Arkansas Payroll Instructions

TurtleSoft provides free annual updates for Goldenseal withholding formulas, including tax tables for Arkansas withholding taxes.

The Arkansas state income tax withholding is based on a "stepped" tax table similar to the federal payroll withholding calculations. Tax formulas and rates changed for 2023, with a new table that has an astonishing 52 steps. That tops every other state by far. The tables have only changed four times in the past 31 years-- in 1998, 2015, 2021 and 2023). Unlike most states, Arkansas subtracts an adjustment from the percentage calculation for each step, rather than adding it.

This year, Arkansas went from 6 steps all with the same rate, to 48 steps all at 4.9%. Most jump by $100 but a couple are $200. Arkansas hasn't caught up with Connecticut yet, but this probably gets them into the top 3 for weird math.

Arkansas State Withholding Instructions

To enter withholding information for an employee in your Goldenseal company file, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Payroll tab on the left, and choose Employees.
  2. Locate the employee's record.
  3. Click the Payroll Setup button.
  4. Enter the employee's marital status into the Marital Status field.
  5. Enter the number of federal dependents into the Federal Exemptions field.
  6. Enter the number of Arkansas dependents into the State Exemptions field.
  7. Enter an Arkansas Tax Package into the Tax Package field, based on the employee’s W4 form. Choose Old W4 for pre-2020 forms. Choose New W4 Step2- if they did not check the box in step 2 of the new form. Choose Step2+ if they did check it. HINT: If you don't see Arkansas packages in the list, you'll need to import the tax info first.
  8. Click OK.

NOTE-- Each entered state exemption results in a tax credit that is deducted from the annual gross tax

Arkansas State Unemployment Tax Instructions

In 2023, the Arkansas SUTA tax applies to the first $10,000 in annual wages for each employee (it bounces around, but did not change this year). The starting rate for new companies is currently 3.2%. After three years at that rate, the SUTA rate can vary between 0.8% and 10.7% depending on the fund balance and your company's past employment history.

To enter your Arkansas state SUTA tax rate into Goldenseal construction payroll software, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Payroll Setup from the Costs menu, and choose Tax Items.
  2. You'll see a list of Tax Items. Open the Arkansas SUTA item. HINT: If you don't see Arkansas SUTA in the list, you'll need to import your state's payroll info first.
  3. Enter the percentage rate that you pay into the percentage field to the right of Calculation method.
  4. If the cutoff amount has changed, enter it into the dollar field to the right of First Adjustment.

Arkansas Marital Status

Use the following to determine the value for the Marital Status popup in each Employee account for an Arkansas employee:

State Tax Contacts

Website

Official State Lawn Ornament

'Bill Clinton slept here' sign.