Payroll, W-2, and 1099 changes coming first of the year

If you’re a QuickBooks Online payroll user, there are some changes coming Jan. 1, 2025, that you should be aware of.

Right now, if you’re using the automated payroll tax payment option within QBO, payroll taxes get withdrawn when they’re due and paid when they’re due to each tax authority.

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, though, payroll tax amounts per payroll will be withdrawn from your bank account after each payroll. Intuit will hold those tax amounts and pay them when they’re due to each tax authority. You can read the full article on Intuit’s website for details.

This change has already gone into effect for new payroll subscriptions between August and October of this year. It also went into effect on Oct. 1 for payroll customers in certain states. However, none of those states were Nebraska, South Dakota, or Wyoming.

Additional costs for printing and mailing W-2s

Also starting in January of 2025 for the 2024 tax season, printing and mailing W-2 forms and 1099s will have an additional cost of $4 per employee/vendor. That’s in addition to the base Payroll/Contractor Payments Subscription cost.

Printing and mailing W-2s

If you have automatic payroll report filings turned on in QBO but don’t want to pay the additional $4 printing and mailing fee, you’ll need to change the W-2 printing options in your Payroll Settings on or before Jan. 3, 2025. If you do choose not to have QBO print and mail the W-2s to your employees, you’ll need to do it yourself. Alternatively, you can have your employees consent to paperless W-2s in QuickBooks Workforce.

Printing and mailing 1099s

When you’re finalizing 1099s in QBO, make sure to choose how they should be delivered to vendors and contractors. For any vendor or contractor that has an email address on file in QBO, the system will electronically deliver the 1099 by default. However, unless the vendor or contractor has given written consent to paperless 1099s, the recipients are still required to receive a physical copy of the 1099. You can print and mail the 1099 forms yourself or choose to have QBO print and mail them for $4 per form.

If you have any questions about your QuickBooks online account, please let us know.