Massachusetts State Tax Guide

State tax registration guide for Massachusetts.

 

REQUIRED REGISTRATIONS

  • Unemployment Insurance: Massachusetts of Unemployment Assistance

  • Income Tax Withholding: Massachusetts Department of Revenue

 

REQUIRED INFORMATION

  • SIT ID # (format: WTH-XXXXXXXX-XXX)

  • SIT payment frequency

  • SIT Agent authorization (instructions here) 

  • SUI ID # (format: XX-XXXXX-X)

  • Current year SUI/EMAC rates

  • SUI Agent authorization (instructions here)

  • FMLI ID # (format: PFM-XXXXXXXX-XXX)

Note: Based on your company's details, your Namely Payroll setup may include several Massachusetts Tax Codes. Massachusetts Employer Medical Assistance Contribution, Workforce Training Fund, and COVID-19 Recovery Assessment all use the same ID as Massachusetts Unemployment Tax.

 

REGISTERING FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Go to the DUA website, click on ‘Employer Login’ and then ‘Employer Registration’ on the top left.

TIP:

Future-date registration is possible for this state's unemployment insurance!

Once registered, you will receive an Unemployment Account Number (UI) and Unemployment Rate (%) which you will need to enter into Namely Payroll under Company > Tax screen (UI tax). Follow the DUA’s step-by-step instruction guide for further details. 

 

Contact:

Contact info can be found at the instruction guide mentioned above.

For additional information on registering for taxes, read Employment Tax Registration Overview.


COVID-19 Recovery Assessment

Information can be found on the state's website here .  

 

REGISTERING FOR INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING  

Go to the DOR website, Quick Links, Register a New Taxpayer.

TIP:

Future-date registration is possible for this state's income tax withholding! 

Once registered, you will receive a Withholding Tax Account Number (WH) which you will need to enter into Namely Payroll under Company > Tax (WH tax).


Contact:

Lots of information can be found on the DOR website including contact information which can be found under Frequently Answered Questions, Contact.

For additional information on registering for taxes, read Employment Tax Registration Overview.

 

STATE INCOME WITHHOLDING FORMS

Namely uploads Federal and State W-4 documents to your HRIS site for use during onboarding, or if you need to send W-4s to employees who need to make withholding adjustments. 

Tip:

The most up to date W-4 documents can be found in the Namely section of the Document dropdown menu in Onboarding and Manage eSignature. 

Form Name: M-4

Accepts Federal W-4: See Comments

Comments: By an employee's start date, the employee must provide the employer with a signed withholding certificate indicating the number of allowances claimed for withholding purposes. If no withholding certificate is filed, the employer must withhold on the basis of no allowances.

Effective January 1, 2020, new employees and current employees changing their withholding must use Form M-4, Massachusetts Employee's Withholding Exemption Certificate. If an employee hired in 2019 or earlier has not submitted Form M-4, the federal Form W-4 from 2019 or earlier may be used to calculate state withholding if no changes are needed.

 

PAYROLL + TAX FACTS

Refer to this document for more information:2022-2023 Federal and State: Payroll and Tax Fact Sheet.

 

PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE TAX

On October 1, 2019, Massachusetts added a Paid Family Leave Tax for employees and a Paid Medical Leave Tax for employees and employers. For information on current rates and wages, please download our 2022-2023 Federal and State: Payroll and Tax Fact Sheet.
For more information and the configuration process please read our Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Configuration guide.

 

POWER OF ATTORNEY FORMS

Please note, Namely does not require a Power of Attorney for this state at this time. It is not required to file or remit payments on your behalf. If one is needed to resolve a tax matter, the tax notice team will request one from you at that time.

If a Power of Attorney is requested from you, you should email completed copies of the forms namelyPOA@Namely.com with the CID in the subject line for processing. We will update our system and maintain a copy of each form for record-keeping purposes

For additional information on Power of Attorney, read Completing the Power of Attorney Package.