Month-end close: payroll liabilities by jurisdiction

Month-end payroll checklist: what to tie in the US (deposits, Form 941, FUTA, state) and Canada (CRA remitter types, provinces). Sources dated.

This is part of the month-end close checklist.

United States, federal. Employers deposit the federal income tax they withhold, plus both the employer and employee shares of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Deposits follow one of two schedules, monthly or semi-weekly, and you work out which one before each calendar year [1]. Employers who withhold these taxes file Form 941 each quarter [1]. Federal unemployment (FUTA) tax must be deposited in any quarter where the tax due is more than $500, by the end of the month after that quarter [1].

United States, state and local. Each state, and some cities and counties, sets its own payroll taxes. Find your client's on their state's tax agency site, linked from USA.gov [2]. We haven't written out state-by-state steps yet.

Canada, federal. Employers remit payroll deductions and contributions to the CRA. How often depends on the remitter type the CRA assigns: quarterly, regular or accelerated [3]. Use the type on your client's CRA statement of account.

Canada, provincial. Workers' compensation, employer health taxes and vacation pay rules are set by each province. See the British Columbia example. We haven't written out the other provinces yet.