Define Withholding Tax (U.S.)

Objective

The Define Withholding Tax (U.S.) option is used to configure the necessary information in order to calculate, federal tax, insurance and contributions for each state.

 

The values entered must be from the employer's guide provided by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) for federal taxes and the tax guides provided by the various states.

At a minimum, you must configure deductions for federal taxes and deductions for one state so that the system can calculate an employee's pay.

 

PREREQUISITEs

 

Summary

 

Steps

To access a specific state, click on the hyperlink:

 

New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas and Washington are also supported by maestro* but there are no taxes to calculate for these states.

 

Create a Withholding Tax Applicable at Federal Level

  1. Enter the required information in the Detail section:

Field

Description

Federal

Tells maestro* that this is a federal deduction, if selected.

Effective Date

Effective date of the rates.

Description

Description of the withholding.

  1. Enter the required information in the tab:
  1. Click Save.

 

Create a Withholding Tax Applicable at State Level

  1. Enter the required information in the Detail section:

Field

Description

State

Specifies that the source deduction applies to a state.

State Name

Used to select the state for which the user wants to enter income tax rates.

NOTE: If the user selects a state that is not supported by maestro*, the following message will be displayed: This State is not currently supported by maestro*. In order to calculate the payroll for an employee who works in this State, you can temporarily select the State’s model for the calculation of withholding tax.

In this case, the user must select the state serving as State model for the tax calculation, from a list of supported states. The user must then complete the applicable configurations (Effective Date, rates, income tax tables, etc...)

State’s Model

Select the state serving as the State’s model for the calculation of withholding taxes.

NOTE: Maestro* displays the following message: Do you want to copy the current rates for State XXXX? You will then be able to modify them. If the user clicks Yes, the tabs and the rate for the State’s model are copied and modifiable. If the user clicks No, only the tabs and the values from the State’s model are entered in the screen to be completed and no rates are copied.

NOTE: This field is only visible when a non-supported state is selected.

Description

Description of the source deduction.

Effective Date

Effective date after which source deductions must be applied.

  1. Enter the required information in the tab:
  1. Enter the required information in the tab:
  1. Click Save.

 

See also

 

APPENDIX

Exporting Rates

The function of exporting rates lets you extract the rates created in maestro* in an XML format so they can be shared with other users in the maestro* community.

To export the rates:

  1. Click the Rates Exportation icon.
  2. Complete the information based on specific requirements.

Field

Description

Export all active rates for specified date

Exports the rate valid on the date selected.

For example: If there are two rates in the system, one with an effective date of 2010-01-01 and the other dated 2011-01-01. If the user enters 2010-12-31 as the effective date, only the 2010-01-01 rate will be imported. If the user kept the current date, all rates would be imported.

NOTE: By default, the current date is displayed.

Export all rates taking effects on

Only exports the rates that go into effect on the selected date.

File Location

Used to specify where the export file will be saved.

NOTE: When first used, the user should decide where the file should be saved. This value will be saved for the next time.

  1. Click OK.

 

A message is displayed with the number of records exported. The file is named USPAYROLL_YYYYMMDD.XML. Click OK to complete the export.

 

Importing Rates

The function for importing rates is used to import an XML file exported from maestro*.

To import rates:

  1. Click the Rates Importation icon.
  2. Select the file to be imported..
  3. Click OK.

 

If maestro* finds existing records with the same date, the system asks you to confirm the import. Click YES to overwrite the record, NO to save the current record or CANCEL to cancel the entire import and retrieve the old rates.

 

Update the Rates

  1. Select the source deduction code to be updated in the summary section.
  2. Click the Renewal icon
  3. Enter the Effective Date and the Description that will identify the new transaction. Click OK.
  4. Click OK when you see the following message: Renewed. You must enter the rates in effect as of XXX to complete the update.

 

Maestro* displays the newly created source deductions transaction

  1. Complete the information as needed in the State or Federal tab.
  2. Click Save.

 

Last modification: March 19, 2025