Rhode Island State Tax Guide

State tax registration guide for Rhode Island.

Need to register taxes in another state? Review the State Tax Guide section in our Tax Services Toolkit. 

REQUIRED REGISTRATIONS

  • Unemployment Insurance: Rhode Island Division of Taxation

  • Income Tax Withholding: Rhode Island Division of Taxation

REQUIRED INFORMATION

  • SIT ID # (format: XXXXXXXXXXX)

  • SIT payment frequency

  • SUI ID # (format: XXXXXXXXXXX)

  • Current year SUI rate

TIP:

Your Namely Payroll setup may include several Rhode Island unemployment taxes. Rhode Island Disability, and Job Development Fund use the same ID as Rhode Island Unemployment Tax.

 

REGISTERING FOR STATE UNEMPLOYMENT AND INCOME TAX

If this is your first time running payroll in Rhode Island, you'll need to register your business with the Rhode Island Division of Taxation by completing the online registration.

 

TIP:

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

Once registered, you'll receive a Withholding Tax and Unemployment Insurance ID, as well as Unemployment Insurance Rates, which you will need to enter into Namely Payroll under Company > Tax (Rhode Island State Tax, and Unemployment Tax).

Your Rhode Island Experience Rate (tax rate) will appear on the Notice of Tax Rate that you receive from the Rhode Island Division of Taxation. Please do not include your Disability, or Job Development Assessment rates into your Unemployment tax rate field in Namely Payroll. 

Businesses that have run payroll in Rhode Island before can find their employment tax IDs on any Agency-issued notices from the Rhode Island Division of Taxation.

 

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.


 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: RI W-4 

Accepts Fed W-4: See Comments 

Comments: Rhode Island's state equivalent to the federal W-4 is Form RI W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate.

Effective January 1, 2020, Form RI W-4 must be used to calculate state withholding, and employees must complete Form RI W-4 at the start of employment. Employees hired before 2020 who have not already completed Form RI W-4 should do so. Form RI W-4 may be changed if the employee needs to adjust the amount of Rhode Island withholding. Adjustments to Form RI W-4 may be made at any time throughout the year.

Employers are not required to determine the correctness of the withholding allowance certificates.

 

PAYROLL + TAX FACTS

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