Q4 2025 Quarter_Year End Payroll Deadlines_ Third Party Sick Pay, Tax IDs and Tax Variances

OVERVIEW

It's important to have these Payroll Deadlines in mind as you close out your company's books for Q4 2025.

TARGETED DEADLINES

Final Payroll Corrections

The cut-off is 4:00 p.m. ET on January 5th, 2025 - Fees may apply if you are responsible for the change. Any Q4 2025 adjustments driven by you after this date will require an amendment and applicable fees will apply. Refer to Payroll Corrections for instructions.

Third-Party Sick Pay

Third-Party Sick payments should be processed before your last standard payroll of the year whenever possible. Any third-party statements received for 2025 can be added to any quarter. Requests to be included with Q4 2025 should be submitted by January 16th, 2026, to ensure Third-Party Sick payments are included on your employee's W-2. Any requests received after January 16th, 2026 will require an amendment and applicable fees will apply. Refer to Third Party Sick Pay for further information about the deadlines for processing and adjustments.

Third-Party Administrator Access for Tax Jurisdictions

Account Maintenance Disclaimer: If we do not receive Third Party Administrator (TPA) access by January 5^th, 2026, any penalties and interest associated with paper filings and late payments will be your responsibility.

Tip:

Colorado SUI, Massachusetts SUI, Minnesota SUI, New Mexico SUI, Philadelphia, and Puerto Rico SIT/SUI specifically require TPA to file tax returns. Refer to the State Tax Guides section of our Namely Toolkit: Tax Services for more information.

Missing Tax IDs

If the tax EIN is not received or there are uncollected funds from an “applied for” status by January 5^th, 2026, any penalties and interest incurred for late filings or payments will be your responsibility. Submit a case in ClientSpace using the following Taxonomy Payroll Tax Services (HCM) >Applied for Recollection in order to electronically file an "Applied For" status with a new EIN. Refer to Non-Collection of Taxes with IDs in "Applied for" Status & Tax Validation for information about the penalties for missing Tax IDs and uncollected funds for taxes left in "Applied For" statuses. Cases submitted after January 5^th will be placed ON HOLD until we have completed Q4 2025 filings.

Note: Namely cannot make payroll tax deposits or file payroll tax returns without the federal, state, and local agency-assigned account numbers, payment numbers, and/or agency authorizations as directed per the individual state jurisdiction. If Namely is not promptly provided the necessary information, Namely will not be responsible for penalties and interest due to late payments and filings.

Variance Collection and Company Tax Packages

Company Tax Packages will be uploaded no later than the end of the day on January 12^th, 2026
Variance Collection will occur on or about, January 14^th, 2026. Refer to Tax Variance Process and Calculations and Namely Recommended: Quarter End Payroll and Tax Validation Guide for more details.
If there are payroll corrections or changes in progress, your package will be uploaded by January 16^th, 2026. The variance collection date will be communicated individually based on when the company package was posted.

Back Filing Request for Prior Quarters (or current quarter requests after Jan. 5^th, 2026)

Please note that to ensure timely filing of Q4 2025 tax returns, all prior quarter back-filing requests will be placed ON HOLD in ClientSpace beginning December 23^rd, 2025.
Back filing cases that are ON HOLD will resume processing on February 4^th, 2026, in the order they were received.

DISCLAIMER: If Namely is provided information from a specific Tax Agency regarding an invalid account status for any of the tax codes within your tax profile, Namely will be changing the tax ID/status to "Applied For" until you're able to resolve the tax account status issue. In addition, any previously collected liability that is unable to be filed to the agency will be refunded if the agency cannot accept the funds with an inactive status. This process is being put into place to ensure you know there are outstanding issues with your company's tax account(s), as well as to ensure Namely doesn't collect tax liability that we cannot remit due to the tax account status issue. If we cannot file on your behalf for any tax jurisdictions, you will receive separate communication with the jurisdiction and reason for the rejection.