This article is for admins who get tax notices from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state agencies about their company’s withholding or unemployment taxes. You can handle most of these notices by checking or updating your settings in Gusto.
Important: Agencies do not send notices to Gusto directly. Make sure you read and act on any notices before the deadline or effective date.
If the notice is about a change to your deposit schedule or unemployment tax rate, you can update it in Gusto:
Change your federal deposit schedule
We default to depositing on the faster semi-weekly schedule to prevent late tax payments, penalties, and tax delinquency notices.
For other changes to federal or state details, follow the steps in this article. You can also go to the How to read and handle tax notices section to learn more about the notice you received and what steps to take.
Report a notice to Gusto if:
You cannot fix the notice yourself.
You’re not sure what the notice means.
The notice shows a missing payment or balance owed.
Learn how to upload the notice in the Report and upload a tax notice to Gusto section.
Here’s how admins can understand and handle common notices, like refunds, amounts due, rate changes, and more.
Check if the notice is from the IRS or a state agency. The name is usually at the top.
Make sure we support the agency.
If we do not, you’ll need to handle it outside of Gusto. Work with your previous payroll provider or tax professional.
Confirm that we handled your payroll taxes during the time period on the notice.
We start filing taxes the quarter of your first check date with Gusto. This is different from the pay period.
Use the Reports page in Gusto to find your first check date. Find the Paystubs report, then click Choose a check date and scroll to the bottom of the list.
Check that the information on the notice matches your Gusto account:
Company name
Company address
Deposit schedule
Tax rate
Account ID/Employee Identification Number (EIN)
If anything is incorrect, update it in Gusto right away.
Deposit schedule change: Update your deposit schedule in Gusto. Note the effective date to avoid penalties.
We default to depositing on the faster semi-weekly schedule to prevent late tax payments, penalties, and tax delinquency notices.
Unemployment tax rate change: Update your rate in Gusto before the effective date (to help avoid penalties).
Here’s how we handle taxes based on when you make the update:
Before the effective date: We’ll apply the new rate to payrolls with a check date on or after the effective date.
Mid-quarter with a backdated effective date: We’ll reconcile at the end of the quarter to make sure we make correct quarterly payments based on the new rate.
The effective date was before the current quarter started: We may have withheld taxes incorrectly for prior quarters. Contact the agency to resolve any balances or credits.
We’ll adjust for the current quarter during our end-of-quarter reconciliation.
Do not accept any credits (refunds) without first confirming the rate difference is the only reason for the refund.
Tax credit notices: If a tax agency sends you a notice showing you have a tax credit, we need that information so we can apply the credit correctly. Upload the notice in Gusto and select Credit listed or refund check when asked what the notice is about. We'll review the notice and give you next steps, which could be:
Asking you to request the refund directly from the agency, or;
Applying the credits in Gusto. When this happens, we’ll use your tax credit to lower or clear the amount you owe for that period. If there is any credit left over, we will apply it to future filings.
Refund: If the agency owes you money, contact the IRS or state agency for confirmation and details. Send the notice to Gusto before you cash the refund.
Be careful when you accept refunds. Errors can lead to penalties later if you need to return the money to the agency.
Overpayments commonly cause refunds.
Amount due: Contact the IRS or state agency for more details and request an extension. Then send the notice to Gusto.
If a deadline is coming up, contact the agency to request an extension or hold on the account. Most notices include agency contact information.
You can also request more details from the agency to help speed up the time it takes to correct the issue.
Learn how to upload the notice in the Report and upload a tax notice to Gusto section. We’ll typically assign a tax specialist to your case in:
Most customers: 4 – 6 weeks
Customers with Priority support: Within 1 week
If a deadline is coming up, contact the agency to request an extension or hold on the account.
If you’re unable to make updates in Gusto, do not understand a notice, or see missing payments or balances owed, you can report it to Gusto.
If you need to provide the notice, upload a high-quality scan, screenshot, or photo of it.
Include all pages, but upload them one at a time.
If you have more than one notice, upload them individually.
Supported file types: PDF, XLSX, DOCX, RTF, EML, MSG, MHT, CSV, TXT, ICO, JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIF, TIFF.
In your web browser
To report and upload a tax notice:
Go to Taxes & Compliance.
Click Report a notice.
Choose the agency the notice is from (search by name or scroll by state).
Select what the notice is about from the dropdown menu.
Click Continue and fill out the requested details.
Click Submit.
Click Upload.
Add any thoughts you’d like to share.
Click Send.
Once you submit it, we’ll add the notice to our queue. We’ll review it as soon as we can and email you with the next steps. If you have any questions about the email, ask your tax specialist for clarification or request a call from them.
In the Gusto mobile app
To report and upload a tax notice:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
In the bottom-right corner, tap More.
Select Taxes & compliance.
Scroll down to Tools and find Report a notice. Tap Get started.
Choose what agency the notice is from (search by name or scroll by state).
Select what the notice is about from the dropdown menu.
Tap Continue.
Fill out the requested details.
