Michigan Payroll Instructions

Michigan 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 (see note below).
5. Choose the correct Tax package for the employee, depending on their place of residence and 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..
6. Enter the number of federal dependents into the Federal Exemptions field.
7. Enter the number of Michigan dependents into the State Exemptions field.
8. If the employee qualifies for any special exemptions, report the number of special exemptions in the Other Exemptions field.
9. Click OK.

Michigan Local Taxes

We provide Tax Items and Tax Packages for Detroit, Highland Park and Saginaw. There are separate rates for residents and non-residents, and also different packages for W4 options. The Michigan website does not provide info for otehr local taxes. You may need to create Tax Packages for other locations that have local taxes.

To create Tax Packages, follow these steps:

1. Open the Payroll tab on the left, open Lists, and choose Tax Packages.
2. Click on one of the standard packages, then click Duplicate.
3. Enter a descriptive name for the package (e.g. Saginaw Non-Resident).
4. Go through the list of Tax Items, and select any local taxes that apply.
5. Click OK.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for each locality where you need to collect taxes.

After you have set up additional Tax Packages, apply them to your employees:

1. Open the Payroll tab on the left, and choose Employees.
2. Use the browser controls at upper left to locate an employee.
3. Click the Payroll Setup button.
4. Enter the Tax Package that applies.
5. Click OK.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for each employee that needs local withholding.

Michigan State Unemployment Tax Instructions

Michigan charges state unemployment insurance tax on the first $9,500 of wages for each employee (2023 cutoff). The change from a $9,000 cutoff was delayed in 2020 because of Covid-19 revenue losses. The starting SUTA tax rate is 2.7% for most businesses, and between 6.8% and 8.1% for construction companies. After the first year the rate is different for each business, depending on past layoff history.

To enter your Michigan SUTA tax rate into Goldenseal 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 Michigan SUTA item. HINT: If you don't see Michigan SUTA in the list, you'll need to import your state's payroll info first.
3. Enter your SUTA percentage rate 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.

Michigan Marital Status

Enter one of the following values into the Marital Status field on each Employee account:

• Single- single employee with one personal exemption
• Married- married employee with two personal exemptions
• Dual Income- married employee with one personal exemption
• Head of House- employee claims Head of Family status
• Other- not used

State Tax Contacts

Website

Official State Lawn Ornament

Lower peninsula-- rusting factory.
Upper peninsula-- sorry, ornament was eaten by mosquitos.