Employer Tax Laws and IRS Publication 15

One of the best IRS resources for employer-related tax laws is Publication 15  from the IRS. This publication explains your tax responsibilities as an employer. It explains the requirements for withholding, depositing, reporting, paying, and correcting employment taxes. It explains the forms you must give to your employees, those your employees must give to you, and those you must send to the IRS and SSA. This guide also has tax tables you need to figure the taxes to withhold from each employee for 2010. References to “income tax” in this guide apply only to “federal” income tax. Contact your state or local tax department to determine if their rules are different.

Additional employment tax information is available in Publication 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide. Publication 15-A includes specialized information supplementing the basic employment tax information provided in this publication. Publication 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits, contains information about the employment tax treatment and valuation of various types of noncash compensation.

Most employers must withhold (except FUTA), deposit, report, and pay the following employment taxes.

• Income tax.
• Social security tax.
• Medicare tax.
• Federal unemployment tax (FUTA).

There are exceptions to these requirements. See

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