Tap Submit.
Click Upload to attach a photo or scan of the notice.
(Optional) Add a note if there's anything you'd like us to know.
Tap Send.
We’ll add the notice to our queue. We’ll review it as soon as we can and email you with the next steps. If you have any questions about the email, ask your tax specialist for clarification or request a call from them.
We only have authorization to file and pay taxes for you starting the quarter of your first check date (different from the related pay period). If the notice is for an earlier time, we cannot help with it.
To find your first check date in Gusto:
Go to Reports.
Scroll until you find Paystubs.
Use the Choose a check date dropdown and scroll to the bottom.
What you can do:
Ask your previous payroll provider for help.
Contact the agency that sent the notice.
Talk to a CPA for advice.
If you do not have one, check out our CPA directory.
Important reminders
Contact the agency if a deadline is coming up.
If a deadline is coming up, contact the agency to request an extension or hold on the account. You can also request more details from the agency to help speed up the time it takes to correct the issue.
Holds can pause any collection actions and stop penalties for a specific timeframe while we work to resolve the issue.
Fixing tax issues takes time.
Resolving notices often takes time because we need to coordinate with tax agencies. We’ll work to get your case assigned and reviewed as soon as possible.
Our tax specialists are not available for inbound calls.
Our tax specialists frequently work directly with tax agencies.
Once a tax specialist emails you about your case, you can request a call back in their email to you.
You may get a tax notice if there’s a problem with filing or payments. If we told you we could not file or pay for you, there are several possible reasons why. Tax agencies sometimes do not explain why our attempted filings or payments were unsuccessful.
To resolve the issue, you’ll need to contact the tax agency directly for details and instructions.
Sometimes tax filings or payments fail because the agency cannot verify your information.
Use the sections below to find common reasons and how to fix them. You may need to contact the agency, since there may be more than one issue.
Here are some common reason for failed failings:
Inactive tax accounts
Your state tax account may become inactive when:
You do not file required returns
You file several “zero” returns in a row
The account is set to start in the future
If your account is inactive, contact the agency to learn how to reactivate it. Each state has different rules.
Incorrect effective date
The effective date on your state account must be on or before the start of the quarter when we first tried to file and pay your taxes.
Invalid account number
Your account number in Gusto must match the one the agency has. Two issues can cause failures:
The number in Gusto does not match the agency’s record
You have the right number but the wrong account type
How to fix it:
Call the agency to confirm your account number and account type.
Check your number in Taxes & compliance → Tax setup in Gusto.
Be careful when updating an account number after filings have happened. This can cause tax issues. (We offer reports that can help you correct past problems.)
Company name or address mismatch
If your company name or address in Gusto does not match the agency’s record, filings can fail.
Call the agency to confirm what they have on file
Check your details in Company profile → Company details in Gusto
FEIN mismatch
A mismatch between your FEIN in Gusto and the agency’s record prevents the agency from verifying your account.
How to fix it:
Call the agency to confirm your FEIN
Check your FEIN in Taxes & compliance → Tax setup
FEIN changes can cause tax issues, so we may need to help.
To contact us, sign in to your Gusto account and click the help icon in the top-right corner of the page.
Authorization problems (TPA or PoA)
Some states require Third-Party Authorization (TPA) or Power of Attorney (PoA) before we can file for you.
Make sure:
Our authorization date starts on the first day of the quarter when you ran your first payroll in that state. You can find your first payroll date in Pay → Pay history
Gusto is listed as authorized to file and pay on your behalf. Check your state’s TPA rules in the state tax registration section of our Help Center.
Previous payroll provider still listed
If your old payroll provider is still listed as your “reporting agent,” the agency may ignore our filings. Contact the agency or your old provider to remove them.
You can use this script when you speak to the agency:
“Hi, this is (your name) from (your company). Our FEIN is XX-XXXXXXX.
My payroll provider, Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll), received an error when trying to file for us. I’d like to fix this. I need to check:
Is my account active?
Is my effective date correct?
Does my account number match your records?
Do my company name and address match?
Is the FEIN you have the same as what Gusto has?
Is Gusto listed as my authorized provider?
Is my previous provider still listed as the reporting agent?”
If your account is inactive because you no longer run payroll in that state, close the account and let us know.
After you resolve the issue with the agency:
Sign in to your Gusto admin account.
On your Home page, click the to-do notification about the filing or payment error. The to-do will stay in Gusto until the issue is fully fixed.
You can also go to Taxes & Compliance > Tax documents > Needs attention to view the notification.
If we asked you to let us know and no to-do appears, message us from the Help icon (?) in Gusto.
Update the account number or mark the issue as resolved.
Make sure the issue is fully resolved. If filings continue to fail, and you have three failed attempts, you'll need to file taxes outside of Gusto.
Once the issue is fixed:
We usually refile within 2 weeks.
You will not see a separate form in Gusto; refilings show under the original filing.
You can confirm success by checking your agency portal or contacting the agency. If no new notifications appear in Gusto, the refiling most likely worked.