Reference
What makes you a liable employer, state by state.
Every state agrees you must register before running payroll. None of them agree on what triggers it. This table covers 21 states: the threshold that creates liability, how it is measured, how long you have afterwards, and whether there is a withholding account at all. Every entry links to that state's page and carries the date it was checked.
| State | What makes you liable | Time to register | Withholding account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Before withholding Arizona income tax; UI liability is determined by DES | None published | Yes, and the JT-1 genuinely covers both agencies |
| California | More than $100 in wages in a calendar quarter | 15 days after crossing it | Yes, in the same EDD account |
| Colorado | Paying wages to at least one Colorado employee, first payroll in the prior or current year | None published | Yes, plus a third FAMLI account |
| Connecticut | Before the first Connecticut payroll | None published | Yes, plus unemployment and a separate Paid Leave Authority |
| Georgia | $1,500 quarterly payroll, or one worker in 20 different calendar weeks | Immediately after the first payroll | Yes, separately at the Georgia Tax Center |
| Illinois | $1,500 in a calendar quarter, or one or more persons for 20 weeks in a year | 30 days from start-up, with IDES | Yes, separately on Form REG-1 |
| Indiana | See state page | See state page | See state page |
| Maryland | Paying salaries, wages, or compensation to employees | None we could confirm from the state | Yes, on the CRA. Unemployment is a SEPARATE application |
| Michigan | First calendar quarter in which you had payroll | None published | Yes, on the same Form 518 |
| Minnesota | Before you withhold tax from wages | Prerequisite, with a $100 penalty for failing to register | Yes, and Revenue must be done before unemployment |
| Missouri | Paying wages to any employee working in Missouri | None published | Yes, on Form 2643. Unemployment is separate |
| New Jersey | $1,000 in wages in a calendar year | 15 business days BEFORE commencing business | Yes, on the same NJ-REG |
| New York | $300 of remuneration in a quarter, backdated to the first day of that quarter | None published | Yes, on the same NYS-100 |
| North Carolina | $1,500 in a calendar quarter, or one employee for 20 or more weeks in a year | None published | Yes, separately on Form NC-BR |
| Ohio | When withholding liability begins | 15 days from when liability begins | Yes, plus a school district income tax layer |
| Pennsylvania | Before the first Pennsylvania payroll | None published | Yes, on the same PA-100, plus a local EIT and LST layer |
| South Carolina | See state page | See state page | See state page |
| Texas | $1,500 in a calendar quarter, or one person for any part of a day in 20 different calendar weeks | 10 days after becoming liable | No state wage withholding |
| Virginia | $1,500 in a calendar quarter, or one worker for 20 or more weeks in a year | None published | Yes, separately on Form R-1 |
| Washington | Before hiring | None published | No state wage withholding |
| Wisconsin | A liability determination, not a published wage threshold | None published | Yes, separately via Business Tax Registration |
All entries verified 2026-08-03 against the agencies' own pages
What the table shows
- The threshold that makes you a liable employer is not the same number, is not measured over the same period, and is not measured in the same units. New York liability starts at $300 of remuneration in a quarter. California starts at $100 in a quarter. New Jersey uses $1,000 across a calendar year. Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina use $1,500 in a quarter or a count of calendar weeks, whichever hits first.
- Five states share one test and nothing else. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, and Virginia all use $1,500 in a calendar quarter or one worker across 20 weeks. It is close to a national default, which is exactly why employers assume it applies in New York and California, where it does not.
- New Jersey is the only state here that wants you registered before you start. The NJ-REG is due at least 15 business days prior to commencing business. Everywhere else the clock starts at or after the first payroll.
- New York backdates. Liability attaches on the first day of the calendar quarter in which you pay $300 or more, not on the pay date, so a first payroll in the last week of a quarter makes you liable from its start.
- Combined registration rarely means complete registration, but check which kind you have. Arizona's Joint Tax Application genuinely covers both Revenue and Economic Security from one submission. Maryland's Combined Registration Application covers what the Comptroller administers; unemployment insurance is a separate application to the Department of Labor, contrary to a lot of published guidance. Colorado and Illinois combine registration across agencies and then split for everything afterwards. Read what a combined form actually combines.
- Some states need three accounts rather than two. Colorado adds FAMLI, its paid family and medical leave programme, alongside withholding and unemployment. Washington runs unemployment, workers compensation, and a business licence. Counting to two and stopping is a common way to be partly registered.
- Nine states have no wage withholding at all, so two of the states here need only one account. Texas and Washington have no withholding registration to do, which is genuinely less work rather than a gap in your records.
- The registration deadline is rarely the real deadline. An unregistered employer cannot remit withholding correctly or file a first quarterly report, so the practical cut-off is your first pay date in every state, whatever the statute says.
Using this
Free to use and free to cite. If you advise employers on multi-state hiring, link to it rather than rebuilding it. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will check it against the agency and change it. States are added as they are verified rather than published all at once from guesswork.
Whether a particular arrangement makes you a liable employer is a question for your CPA or attorney. Regcrest is a document preparation and filing service and nothing here is legal or tax advice. What we do is take the answer and turn it into correct registrations.