New York · Payroll tax account closure
Form NYS-45, and how to stop filing it.
Form NYS-45 is New York's quarterly combined withholding, wage reporting, and unemployment insurance return, filed by every registered employer with the Department of Taxation and Finance. It keeps coming every quarter until you close the account: the final NYS-45 reports the date you ceased paying wages, and it is due within 30 days of that date.
Who you are dealing with
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
- Handles:
- Withholding tax and wage reporting. The unemployment insurance registration lives with the Department of Labor and is contacted separately when you stop paying wages.
- System:
- NYS Online Services
- Form:
- The final Form NYS-45 for the quarter wages stopped, with the cease-wages date reported on line 23, due within 30 days of the last wages paid
NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, ending your business
State fee. $0. New York publishes no fee for filing a final NYS-45 or for closing the withholding account.
What the state asks for
- The date you ceased paying wages, reported on line 23 of the final return
- Whether you sold all or part of the business, which the final return also asks
- The last quarter's wage and withholding figures, even when they are zero
- Your employer registration number, the eight digit number the Department of Labor assigned at registration
How long it takes
New York does not publish a processing time for the final return itself. The deadline runs the other way: the final NYS-45 is due within 30 days of the date you ceased paying wages, and the quarterly cycle stops once it is processed.
What we do
We prepare the final NYS-45 with the cease-wages date on line 23, file it, notify the Department of Labor side about the unemployment insurance registration, and follow up until the notices stop. You keep the client. We never email them.
How do I stop getting NYS-45 filing requirements every quarter?
File a final NYS-45 reporting the date you ceased paying wages on line 23, within 30 days of that date. The quarterly obligation continues until that final return is filed, whether or not there is payroll to report.
Does the final NYS-45 also close the unemployment insurance account?
No. The Tax Department's own ending-business page says to contact the Department of Labor about your unemployment insurance registration separately. One form feeds both agencies each quarter, but the two registrations do not close as one.
When is the final NYS-45 due?
Within 30 days of the date you ceased paying wages. That is a different clock from the normal quarterly due date, so a business that stops payroll mid-quarter owes the final return sooner than the calendar suggests.
What if I have no payroll this quarter but the account is still open?
The return is still due. An open registration owes a NYS-45 every quarter, zero wages or not, and the state treats a missing return as a delinquency rather than a hint that you stopped. Closing the account is the only thing that stops the cycle.
What was Form NYS-100 and how does it relate?
Form NYS-100 is the registration that opened the combined account: Registration for Unemployment Insurance, Withholding, and Wage Reporting for General Business Employers. It is the reason one return covers three obligations. It registers; it does not close.
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.