Tax Maintenance

Form ID: (PR208000)

By using this form, you can do the following:

  • Fetch tax information to the system by downloading the latest details from the Tax Symmetry engine
  • Specify default GL accounts to be used to record tax related transactions
  • Assign the vendor ID, for which a liability (and a subsequent Accounts Payable invoice) will be created for this tax
  • Assign the relevant taxes to employees based on their addresses and work locations

Form Toolbar

The form toolbar includes standard and form-specific buttons and commands. For the list of standard buttons, see Form Toolbar and More Menu. The form-specific commands are listed in the following table.

Button Description
Update Taxes Updates the tax information in the system by downloading the latest details from the Tax Symmetry engine, and creates tax codes related to all employee addresses and work locations stored in the system. As a result, the Tax Codes tab on this form becomes populated with data.
Assign Taxes to Employees Assigns the relevant taxes to employees based on their addresses and work locations specified on the General tab of the Employee Payroll Settings (PR203000) form.

Tax Codes Tab

On this tab, a list of all tax codes related to all employee addresses and work locations stored in the system is displayed. In the row of each tax code whose settings need to be updated, a warning or an error icon will be displayed, depending on whether the setting is marked as required.

Table 1. Tax Codes Table Toolbar

The table toolbar includes standard buttons and buttons that are specific to this table. For the list of standard buttons, see Table Toolbar. The table-specific buttons are listed below.
Button Description
View Tax Details Opens the Tax Details dialog box, which displays the details of the selected tax.
Table 2. Tax Codes Table Columns
Column Description
Code The unique identifier of the tax. This code either represents a federal tax or is specific to a state or location. Thus, there would not be a tax code such as ST-WH (State Income Tax Withholding); something state-specific, such as AK-WH (Alaska State Income Tax Withholding), would be used instead.
Name The description of the tax code.
Tax State

For federal jurisdiction taxes, the state is irrelevant, and for local jurisdiction taxes, a more specific location identifier in the form of the tax location code is required.

This box is available and required for all state jurisdiction taxes.

Tax Category The tax category, which determines whether the tax is on the employer (a liability only) or it is withheld from the employee’s paycheck (a deduction and a liability). The following options are available: Employer Contribution and Employee Withholding.
Vendor The identifier of the entity to receive the tax liability payments for this tax. Only a vendor with the Vendor is Tax Agency check box selected on the Vendors (AP303000) form can be selected, although any valid vendor ID may be typed.
Expense Account An expense account used by default to record the taxes.
Expense Sub. The corresponding subaccount used with the tax account. The column is displayed if the Subaccounts feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.
Liability Account A liability account used to off-set the tax expense account.
Liability Sub. The corresponding subaccount used with the liability account. The column is displayed if the Subaccounts feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.
Table 3. Tax Settings Table ColumnsThis table contains a list of the payroll attributes that are required for the specific tax being set up. This attribute list varies from state to state and from one tax to the next. For many typical taxes, the system automatically populates the required attributes. For others, especially for many types of local and municipal taxes, you need to determine the attributes that are required. See the Symmetry Tax Engine documentation for the attributes required for a specific local tax.
Column Description
Name The name of the attribute.
Additional Information Additional information about the attribute.
Allow Employee Override A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value of this attribute may be overridden at the employee level.
Value The default value for this attribute, which may be overridden at the employee level if the Allow Employee Override check box is selected.
Required A check box that indicates (if selected) that the attribute value is a required entry for this tax. If the attribute is required, either this value must be entered on this form or the Allow Employee Override check box must be selected, to ensure that the attribute will contain a value.
Form/Box The tax form and box that this attribute affects.
Table 4. Tax Details Dialog Box
Element Description
Invoice Description Source The way the invoice description is generated, which also determines whether the Vendor Invoice Description box is available. The following options are available:
  • Code
  • Code Name
  • Payment Date
  • Payment Date + Code
  • Payment Date + Code Name
  • <Free Format Entry> (If this option is selected, the Vendor Invoice Description box is available.)
Vendor Invoice Description The description for the vendor invoice. This box is available only if the <Free Format Entry> option is selected in the Invoice Description Source box.
Employer Govt. Tax ID

The specific government-issued identification code that the employer uses on tax returns and payments for this particular tax. Any previously entered employer government tax IDs on any other tax records are available so that you can copy the federal tax ID from one federal tax to another without having to retype it.

This box is available only for state and local taxes.
Tax Engine Info section
Type The specific type of tax with respect to the tax definitions in the Symmetry Tax Engine. The list of tax types available for selection is filtered based on the tax category selected above.
Tax Unique ID A unique identifier that is generated when you click Update Taxes on the form toolbar; this ID is a combination of the particular tax type and its tax location code. Every payroll tax in the United States is represented as a unique identifier in this box. The population of this box, which is required for the Symmetry Tax Engine to properly calculate the associated payroll tax, serves as validation that the Tax Engine recognizes the setup on this form as a valid tax. In some cases, the tax engine may return more than one possibility to choose from (for instance, where there are a number of identical tax types within a small geographic area); in this case, the selector is populated with the available options, and you must select and save one of the unique IDs from the list.
Jurisdiction Level The jurisdiction level. When you select the tax type, the system displays one of the following options: Federal, State, Local, Municipal, or School District.
OK A button that you click to apply the changes and close the dialog box.

Company Tax Tab

You use this tab to define details for various employee attributes used for taxation. The list of attributes is loaded from the Tax Symmetry engine and updated when you click Update Taxes on the form toolbar.

Table 5. Summary Area
Element Description
Show Attributes Only for States That Have Tax Codes Set Up A check box that indicates (if selected) that the list displays only attributes for taxes for which tax codes were created.

The table toolbar includes only standard buttons. For the list of standard buttons, see Table Toolbar.

Table 6. Table Columns
Column Description
Name Read only. The description of an attribute.
Additional Information Additional information about the attribute.
State Read only. The state in which the tax applies. For federal taxes, FED is displayed in the column.
Allow Employee Override A check box that indicates (if selected) that an attribute value may be overridden for a particular employee on the Employee Payroll Settings (PR203000) form.
Value The value of the attribute.
Required A check box that indicates (if selected) that the attribute's value is required for taxation. The default value is loaded from the tax engine.
Used for Tax Calculation A check box that indicates (if selected) that the attribute is used for tax calculation by the tax engine.
Used for Government Reporting A check box that indicates (if selected) that the attribute is used for government reporting.
Form/Box The tax form and box that this attribute affects.