Payroll Support

Incorrect year-to-date (YTD) tax amounts for Medicare, Social Security, federal unemployment, state unemployment, state disability, and some local taxes

Article ID: 1000091
Print

Problem

Your year-to-date (YTD) tax amounts for Medicare, Social Security, federal unemployment, state unemployment, state disability, and some local taxes amounts are not correct.

Assumptions

You have updated QuickBooks with the latest product release and tax table.

Expected Outcome

You can determine why your YTD amounts are incorrect.

Details

If you subscribe to a QuickBooks Payroll service, you might notice tax rate changes after you update your payroll service. If you create or edit a previously recorded paycheck after a tax rate has changed (even if you do not change any amounts), the edited paycheck will reflect the new tax rate.

For example, if you edit a paycheck to assign a customer or job to a new item, when you re-record the paycheck, the tax table automatically updates the paycheck with the new tax rate. QuickBooks calculates the correct total amount of the new tax based on the taxable wage base for that paycheck and all other recorded payroll transactions for that employee for the same year.

If QuickBooks has automatically adjusted your YTD tax amounts, Intuit recommends you leave the adjusted totals as they appear. However, if you choose to change them, you can manually edit the amounts on the paycheck.

See Edit a Payroll Item for information on editing payroll items.

There are two reports you can create to get the payroll data you need to resolve this issue:

  • Payroll Summary Report
  • Payroll Detail Review

To create the Payroll Summary Report:

Click Reports on the top menu bar.

Move your pointer over Employees and Payroll and click the Payroll Summary report.

Change the date on the upper left to: This Calendar Year.

Select a specific employee with a YTD that seems to be incorrect. Locate the erroneous amount and double-click it.

When the Transaction by Payroll Item report opens, multiply the total wage base (found at the bottom in bold) by the percent taken (Medicare is 1.45% and Social Security is 6.2%). The result should be the amount at the bottom of the Amount column.

  • If the amount is even (or off by a cent or two), you have deducted correctly.
  • If the amount is higher, you have overwithheld (usually caused by editing the amounts manually on the last paycheck).
  • If the amount is lower, you have underwithheld (usually caused by editing the amounts manually on the last paycheck).

To create the Payroll Detail Review Report:

Click Reports on the top menu bar.

Move your pointer over Employees and Payroll and click the Payroll Detail Review report.

Change the date on the upper left to: This Calendar Year.

Click Modify Report, click the Filters tab and select Payroll Item.

Select the payroll item with the incorrect amount and click OK.

Review the payroll item setup to determine whether there is an error.

If the payroll item is incorrect, see the below sources:

As long as you have not written the last check of the year, QuickBooks will correct the YTD amounts if necessary. If the employee will not receive any more paychecks in the current calendar year and the amounts are incorrect, you must do a liability adjustment.

Related Articles

Correct year-to-date (YTD) additions or deductions on a paycheck when the wrong tracking type was used
Adjust payroll liabilities

Did this article help you?

Yes, it did...     No, it didn't...
Your Feedback
Cancel Submit

Top Answers

Resources

Most Used Forms

Find and download individual and federal forms required for your business.

Payroll Tax Support

Stay in compliance, ensure you're up to date on all necessary tax agency information from Federal to State agency

ViewMyPaycheck

Give employees 24/7 access to payroll information they need.

Contact Us

Real people waiting to help
6 am-6pm PST, Monday through Friday

800-624-2106

View more options for immediate answers