Florida payroll tax filings: what employers file and when

Payroll in Florida runs on two levels: federal and state

Florida does not impose a personal income tax, so there is no state income tax to withhold from paychecks. That simplifies payroll, but it does not remove state obligations. A Florida employer typically deals with these filings:

Workers' compensation coverage is a separate insurance requirement, covered at the end of this article.

Form 941 and federal deposit schedules

For 2026, social security tax is 6.2% each for employer and employee on wages up to $184,500, and Medicare tax is 1.45% each with no wage limit. Employers also withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax from an employee's wages above $200,000 in the calendar year; the employer does not match it.

Form 941 reports those taxes and federal income tax withheld each quarter. It is due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, or by the 10th of the following month if every deposit for the quarter was made on time. Because October 31, 2026 is a Saturday, the third-quarter 2026 return is due November 2, 2026, and the fourth-quarter return is due February 1, 2027.

Deposit schedule. The IRS assigns it each year from a lookback period of four quarters running July 1 through June 30. For 2026 that period was July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. If taxes reported in the lookback period were $50,000 or less, you are a monthly depositor and deposit each month's taxes by the 15th of the following month. Above $50,000, you are a semiweekly depositor: taxes for paydays on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday are due the following Wednesday, and for paydays on Saturday through Tuesday, the following Friday. Semiweekly depositors also file Schedule B with Form 941.

• New employers are monthly depositors in their first calendar year.
• Accumulating $100,000 or more on any day triggers a deposit by the next business day, whatever your schedule.
• If the quarter's total liability is less than $2,500, it can generally be paid with a timely filed Form 941.

Details are in Publication 15 (Circular E).

How federal deposits are made

All federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer. The options the IRS lists are the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), a free Treasury service; IRS Direct Pay; and the IRS business tax account. A tax professional, payroll service or bank can also deposit on your behalf, and third parties may charge for that.

When a payroll provider makes deposits for you, the legal responsibility for the tax generally stays with the employer, so it is worth checking EFTPS history against the provider's reports each quarter.

Form 940 and federal unemployment tax (FUTA)

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax is paid only by the employer; nothing is withheld from employees. Most employers are covered if they paid wages of $1,500 or more in any calendar quarter, or had at least one employee for some part of a day in 20 or more different weeks, in the current or prior year.

For 2026 the FUTA rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages. Employers can generally take a credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment tax, which brings the effective rate to 0.6%, provided state tax was paid in full, on time, on the same wages, and the state is not a credit reduction state for the year.

• Figure FUTA quarterly. If the liability is more than $500, deposit it by the last day of the month after the quarter; if $500 or less, carry it to the next quarter.
• Form 940 for 2026 is due February 1, 2027, or February 10, 2027 if all FUTA tax was deposited when due.

Year-end forms: W-2, W-3 and 1099-NEC

According to the 2026 Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, employee copies and the filing with the Social Security Administration (SSA) are due February 1, 2027. Employers filing at least 10 information returns must e-file. The 2026 form adds box 12 code TT for qualified overtime compensation, box 12 code TP for cash tips reported to the employer, and box 14b for the Treasury tipped occupation code, so payroll systems need to capture those amounts during the year.

Independent contractors are not on payroll, but they are part of the year-end cycle. For payments made after December 31, 2025, Form 1099-NEC is required when nonemployee compensation reaches $2,000 for the year, and it is due to the IRS and the recipient by February 1, 2027 for 2026 payments. See the Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC.

Florida reemployment tax and Form RT-6

Florida's version of state unemployment tax is the reemployment tax, collected by the Florida Department of Revenue. Employers pay it; employees do not, and it may not be deducted from paychecks. Liability generally begins when quarterly payroll reaches $1,500 in a calendar year or when the business has at least one employee during any 20 weeks in a calendar year.

• Wage base: only the first $7,000 paid to each employee in a calendar year is taxable.
• New employer rate: 2.7%, which stays in place until the employer has reported for 10 quarters. After that, the rate is based on the employer's own benefit experience.
• 2026 range: from 0.1% ($7 per employee) to 5.4% ($378 per employee).

The Employer's Quarterly Report, Form RT-6, lists each employee's name, Social Security number and wages. It is due the 1st day of the month after the quarter and late if not filed by the last day of that month: April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, moved to the next working day when the date falls on a weekend or holiday. That puts the third-quarter 2026 report on November 2, 2026. Employers with 10 or more employees in any quarter of the prior state fiscal year must file and pay electronically. The late filing penalty is $25 for each 30 days or fraction of a month the report is late. See the Department of Revenue report and payment page.

Paying reemployment tax in full and on time is also one of the conditions for the full federal FUTA credit.

New hire reporting, E-Verify and workers' compensation

New hire reporting. Florida employers report newly hired and rehired employees to the Florida New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of the hire date. Florida also requires reporting independent contractors paid $600 or more in a calendar year, within 20 days of the first payment that requires an information return or the contract date, whichever is earlier. That state threshold is separate from the federal $2,000 threshold for Form 1099-NEC.

E-Verify. Florida private employers with 25 or more employees must use E-Verify for new employees, verifying eligibility within three business days after the first day of work, and certify that use on their first reemployment tax return each calendar year.

Workers' compensation. This is insurance, not a payroll tax, and it is overseen by the Division of Workers' Compensation of the Florida Department of Financial Services. Coverage is required for non-construction employers with four or more employees, construction employers with one or more, and agricultural employers with six regular or twelve seasonal workers under specific day counts. Corporate officers and LLC members count toward those numbers, and some owners may qualify for an exemption.

This is general information. The right setup depends on how many people you employ, how they are paid and how your company is classified.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

General information, not tax, legal or immigration advice for your situation. Figures and dates were checked on official sources on the date shown and can change; a licensed CPA has not yet reviewed this draft. MTroncone CPA is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency.