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To pay employees in a state where you’ve never operated or paid people before, you must register with the relevant state tax agencies. This lets you pay and file the taxes you and your employees are liable for.
Watch this quick tutorial to learn more.
Gusto works with Middesk to help you register your business in new states.
For now, this includes: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
What you need to do
Cost, timeline, and eligibility considerations
Prices vary by state. During the first few steps in Gusto, you can see the cost, process, and estimated turnaround time.
For now, Middesk cannot help these types of companies register:
What the process looks like
Third-Party Agent (TPA) authorization reminder
Some state agencies need Gusto to have TPA access to file and pay your taxes. Usually, Middesk does not set this up, so you’ll have to do it yourself after registration.
Check the state registration articles to see if TPA is needed and how to set it up. If there's no “Authorize Gusto” section, then TPA is not needed right now.
If setting up TPA requires online agency portal access:Prices vary by state. During the first few steps in Gusto, you can see the cost, process, and estimated turnaround time.
If you have questions about answering any of the questions, try Middesk’s Help Center or contact Middesk at [email protected].
When Middesk gets your tax account information back after registering, they'll enter it in Gusto for you.
Each state and agency takes different amounts of time to process a registration. To estimate when your state tax account info will be available, check the Post Submission Questions in Middesk's help article.
Important reminder
When your order is complete, you’ll get emails from Gusto and Middesk. They’ll detail the next steps, which include:
Before your order is done, you can check the order status in your Gusto account:
Q: Can I run payroll before my registration is done?
A: Yes. You may be asked to enter tax rates and tax deposit frequencies, but can use temporary info.
Important reminders
Q: I need to change some of the registration information that was submitted, what do I do?
A: Email Middesk at [email protected].
Q: Can I use Gusto to register in a new state without a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)? What if my business is merging or being acquired?
A: No, you need a FEIN in Gusto to get registration help for state taxes.
If your business is merging or being acquired, Middesk cannot help with registration. You'll need to work with a tax advisor and state agencies directly.
Q: What if I'm not liable for unemployment tax yet?
A: If you want Middesk to start setting up an unemployment account number before you're liable, you can:
Q: Can Middesk help if the responsible party is international without an ITIN or SSN?
A: No. Middesk cannot help in this scenario, you'll need to register on your own.
Q: Why am I unable to enter 0% ownership for the responsible party or add a commercial owner?
A: Some states have a 1% minimum for the responsible party ownership percentage. These states include ID, KS, MN, OH, SC, DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, and RI.
You’ll need to place registration orders directly with Middesk outside of Gusto or register directly with the agency.
Some states require an individual owner to be listed. If you’re a non-profit or unsure, contact Middesk for help at [email protected].
Q: When will my tax account information be available?
A: Each state and agency takes different amounts of time to process a registration. To estimate when your state tax account info will be available, check the Post Submission Questions in Middesk's help article.
Q: Where can I find my tax information?
A: You can find your tax info in several places:
Gusto’s state tax registration service does not contain tax, legal, financial, or HR advice. Since rules and regulations change over time and can vary by location, consult a lawyer, HR expert, or accountant for specific guidance.
Q: Does Middesk help with giving Gusto third-party access (TPA) for tax payments?
A: Some state agencies need Gusto to have TPA access to file and pay your taxes. Usually, Middesk does not set this up, so you’ll have to do it yourself after registration.
Check the state registration articles to see if TPA is needed and how to set it up. If there's no “Authorize Gusto” section, then TPA is not needed right now.
If setting up TPA requires online agency portal access:
Q: Does Middesk help close state tax accounts?
A: No, you'll need to close the tax account yourself.
Q: Can I cancel my Middesk order?
A: At this time, we cannot support order cancellations or refunds.
Click the dropdowns below to learn how to register with state and local agencies—once registered, don't forget to give Gusto third-party access (TPA) so we can help with any tax issues on your behalf.
If you need help registering with the Ohio Business Gateway, call (866) 644-6468, or message them here.
The Ohio Department of Taxation does not require that you give Gusto third-party access to your account for us to file or pay your withholding taxes.
Once a valid Ohio work address has been added in Gusto for one or more employees, you can add your tax account information:
Most companies become liable for Ohio unemployment insurance tax once the company has:
When you become liable can vary by business type (general, non-profit, etc), so we recommend contacting the agency directly to confirm when your specific business will be liable.
If you need to run payroll and do not yet meet the above requirements, Gusto allows it—enter the new employer rate for your state in Gusto in the meantime. Then, update the rate once you receive it.
You'll want to register with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services as soon as you become liable—eventually, Gusto will need:
You should receive your account number and unemployment rate instantly after registering online, or 3–4 weeks if registering by mail.
Once a valid Ohio work address has been added in Gusto for one or more employees, you can add your tax account information:
If you have owners or officers that are exempt from Ohio unemployment insurance taxes, those owners' wages must be excluded from your quarterly wage reports to the state—if they're included, the entire filing will be rejected. To make sure we do not report their wages, you'll need to set up an exemption for the owner or officer in Gusto.
