Payroll Tax

Definition of Payroll Tax

Payroll Tax is a tax deducted from the employee’s salary by the employer and paid on behalf of the employee to the government. It is determined based on the income of each employee paid by the employer, varies from employee to employee, and involves various deductions permitted by the government. The employee pays it in part, and the employer pays the remaining part. These taxes are levied on employees’ income and used to fund various social security schemes, healthcare, and other social security schemes of the federal government and certain state income tax withholding.

Explanation

The employer pays employees wages and salaries as part of their employment contract. Before paying the salaries and wages, the employer deducts payroll tax based on the employee’s total earnings after deducting a certain deduction to which the employee is eligible. Also, It comprises the employer’s contributions as well. The employer must file the deducted payroll tax return and disclose the same in its Financial Reporting.

It comprises Federal income tax, Social security tax, Medicare Tax, State Income Tax, and various local taxes, which vary from state to state.

How to Calculate Payroll Tax?

Multiple steps are involved in the computation of Payroll Tax, as enumerated below:

• Step 1 involves the employer obtaining the employer’s identification number and getting employee identification number.
• Step 2 involves determining the state where the employee will be assigned. This is to determine the state deduction liability.
• Step 3 involves determining the total income of the employee (Gross Pay)
• Step 4 involves making applicable deductions in the form of Federal income tax, social security tax, and Medicare Tax.
• Step 5 involves contributing to the employer contribution of the above deductions.
• Step 6 involves making any other deduction, including State Income Tax deduction as determined in Step 2, if applicable.
• Step 7 includes timely filing of the same with the Federal and state governments per the timelines to avoid penalties.

The above steps are indicative; actual steps can be merged or skipped depending on case to case; however, the broad structure of activities involved remains the same.

Example of Payroll Tax

Mr. A is employed with XYZ International Limited, registered with the federal government of the USA, and is eligible for collecting Payroll tax on behalf of its employees. The company is located in Texas, where State Income Tax is exempted.

Below are the details of the Income of Mr. A based on which applicable Payroll tax deductions have been undertaken:

Employee Contribution to working
Particulars	Amount in USD
Gross Pay	$200,000
Old age and survivor Insurance (Federal Deduction 6.2% each both by employer and employee)	$12,400
Disability Insurance (Federal Deduction 0.9% each both by employer and employee)	$1,800
Medicare Deduction (Federal Deduction 1.45% each both by employer and employee)	$2,900
Unemployment insurance (Federal Deduction 0.6% by the employer only)	$0
Total Payroll Tax	$17,100
Net Pay	$182,900

Components of Payroll Tax

It comprises the following components:

• Federal Income Tax: This component of the Payroll tax is withheld and forms a revenue source for the Federal government
• Social Security Tax: This payroll tax component forms part of old age and unemployment benefits extended by the Federal government. It is contributed equally by employer and employee at 6.2% each beyond a threshold income limit which may vary yearly.
• Medicare Tax: This Payroll tax component forms part of federal government schemes comprising health care benefits to senior citizens. It is contributed equally by employer and employee at 1.45% each and applies to employees at all levels without any threshold income limit.
• Additional Medicare Tax for those employees earning more than a stipulated limit varies from year to year.
• State Income Tax: This payroll tax component is deducted from the employee’s income and paid to the state authority. The percentage deduction varies from state to state in the USA, with some states not levying this deduction, such as Texas.
• Any other local tax withholding specific to a particular state. Together all these components form the Payroll Tax.

Responsibilities

The responsibility and ownership of collecting and filing Payroll Taxes lie on the employer and not the employee. For this purpose, the company must register itself under Payroll Tax based on the state in which it is incorporated in the United States of America.

After that, the company will be provided with a unique number known as an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Then, based on the state in which the company is incorporated, the company will have to comply with Federal and State payroll tax laws.

Advantages

Some of the advantages are given below:

• It is a very good government tax revenue source and forms a good percentage of total tax collection.
• It is a stable source of revenue and doesn’t vary much as employment and payroll don’t change frequently.
• It is hard to evade by the individual and leads to less income leakage for the government.

Conclusion

It is a significant source of revenue for the government. This tax revenue serves many purposes of the government and helps them provide social security schemes and Medicare benefits to its people. However, the threshold limit for it varies from state to state and country to country. Despite the benefits that Payroll tax offers to the government, it has often been criticized for being heavy on employees as the real contribution, whether deducting from employee salary or paid by the employer as part of their contribution to social security schemes and Medicare, resulting in reduced income for the employee leading to lower disposable income in hand for them.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Payroll Tax. Here we also discuss the definition and how to calculate payroll tax? Along with advantages and disadvantages. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –

1. Earnings Before Interest and Tax
2. Deferred Tax Liabilities
3. Flat Tax
4. Excise Tax