Kentucky · Payroll tax registration
The Kentucky withholding account, explained.
The Employer's Withholding Tax Account is the Kentucky Department of Revenue account that lets a business withhold Kentucky income tax from wages. It opens through the MyTaxes portal or on Form 10A100, the Kentucky Tax Registration Application, and the application's own trigger is hiring or planning to hire employees to work in Kentucky within the next six months.
Who you are dealing with
Kentucky Department of Revenue
- Handles:
- Employer's withholding tax account
- System:
- MyTaxes
- Form:
- Form 10A100, Kentucky Tax Registration Application, or online at mytaxes.ky.gov, which the department says is faster
State fee. $0. Kentucky publishes no fee for opening a withholding account, and Form 10A100 carries no payment line of any kind.
What the state asks for
- Whether a Kentucky withholding account has already been assigned to the business
- The number of Kentucky employees
- The date wages or pensions were first paid or will be paid, which the form marks REQUIRED
- An estimate of total annual Kentucky tax withheld, in the form's own dollar brackets
- The entity, ownership, and responsible party details every 10A100 registration collects
How long it takes
Kentucky publishes no numeric turnaround for the withholding account specifically. The 10A100 instructions put fully completed paper applications at 5 to 10 business days barring seasonal workload, and the department says applying online at MyTaxes is faster. When the first pay date is close, online is the route.
What we do
We prepare the registration, file it through MyTaxes, and hand you the account number and filing frequency your payroll system asks for. You keep the client. We never email them.
How do I get a Kentucky withholding account number?
Register through the MyTaxes portal at mytaxes.ky.gov, or file Form 10A100, the Kentucky Tax Registration Application. The department's own guidance says online is faster, and one application covers the withholding account alongside Kentucky's other tax registrations.
When does a business need a Kentucky withholding account?
The application's own question is whether you have, or will hire, employees to work in Kentucky within the next six months. Answering yes routes you into the withholding section, and the form requires the date wages were first paid or will be paid.
Does the Kentucky withholding account cost anything to open?
No. Kentucky publishes no fee for the registration and Form 10A100 has no payment line. Our flat fee covers preparing and filing it; the state charges nothing.
How long does Kentucky take to open the account?
No specific figure is published for withholding. The 10A100 instructions say fully completed paper applications process in 5 to 10 business days barring seasonal workload, and the department says MyTaxes is faster. Plan the registration ahead of the first pay date rather than against it.
Is this the same account as Kentucky unemployment insurance?
No. The withholding account sits at the Department of Revenue; the unemployment account sits at the Office of Unemployment Insurance and registers separately. Most Kentucky employers need both open before the first payroll runs.
Agency details verified 2026-09-30
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.