Unsupported Tax Guide
Understand unsupported taxes, their implications, and effective communication strategies for partners.
The Unsupported Tax Guide is a partner-facing resource that will explain the following:
- Why are some taxes unsupported
- How to identify an unsupported tax
- What unsupported taxes mean for your customers
- How to communicate to a customer when a tax is unsupported
Why are some taxes unsupported
Check supports thousands of employment, income, and local taxes. However, there are some smaller, less common taxes that Check does not currently support. The taxes that are not supported by Check are also commonly not supported in the payroll industry. This means that employees or employers in these locations may not have these taxes automatically calculated and deducted from each paycheck.
The main reasons for this are:
- Constantly Evolving Tax Landscape: New taxes are frequently introduced, and Check may not yet support them.
- Additional Information Requirements: Some taxes, like expense-based employer taxes, require data that isn’t typically captured in payroll systems.
- Changing Collectors: Certain local collectors have frequent changes and cannot be remitted by Check due to shifts in ownership.
How to identify an unsupported tax
Currently the best way to verify if a tax is supported is to review Check's Unsupported Features and Taxes. There is a listing of the taxes that Check does not currently support which are commonly unsupported in the payroll industry.
Additionally, there is a separate page for the unsupported Pennsylvania local taxes which can be found here: Pennsylvania Local Tax Support.
If there is ever uncertainty, the next best step is to reach out to Check's support team with the following information:
- Name of tax you are looking to verify support for
- Work/Resident address of the impacted employee(s)
Check can review to confirm if the tax is supported in our system.
What unsupported taxes mean for your customers
When a tax is not supported, it commonly means that the Employer or the Employee will be on the hook for calculation and remittance of the tax. The following examples break down what this process looks like at each level.
Employer Level:
Whenever there is an unsupported Employer Tax, the employer is impacted in the following ways:
- Filing a quarterly/annual return
- Remitting payment to the agency
To understand this impact more in depth, let's review the following example.
Example: Employer side tax is not supported
Using Jersey City Employer Tax as an example, this tax is calculated and paid quarterly. The employer would need to calculate the 1% on wages paid to employees working in Jersey City, New Jersey. To see a more detailed breakdown of how an employer would facilitate the Jersey City Employer Tax, you can reference the guide here: Jersey City Employer Tax Filing.
In general, whenever Check does not support an Employer tax, the employer can still run payroll on your service, but may have to take an additional step quarterly/annually to keep up with remittance and filing.
Employee Level:
It is fairly common for out-of-state employers not to remit local taxes on behalf of their employees. In these cases, employees are responsible for remitting their own local taxes, a process that is generally well-understood in regions without employer-supported coverage.
Whenever there is an unsupported Employee Tax the employee is impacted in the following ways:
- Remitting payment to the agency when filing their annual taxes
- Employer may have to remit on their behalf
In general, whenever Check does not support an Employee tax, they can still be paid through Check, however, they may be responsible for making a payment when filing their annual tax return, or the Employer may need to make a remittance on their behalf.
How to communicate to a customer when a tax is unsupported
If you’re onboarding an employer where Check does not support a specific tax, the following template can help communicate the situation effectively:
Subject: Important Information about [Tax Name]
Dear [Employer Name],
We wanted to inform you that the [Tax Name] is not currently supported by our system. As a result, we recommend preparing to manage the payments and filings for this tax directly.
We are committed to supporting you through this process and will assist in every way possible. For the [Tax Name], your responsibilities will include [select as applicable: collecting the tax from employees, reconciling and filing quarterly payments, or making direct payments].
Unfortunately, certain taxes are not supported by our system due to factors like changing tax collectors or requirements that are not captured in the standard payroll process.
Please let us know how we can assist you further as you take on this responsibility.
Thank you,
If you’re onboarding an employer where Check does not support a specific tax for an employee, the following template can help communicate the situation for the employee:
Subject: Important Information about [Tax Name]
Dear [Employer Name],
We wanted to inform you that the [Tax Name] is not currently supported by our system. As a result, we recommend notifying your employee that they will be responsible for making this payment when they file their taxes annually.
Unfortunately, certain taxes are not supported by our system due to factors like changing tax collectors or requirements that are not captured in the standard payroll process.
Please let us know how we can assist you further as you take on this responsibility.
Thank you,
Moving forward
If there are any questions it is best to submit a support ticket, but this guide should help to remove a lot of the uncertainty that comes with an unsupported tax. It is Check’s goal to make paying people simple, to that end, we are always working to improve our tax coverage.
Last updated on November 30, 2024