helps you determine how much you should withhold. 
• If an employee does not complete this form, you will need to withhold tax as though no exemptions were claimed.
• Employees only need to update Form W-4 in case of life events (such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, etc.) which may impact their taxes.
• The personal income tax rate in Washington is 7.0% on capital gains income only.
• Washington does not have reciprocity with other states.

Additional Washington forms

In addition to Form W-4 mentioned above, Washington employers also need to file the following forms:

1. Employer's Quarterly Tax and Wage Detail Report
2. Labor & Industries Employer's Quarterly Report
3. Employer's Paid Family & Medical Leave Quarterly Wages and Hour Report
4. New Hire Report

Washington unemployment tax rate

Washington requires most employers to pay unemployment insurance tax to help compensate workers who are out of work through no fault of their own.

• Employers pay Washington unemployment tax on the first $67,600 of an employee’s wages.
• New employers pay at a rate of 1.29%.
• Experienced employers pay at a rate of 0.24–8.12%.
• Unemployment tax in Washington should be paid quarterly to the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Paying Washington taxes

Washington’s payment frequencies is quarterly.

Other Washington taxes

Washington employers are also required to pay or withhold the following taxes:

• Paid Family and Medical Leave
• Seattle City Tax
• Washington Department of Labor and Industries

Washington salary threshold

Washington has a salary threshold of: 

• 1.75 times the state minimum wage for employers of 50 or fewer employees ($1,101.80 per week or $57,293.60 per year). 
• Or, 2 times the state minimum wage for employers of more than 50 employees ($1,259.20 per week or $65,478.40 per year).

Workers’ Compensation

Requirements to obtain Workers' Compensation vary by state. This table outlines some of these requirements. If you determine that your company is required to purchase Workers' Compensation insurance in your state, learn how to sign up for this insurance with Gusto. Sometimes, companies get a request for a workers' comp audit—head to this article and click the workers’ comp audit reports dropdown for more information.

New hires

Employers in Washington need to report new employees.

• New hires must be reported to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
• New hires must be reported within 20 days of their first day of work.

Payroll stubs

You must provide a pay stub to every employee that includes:

1. Company’s legal name and address
2. Employee’s name and last four digits of their Social Security number
3. Pay period beginning and end dates
4. Total hours worked
5. Rate of pay
6. Gross wages
7. The amount and reason for any deduction

Final paychecks

Employers must pay final wages to employees by the next scheduled payday.

Time off

Washington law requires employers to provide the following types of time off to employees.

• Jury duty
• Family and medical leave.
• Sick leave
• Domestic violence leave applies to all employers under domestic violence leave law and  under paid sick leave law.

Federal payroll taxes

In addition to Washington-specific taxes, both you and your employees will pay a variety of federal payroll taxes. Check out the breakdown below.

Federal income tax

Unless they are exempt, your employees will pay federal income tax.

• You must withhold federal income tax from employees’ pay, unless they are exempt.
• Each employee’s Form W-4 will differ based on their filing status and dependents, among other details—so the amount of income tax to be withheld will vary.
• Form W-4 does not need to be sent to the IRS, but should be kept for your records.

FICA

Both you and your employees will pay Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA tax.

• FICA is made up of the Medicare tax and the Social Security tax.
• In 2023, the Social Security tax requires employers and employees to each contribute 6.2% of wages up to $2,600.
• The Medicare tax requires employers and employees to each contribute 1.45% of all wages.
• See the IRS webpage for details, like maximum thresholds.

FUTA

Like the state, the federal government also has an unemployment tax, called FUTA, which is paid by employers.

• FUTA is an annual tax an employer pays on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages.
• The FUTA rate for 2023 is 6.0%, but many employers are able to pay less, for instance, up to 5.4% each year due to tax credits.
• Most employers will pay this tax annually with Form 940. But larger employers with more than $500 in tax due will have to pay quarterly.

Additional Medicare tax

The Additional Medicare tax is paid by employees. Here’s what you should know:

• For employees that earn over $200,000 per year, 0.9% of earnings will need to be withheld for the Additional Medicare tax. 
• Whether or not your employee owes this tax may depend on their filing status.

Paying federal taxes

How often you’ll pay federal payroll taxes depends on how much you owe.

• Semi-weekly or monthly payments are required for federal withholding, Additional Medicare, and FICA taxes. And every quarter, a summary payroll tax return is due on Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.
• Quarterly or annual payments are required for federal unemployment tax. Most employers will pay annually, but quarterly payments are necessary if you owe more than $500. Each time you make a payment, you’ll need to file a payroll tax return on Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return.

We’re here to help

If you don’t love manual number crunching and payroll taxes sound overwhelming to you, take advantage of Gusto’s full-service payroll options or use an experienced accountant to help you with the process.