North Dakota Payroll Instructions

North Dakota has state income tax withholding- the calculation uses standard "step" tables that are similar to the federal "formula method" (and most other states). Rates changed for 2023. ND withholding rates have changed in 22 of the past 33 years, including oil-boom-fueled tax rate decreases in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

As of 2021, North Dakota has two sets of withholding tables, for the old W4 and the new one. Choose the correct Tax Package for each employee, depending on which W4 they use.

HINT: TurtleSoft provides free annual updates for US federal and North Dakota tax withholding rates.

North Dakota 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. Enter the number of federal dependents into the Federal Exemptions field.
  6. Enter the number of North Dakota dependents into the State Exemptions field.
  7. Enter a North Dakota 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 North Dakota packages in the list, you'll need to import 2022 tax info first.
  8. Click OK.

North Dakota State Unemployment Tax Instructions

In 2023, the North Dakota SUTA unemployment insurance tax is calculated on the first $38,400 of wages for each employee (unchanged from the previous year). The starting tax rate for new companies is 8.09% for construction companies and 1.6% for others. After the first year the rate is adjusted, based on hiring and layoff experience (construction companies have to wait two years for a rate change).

To enter your North Dakota state SUTA tax rate into Goldenseal payroll accounting 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 North Dakota SUTA. HINT: If you don't see N Dakota SUTA in the list, you'll need to import that info first..
  3. Enter the rate that you pay into the percentage field to the right of Calculation method.
  4. Enter the current SUTA cutoff amount into the dollar field to the right of First Adjustment.

North Dakota Marital Status

Use the following to determine the value of the Marital Status popup field in each Employee account record:

State Tax Contacts

Website

Official State Lawn Ornament

Western ND: Pipeline protest group.
Eastern ND: Oops, wind blew official lawn ornament into Minnesota.