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Insurance offered through OnPay Insurance Agency, LLC (CA License #0L29422)
Updated January 7, 2021
Seven U.S. Presidents, from Grant to McKinley, were born in Ohio. So even though you might not have any political ambitions, you’re walking down the very same streets some of our nation’s greatest leaders walked on. Whether your company builds mailboxes that can withstand the toughest of Cleveland winters or grills up the best late night chili dogs in Cincinnati, you’re living in a state seething with opportunity. The last thing you want to do is blow that opportunity by messing up your payroll, consequently losing the trust and dedication of your employees.
Luckily, our payroll calculator is here to help you avoid any payroll tax fiascos. The process is simple. All you have to do is enter each employee’s wage and W-4 information, and our calculator will process their gross pay, deductions, and net pay for both Ohio and Federal taxes.
First and foremost, let’s walk through a summary of federal payroll taxes that all employees have to pay, no matter which state they live in. If you would like to see each step in detail, check out the step-by-step guide that we created just for you.
a. For hourly employees, simply multiply their hourly rate by the number of hours worked during the pay period. Remember to increase the rate for any overtime hours worked.
b.For salaried employees, take their annual salary and divide it by the number of pay periods.
c.Bonuses, commissions, or tips also get added to gross pay.
a.Social Security Tax: Withhold 6.2% of each employee’s taxable wages up to $142,800 for the year. If an employee makes more than $142,800, any salary above this amount is exempt. As an employer, you also have to pay the IRS 6.2% of your employee’s salary dollar-for-dollar.
b.Medicare Tax: Withhold 1.45% of each employee’s taxable wages up to $200,000 for the year. If an employee makes more than $200,000, an Additional Medicare Tax (super original name, right?) of 0.9% should be withheld. As an employer, you’re only responsible for matching 1.45% of the first $200,000.
Ohio payroll taxes can be a little hard to keep track of. Income tax rates range from 0% to 4.797% with varying tax brackets. Here’s a breakout of the various tax brackets, courtesy of the Ohio Department of Taxation.
To make matters just slightly (maybe a little more than slightly) more complex, 566 Ohio cities and villages charge an added local income tax. Ohio local income taxes, which are referred to unofficially as the RITA Tax, range from 0.5% to 2.75%.
As an employer, you’re responsible for paying SUI (remember, if you pay your state SUI in full and on time, you get a 90% tax credit on FUTA).
SUI tax rates range from 0.3% to 9.0%. New employers pay 2.7% in 2021, and 5.8% if you’re in the construction industry. The taxable wage base is $9,000 for each employee.
Calculate each employee’s net pay, cut those checks (or transfer those direct deposits, whatever suits your employees’ fancy), and make sure you have enough left in your own account to cover FICA and UI taxes.
Plus, be sure to submit your federal tax filings by filling out Forms 940 (yearly) and 941 (quarterly). Deposits can also be made on an ongoing basis through the EFTPS payment system. Learn more about the IRS deadlines here.
Our handy calculator can take you far, but you can never learn enough about all the intricacies of payroll taxes, so here are a couple more resources that can help you understand Ohio payroll a little better:
Ohio Department of Taxation: (800) 282-1780 | Employer Withholding Taxes | Business Registration | Reporting Requirements
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: (614) 466-2455 | Office of Unemployment Insurance Operations
RITA Ohio: (800) 860-7482 | File Your Taxes
OnPay pays your employees and does tax filings for you.