Recent QuickBooks Online Payroll Change: What Employers Need to Know

QuickBooks updated its automated payroll tax withdrawal process, effective April 1, 2025. If you use QuickBooks Payroll, you may have needed to take a few small steps to ensure everything continued to run smoothly.

What Changed?

As of April 1, QuickBooks adjusted how it handles payroll tax withdrawals:

• Taxes are now withdrawn each time payroll is processed rather than on scheduled due dates.

• QuickBooks also withdraws taxes whenever there’s an increase in your payroll tax liability, such as after a payroll correction or tax rate change.

  
  

This change was designed to keep your payroll tax payments more in sync with your payroll activity.

How to Keep Your Payroll on Auto-Pilot

To continue using QuickBooks' automated payroll tax payments and filings, users were asked to confirm their preference.

This can be done by:

• Logging in as a primary or company admin and selecting "Keep using automated taxes" from the Payroll Overview page.

  
  

What Happens After You Confirm?

Once confirmed:

• Payroll taxes will be automatically withdrawn during each payroll run or when a tax-related change occurs.

• The Auto Payroll preview email will include estimated tax amounts.

• A receipt email and tax center update will follow each payroll run.

• Taxes will only be withdrawn for jurisdictions where your tax setup was complete—you could review this in your Payroll Overview.

We're Here to Help

If you were unsure how these changes applied to your business or needed help confirming your QuickBooks Payroll settings, we encouraged you to reach out.

ECS Financial Services continues to support your payroll needs and help you stay compliant—without the stress.