FAQ

Please visit the IRS Website

No. Employees who have furnished Form W-4 in any year before 2020 are not required to furnish a new form merely because of the redesign. Employers will continue to compute withholding based on the information from the employee’s most recently furnished Form W-4.

No. The form is divided into 5 steps. The only two steps required for all employees are Step 1, where you enter personal information like your name and filing status, and Step 5, where you sign the form. Complete Steps 2 – 4 only if they apply to you. Doing so will make your withholding more accurately match your liability.

Your withholding will be computed based on your filing status’s standard deduction and tax rates, with no other adjustments.

You should generally increase your withholding if:

• you hold more than one job at a time or you and your spouse both have jobs (Step 2) or
• you have income from sources other than jobs or self-employment that is not subject to withholding (Step 4(a)).

If you do not make adjustments to your withholding for these situations, you will very likely owe additional tax when filing your tax return, and you may owe penalties. For income from sources other than jobs, you can pay estimated tax instead of having extra withholding.

You should generally decrease your withholding if:

• you are eligible for income tax credits such as the child tax credit or credit for other dependents (Step 3), and/or
• you are eligible for deductions other than the basic standard deduction, such as itemized deductions, the deduction for IRA contributions, or the deduction for student loan interest (Step 4(b)).

Tax rates increase as income rises, and only one standard deduction can be claimed on each tax return, regardless of the number of jobs. Therefore, if you have more than one job at a time or are married filing jointly and both you and your spouse work, more money should usually be withheld from the combined pay for all the jobs than would be withheld if each job was considered by itself. Adjustments to your withholding must be made to avoid owing additional tax, and potentially penalties, when you file your tax return. All of this has been true for many years; it did not change with the recent tax law changes. The old Form W-4 accounted for multiple jobs using detailed instructions and worksheets that many employees may have overlooked. Step 2 of the redesigned Form W-4 lists three different options you should choose from to make the necessary withholding adjustments. Note that, to be accurate, you should furnish a 2020 Form W-4 for all of these jobs.

Yes. To provide maximum accuracy, you are encouraged to use the Tax Withholding Estimator available at www.irs.gov/W4app. You should consider using the withholding estimator if you:

• expect to work only part of the year (this does not apply if you are only switching jobs),
• had a large balance due or refund last year and it is no longer the beginning of the current year,
• have dividend or capital gain income or are subject to additional taxes, such as the additional Medicare tax,
• have self-employment income,
• prefer the most accurate withholding for multiple job situations, or
• prefer to limit information provided in Steps 2–4 but do not want to sacrifice accuracy.

Yes. All new employees first paid after 2019 must use the redesigned form. Similarly, any other employee who wishes to adjust their withholding must use the redesigned form.

• Navigate to:  Payroll Processing >> Payroll Entry >> Individual Time Entry Grid
• Select “Add New” on the blue action bar
• Select “Additional Check” in drop down menu and save
• Enter hours and earnings
• Select “Preview Check” on the blue action bar
• Enter check number
• Select “Post As Manual”

Click here to watch the help video

• Navigate to:  Payroll Processing >> Payroll Entry >> Individual Time Entry Grid
• Select “Add New” on the blue action bar
• Select “Additional Check” in drop down menu and save
  • If limited deductions should be taken, once step 3 is complete, change your template from Regular to All.
    • Use the “block box” located to the right of the earning and to the left of the entry grid to identify any deductions that should not be withheld from this check.
  • If no deductions should be taken, select the “Additional Check No Deductions” in Step 3 above and save

• Navigate to: Employee Management >> Employee Pay >> Deductions
• Select desired deduction
• Add the PER PAYPERIOD amount to be withheld
• Save

The process for entering a J1 Student is the same as any other employee with one exception:

On the Tax Information Screen, under Tax Exemption, choose the status type of “J1 (Student) Visa” from the drop-down menu. Click save.

• Navigate to: Employee Management >> Employee Maintenance >> General
• Make sure self-service email is populated with a correct and active email address
• Check off “Enable Self Service Access”
• Save

This will launch an activation link that will be sent to your employee’s email address. Once they receive the link they have 72 hours to activate their ESS account.

Click here for a helpful video about activating an employee-self-service account.

