So you received an Employer Quarterly Return for a prior tax year and/or quarter and are wondering why, well hopefully this overview will help you to understand why and the steps that you can take to rectify the situation.
Why did I receive an Employer Quarterly Return for a prior tax year and/or quarter?
Current legislation, ACT 32 of 2009, under Section 512 (4) requires that:
(4) Except as set forth in paragraph (5), within 30 days following the end of each calendar quarter, every employer shall file a quarterly return and pay the amount of income taxes deducted during the preceding calendar quarter to the tax officer for the place of employment of each employee. The form shall show the name, address and Social Security number of each employee, the compensation of the employee during the preceding three-month period, the income tax deducted from the employee, the political subdivisions imposing the income tax upon the employee, the total compensation of all employees during the preceding calendar quarter, the total income tax deducted from the employees and paid with the return and any other information prescribed by the department.
Based upon this requirement; employers are required to file on a quarterly basis with the tax administrator of the county in which they operate a location. This requirement also requires that the employer file even if they have no employees and/or wages to report.
The form includes a $50.00 Cost on it, what is this for?
Our contractual agreements with each of the 32 County Tax Collection Districts that we serve grant us authority, under ACT 192, to apply our costs to employers who have not filed an Employer Quarterly Return with us. This cost is applied so that the taxing bodies and taxpayers who comply with the requirements of ACT 32 do not have to pay for those employers who fail to comply or pay their taxes on time.
Now that I have received an Employer Quarterly Return for a prior tax year and/or quarter what must I do?
You will need to file the form sent to you with us and report any taxes that have been withheld from your employees for the quarter noted. When submitting the form you will need to provide all of the supporting reports showing the breakdown of taxes due, the appropriate interest and penalty due, as well as the costs shown. For your convenience, you can file on our website by clicking here or complete a paper form by clicking here.
If any of the following scenarios apply to you please follow the directions provided for each:
What happens if I am still in business, but currently have no employees to report withholding taxes for quarter shown or going forward?
In cases where the employer had employees to report and now does not, they should file a return stating this is now the case. At that stage we will update the account to reflect this fact and discontinue sending forms to you on a quarterly basis. If and when this status would change, you would simply notify us of the change in the quarter it takes place and we will reactivate the account and restart sending forms. At that time you would begin to withhold and remit as required forward.
What should I do if I have closed my business in the jurisdiction(s) noted on the form(s)?
You should return the quarterly return for the quarter in which you have discontinued your business noting the date of the closure. We will then update the account to reflect this change. You will still be required to complete and file W-2 Reconciliation with us by February 28th of the succeeding year.
What should I do if I feel I have already filed the Employer Quarterly Return in question?
The quarterly filing requirement also applies to the Local Services Tax as well. So if the municipality/school district where your business is located has this tax in place, the notice you have received may be for this tax and not for the Earned Income Tax. Please verify that the tax type being inquired on is the one that you filed for. If it is, you can remit a copy of the return filed and payment made. We will then review it and notify you if this does not rectify the matter successfully.
Please also verify that the account number shown is the one that you had used to file with. If it is not, it is possible that a duplicate account was opened in error, if that is the case please return the notice along with a copy of the previously filed return showing the account number filed under.
We hope that you find this information useful.
If you have additional/specific questions that are not addressed above, please click on the link to send an inquiry to our customer care department.
