Purpose:  This guide will teach you how to fill out the template for state tax withholding information for our Payroll Implementation team to perform an import into your BambooHR account.

Table of Contents

• Data template fields
• State Abbreviations
• Fields that are required for specific states:
  • Additional Tax options
  • State Unemployment Options for Alaska, Indiana, Maine, South Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia
    • Unemployment Tax Option Values for SOC Category Code, SOC Occupation, and Geographic Code

INSTRUCTIONS: Click the file below to download the state tax withholding template or reach out to your payroll project manager. Then, follow the directions below carefully to ensure a successful import. The sections below indicate the columns in the template within the Employee W4 State & UI tab, and what needs to be included for a successful import. Note that some columns will require specific values. 

• Employee # (Column B)
  • To make sure the correct information gets updated for the right people, please provide the Employee # from an employee's Personal tab in BambooHR.
• Employee Name (Column C)
  • This field is merely for your ease of use while working on this template file. Any information added in this column will not import into BambooHR. You are welcome to use it to keep track of who is who while filling out the template, but it will not affect anything in BambooHR.
• State Tax Withholding Location (Column D)
  • Set the location as either Work or Home. This location should be the location that an employee primarily works at. 
    • For Work, we will use the employee’s assigned location from the Job Information table on their Job tab to determine which location and associated address to calculate the EE’s state tax withholdings. 
    • For Home, we will use the employee’s home address to calculate the EE’s state tax withholdings.
• State Withholding State (Column E)
  • You need to identify an employee's assigned state for withholding purposes. Please insert the appropriate state abbreviation in this field. For example, for California, you would enter CA; for Utah, you would enter UT, etc. If you don't know your state's appropriate abbreviation, view the complete list below of the proper abbreviations for the 50 states.
• State Filing Status Code (Column F)
  • This column is where you will select which tax filing status to assign to an employee. Please note that you need to enter the state filing status code in the template file. If you have employees in states like AK or AZ, you will notice that we have made a note in the description that the filing status is not used in these states. For these two states, please enter "None". Filling out the field is required for all other states, and you cannot leave it blank. Refer to the Legend State Filing Chart tab in the template linked above to find the State Filing Status Code for your status.
• Exemptions (Column G)
  • This is the field where you will enter the number of exemptions that apply to an employee based on their state W-4. There are a few states where this field is not required by the employee because exemptions do not apply. We have included a list below of those states. If you have an employee in one of these states or the employee does not have any exemptions, you should enter "0" in the Exemptions column for the employee.
    • Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
  • Iowa Employees: The importer will only accept a dollar amount for employees in the state of Iowa.
• Additional Withholding Type (Column H)
  • This is a required field for all employees, even if an employee does not have any additional withholdings. The options allowed for this field are either Dollar or Percent. You will indicate the preference for the employee by putting either $ or % into this field.
  • Iowa Employees: The importer will only accept a dollar sign for employees in the state of Iowa.
• Additional Withholding (Column I)
  • This is where you enter the number that reflects an additional withholding amount or percentage. If an employee does not have additional withholdings, please enter 0 into this field.
  • Iowa Employees: Please be mindful you must enter a flat amount for Iowa employees. 
• Ignore Filing Status and Exemptions (Column J)
  • This is where you will indicate whether or not to ignore an employee’s filing status and exemptions. There are three options you can enter here: Yes, No, or NA. NA is only applicable in 22 states and is the only option available for employees in those states.
    • States that qualify for NA: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
• State Unemployment Insurance Tax Exempt (Column K)
  • This is where you will indicate whether or not an employee is exempt from state unemployment insurance tax. The options available for these fields are Yes and No.
• Unemployment Insurance Location (Column L)
  • This is where you will indicate an employee’s unemployment insurance location. This field must be either Work or Home.
• Unemployment Insurance State (Column AC)
  • Column AC is required for all employees. You need to identify the state assigned to an employee for unemployment insurance purposes. Please insert the appropriate state abbreviation in this field. For example, for California, you would enter CA; for Utah, you would enter UT, etc. View the complete list below of the proper abbreviations for the 50 states.