• Navigate to: Employee Management >> Employee Maintenance >> General
• Remove the check mark from “enable self-service access” and save
• Update the email address under “Self-Service Email”
• Check off “enable self-service access”
• Save

• Navigate to: Payroll Processing >> Payroll Entry >> Individual Time Entry Grid
• Enter hours under desired earnings category for first entry item
• To pay out multiple rates or departments for any individual employee a second line item must be created.  To add a second line select “Cntrl + Insert” simultaneously on your keyboard. 
• Enter hours for rate two under new line for the desired earnings category
• To the right of the entry grid you will notice a column that reads “override rate”, Key in the desired rate.
  • To allocate hours to a different department, follow steps 1-3 above, you will use your labor/department/division/job, drop down to define where the hours on this line should be allocated to.

• Navigate to: Employee Management >> Employee Pay >> Tax Information
• Identify if the update is for federal withholdings, state withholdings, or both.

• Navigate to Employee Management>>Employee Summary
• Select the employee
• Select any header in the tax information box
• Update the filing status for Federal and/or State withholdings
• Save

• Navigate to Employee Management>>Employee Summary
• Select the employee
• Select any header in the tax information box
• Identify the dollar amount or percentage value in the “Additional $/%” box
• Identify in the drop down to the right if this is a dollar amount or percentage
• Save

• Navigate to Employee Management>>Employee Summary
• Select the employee
• Select any header in the tax information box
• Check off the “block tax” box for federal and/or state income tax
• Save

A. Rehire a Terminated Employee

• Navigate to: Employee Management >> Employee Summary
• At the top of the screen, change your “status” option from active to terminated
• Select “Apply”
• Select the employee for rehire
• Select any header field under the “Employee Name & Address Box”
• On the blue action bar, located at the top of the screen, select the “Rehire” option
• Populate information and save changes

Whenever rehiring a terminated employee, be sure to check that the direct deposit account is still active and valid.  Take a look under Employee Management >> Employee Pay >> Direct Deposit, to determine if the account needs to be removed or re-activated.

B. Terminate an Active Employee

• Navigate to: Employee Management >> Employee Maintenance >> General
• Select the employee
• On the blue action bar, located at the top of the, select “terminate”
• Populate the details of the termination date and reason
• Check off “inactivate all direct deposit accounts”
• Save

Yes, Bizchecks Payroll will handle all of your new hire reporting with the state of Massachusetts.

• If the check is lost:
  • Contact your bank to place a stop issue on the check
  • Contact your payroll representative to void and re-issue the check with a new check number OR a check can be written from your company account to the employee for the net value.
• If the check is damaged:
  • Retrieve the damaged check from the employee
  • Contact your payroll representative to re-print the check OR a check can be written from your company account to the employee for the net value.

Whenever a new child support order or garnishment is received, please contact your payroll representative for establishment.

• Issues accessing certain screens within iSolved:  Try using a different web browser, Google Chrome is extremely cohesive with the iSolved system.  You can also attempt to turn off your pop-up blockers for the iSolved site with your current web browser.
• Issues logging in:  Be sure you are attempting to log in through our partner portal https://bizchecks.myisolved.com/UserLogin.aspx. If you have forgotten your password, use the “forgot password?” option located below the login to walk through the steps of resetting.  If you are unable to reset, contact your payroll representative.

Navigate to: Reporting >> Report Archive

• Select the desired payroll date for review on the top half of the screen
• Select the desired report for review in the lower left hand corner of the screen
• Select “View Report” on the right hand side of the screen

Click here to watch help video

Navigate to: Reporting >> Quarterly Reports On-Demand

• Select the desired quarterly return
• Select “Download File”

In the event of a worker’s compensation audit, you will typically need the hours and earnings reflected for the duration of time requested by work distribution, along with the 941’s for each quarter that fall within the time frame.

To access the 941s please refer to, “How do I access my quarterly returns”, as they will be found here.  To run an hour earnings report please follow these steps:

• Navigate to: Reporting >> Client Reports
• Under the “search” option type, “Hours & Earnings by Worked Distribution”
• Choose the “date range” report option
• Once the report is selected, to the right define the details of the report by entering the date range, sort field, and format options
• On the blue action bar located near the top of the screen, select “Generate Report”
• Select “Go To My Reports Queue”
• If the report is not immediately accessible, select the “refresh” button on the blue action bar until the status changes from “in progress” to “generated”
• Select the “View Report” option

Navigate to: Reporting >> Client Reports

• In the “search” option, type “Check History”
• Select the report that meets your needs (Detail or Summary)
• Once the report is selected, populate the information on the right hand side, be sure to identify the appropriate employee by typing in their name under the “employee” category
• On the blue action bar located near the top of the screen, select “Generate Report”
• Select “Go To My Reports Queue”
• If the report is not immediately accessible, select the “refresh” button on the blue action bar until the status changes from “in progress” to “generated”
• Select the “View Report” option