To view or update the owner or officer information the agency has on file:
Contact the agency if you're not sure which owners or officers should be marked as exempt— if the exemptions in Gusto do not match the exemptions The Source has on record, your tax filings will be rejected.
Reminders
City taxes in Ohio are primarily based on the employee's work location. Employers must:
Registering and entering your tax account information in Gusto
Learn more about local municipal tax credits.
Some cities outsource their tax collecting, using third-party tax collectors like RITA instead. If you owe income tax to a local municipality that RITA administers, you'll need to register with RITA online.
If you'd rather register by paper:
If you've already registered in Ohio, you'll need to enter your tax account details in Gusto.
For Gusto to file and pay taxes for you, you'll need to be registered with one or more of the agencies below:
If you still need to register, click the applicable dropdown above in this article.
If you're already an employer in Ohio, the Department of Taxation should've issued you an eight-digit “Withholding Account Number”.
You can find your account number on these notices sent from the agency:
Your Withholding Account Number is an 8-digit number beginning with "5" (e.g., 51-234567).
If you do not know your number, call the agency at (888) 405-4089.
The Department of Taxation will also issue the company one of the below tax filing frequencies—this is how often the taxes need to be paid:
The agency chooses which frequency you get based on what your total tax liability (for state and school district taxes) was for the 12-month period ending June 30th of the previous year.
If you have questions about your filing requirements, check out these FAQs from the agency.
The Department of Job and Family Services will have issued you an "Unemployment Compensation Tax Account Number."
You can find the account number on these notices sent from the agency:
If you don't know your account number, call the agency at (614) 466-2319.
You'll also be issued an Ohio contribution rate, also known as the unemployment tax rate. The unemployment tax rate can be found:
If you don't have your assigned rate yet, enter the new employer rate for your state in Gusto in the meantime—update the rate once you receive it.
Don't forget to give Gusto third-party access to the OH Department of Job and Family Services so we can manage your tax payments and filings with fewer complications.
If you have owners or officers that are exempt from Ohio unemployment insurance taxes, those owners' wages must be excluded from your quarterly wage reports to the state—if they're included, the entire filing will be rejected. To make sure we do not report their wages, you'll need to set up an exemption for the owner or officer in Gusto.
To view or update the owner or officer information the agency has on file:
Contact the agency if you're not sure which owners or officers should be marked as exempt— if the exemptions in Gusto do not match the exemptions The Source has on record, your tax filings will be rejected.
Reminders
Once a valid Ohio address has been added in Gusto for one or more employee(s), you can add your tax account information:
If you edit a tax account number after payments or filings have already been made, there may be tax implications. Learn how to pull reports in Gusto that can help you correct any historical tax issues related to tax account number updates.
Authorize Gusto as your third-party agent (TPA) so we can help troubleshoot tax issues for the agencies below:
To become your third-party agent, a notarized form authorizing Gusto as your payroll provider must be submitted to the agency—to make this easy, we’ll prepare the necessary document for you to e-sign in Gusto. Then, we’ll submit the form directly to the agency.
The form will be ready to sign once the below is completed in Gusto:
To sign the form in Gusto:
If Gusto needs to help with tax-related issues (e.g., you received a tax notice) specific to this agency, we’ll request access to your account so you can authorize us as your third-party agent (TPA).
You do not need to give Gusto TPA access to this account unless we request it.
Only the Filing Administrator on your Ohio Business Gateway profile can approve our request.
Ohio local taxes are primarily based on an employee's work location—employers must withhold local taxes in the city an employee works, but are typically not required to withhold taxes in the employee's home location.
There are, however, some cities that require resident (home) taxes to be withheld and paid—as a result, employers must contact the appropriate city to register.
To register:
For employees who live and work in different cities (municipalities), where both cities consider them liable to pay income tax, they’re often allowed a full or partial credit for the tax owed and paid to the city they live in. We process these tax credits in real-time on payroll (for all payrolls dated Jan 1, 2023 or after).
Employees who were eligible for the credit would've needed to request a refund from the city after filing their personal 2022 tax returns. At the time, Gusto did not support the automatic application of the credits on payroll, specifically between the dates of July 8–December 31, 2022.
For employees used to seeing only their work-location tax withheld on payroll, you can check that the residential (home) tax now being withheld is accurate by using this Ohio Tax Finder resource. Enter the employee’s home or work address (as listed in Gusto) and review the expected taxation.
If needed, employees can update their home address in Gusto, but employers must update an employee’s work address.
No longer supported: IT-942 (Employer's Quarterly Reconciliation of Income Tax Withheld).
You can view forms in Taxes & Compliance > Tax documents. Switch between the tabs to find federal, state, W-2s, and 1099s.
To see what Gusto has paid on your behalf, run the Agency Payments report.
Learn how to close or reopen tax accounts here.