• Navigate to: Employee Self Service >> Pay History
• Select the employee
• Select the check date the stub should be reprinted for
• On the blue action bar, located at the center of the screen, select “View/Print Pay Stub”
• Select the print icon, located at the bottom of the screen to print

• Navigate to: Employee Self Service >> W2/ACA/1099 Forms
• Select the employee
• Select the “View Document” option located to the right of the desired W2 for reprint

Click here to watch help video

Navigate to:  Employee Self Service >> Time >> Time Off Requests

• Select the employee
• Select “request time off” on the blue action bar, located near the top of the screen
• Populate information
• Save request (As an administrator with approval authority, this will automatically approve the request and add the time to the employees time card)

Navigate to: Employee Self Service >> Time >> Time Off Requests – Admin

• Select the tab which reads “pending requests”
• Define if the time will be approved or denied
• Save changes

• Navigate to Employee Self Service >> Time >> Employee Absence
• Select the employee
• Identify the dates
• Choose “Delete”

• Navigate to Employee Self Service >> Time >> Time Off Requests
• Select the employee
• Click details
• Define the dates
• Select the pending request
• Select “Delete”

• Navigate to Payroll Processing >> Close Pay Period
• Select “Lock Timecards”
• Select “Commit Timecards”
• If warning appears, please review them carefully and review the corresponding report under “timecard preview results” to identify the issue. Go back to the employee’s timecard and make appropriate edits if necessary.
• The “ignore warning” box can be selected if minor warnings are appearing that do not need to be fixed. An example of this might be “unverified time”.  Once this box is checked, select “commit timecards”.
• Once timecards are successfully committed, a message will display at the top of the screen in green confirming their success.
• Select “Preview Payroll”
• Preview appropriate reports and verify the payroll looks correct and accurate
• Select “Submit Payroll”

Current minimum wage in MA is $15.00 per hour. Tipped minimum wage is $6.75 per hour.

MA Attorney General’s Office references a three “prong” test: 1) Freedom from Control; 2) Service Outside the Usual Course of an Employer’s Business and 3) Independent Trade, Occupation, Profession or Business. For more information click here.

Churches are exempt from having to pay federal and state unemployment taxes on their employees.

Designated exempt non-profit organizations are exempt from paying federal unemployment taxes.  For state unemployment, the organization can choose to be contributory (pay into unemployment) or reimbursable (organization is only charged unemployment if a former employee applies for and is approved for unemployment). For more information click here.

If you are a sole proprietor or in a partnership where both parents are partners and the child is under 18 years of age then he/she is exempt from: Social Security and Medicare taxes, Federal Unemployment and MA State Unemployment.

If you are a sole proprietor, your spouse is exempt from Federal Unemployment and MA State Unemployment only.

Generally the employer should withhold taxes in the state where the employee works.  So, if the employee works in MA, they should have MA taxes withheld. However, when they file their taxes in their home state, they will get credit for those taxes paid to MA.  The employee cannot be taxed twice on the same wages.

401K: Max (2023) $22,500 If over 50 years of age, eligible for catch up, an additional $7,500

401K CoMatch Salary Limit (2023): An employee may receive a company match for their 401K until they reach a gross annual salary of $330,000

Simple IRA: Max (2023) $15,500 If over 50 years of age, eligible for catch up, an additional $3,500

Social Security tax is no longer calculated once an individual reaches $160,200 gross.

When do I have to begin withholding the additional medicare tax for high wage employees?

If an individual exceeds $200,000 gross they are considered in the “higher income tax bracket” and must have an additional .9% added to the 1.45% MC calculation for all wages exceeding this amount. (2.35% on all wages exceeding $200,000). This is not added to the employer’s portion of the MC only the employee.

J1 students are exempt from paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, therefore employers are also exempt from paying those taxes for those particular employees.  Employers also do not have to pay federal unemployment taxes for J1 students.

H2B visa workers are subject to all employee taxes and the employer must pay all regular employer taxes for these workers including federal and state unemployment.

There is a youth employment permit process for the state of MA.  For more details please click here.

Someone without a valid social security number is not authorized to work in the United States. For more information on how to apply for a social security number please click here.

An ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) is not valid for employment in the United States.  An ITIN is only available to resident and nonresident aliens who aren’t eligible for U.S. employment and need identification for other tax purposes. You can identify an ITIN because it is a nine-digit number, formatted like a SSN that starts with the number “9”. An employee must have a valid social security number to work in the United States.

Under the minimum fair wage law, an employer does not have to pay extra for weekend, holiday, or night work. For more information, refer to the Massachusetts Blue Laws by clicking here.