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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-02-21
Concept: Worker Tax Elections (USA)

Concept: Worker Tax Elections (USA)

Administrative Tasks

Administrative Tax Election Tasks
Payroll administrators and partners can complete tax elections for workers using these administrative tasks:
  • Add Worker US Tax Elections
  • Add Workers US Tax Election for Expiring Exempt
  • Complete Federal Withholding Elections
  • Complete State and Local Withholding Elections for Worker
  • Copy Tax Elections for Workers
Additionally, you can include these business processes in the
Change Job
,
Contact Change
, and
Onboarding
 business processes:
  • Complete Federal Withholding Elections
  • Complete State and Local Withholding Elections
Workday doesn't support the business process step
Complete State and Local Withholding Elections
 for workers who have an international assignment position in the U.S.
When configured, Workday sends a
My Tasks
 notification to employees who might need to update their withholding elections.
Routing Tax Elections for Approval
Use these report fields as condition rules for the tax election business processes to route the approval step. When configured, Workday routes the business process for approval according to the condition rules you set:
Tax Elections
Report Fields
Federal
  • Federal Withholding: Exempt Indicator
  • Federal Withholding: Nonresident Alien
  • Federal Withholding: Number of Allowances
State
  • State Withholding: Exempt
  • State Withholding: MSRR Exempt
  • State Withholding: Non-Resident Alien
  • State Withholding: Number of Allowances
  • State Withholding Payroll State Authority
  • State Withholding Payroll Tax Authority Form
  • State Withholding Tax Election Form Attachments

Set Up Company Third Party Personal U.S. Tax Reporting

You can set up your company to enable workers to opt in to having their personal tax data transmitted to a third-party tax preparation provider. Once you set this process up, the Employee Self-Service (ESS)
3rd Party Personal Automatic Transmission
 task becomes available for workers to opt in to having their personal tax data transmitted. Use the
Edit Company 3rd Party Personal US Tax Reporting
 task to:
  • Set up a company to transmit tax data to a third-party tax provider partner.
  • Enable workers to opt in to having their personal tax data sent to a third-party provider.
  • Establish a lock-out date when workers can no longer opt in for the current tax year.

Employee Self-Service Tax Elections

Employee Self-Service Tax Election Tasks
For security, Workday automatically masks workers' Social Security Numbers (SSNs) on all tax withholding elections. Select the
Display National ID
 check box in the
USA and CAN ESS Withholding Elections
 section of the
Edit Tenant Setup - Payroll
 task to display all worker SSNs. Workers can use the related action from their profile page
Personal Data
View My ID Information
Verify National ID
 to validate their SSN. To validate their SSN, workers require access to the
Self Service: Verify National ID
 domain in the Personal Data functional area.
Employees can use self-service to view and update federal, state, and local tax elections using these tasks:
  • Complete Federal Withholding Elections
  • Complete State and Local Tax Elections
Workday doesn't support federal, state, or local withholding forms for workers who have an international assignment position in the U.S.
To add a tax election for the first time, employees can access the
Withholding Elections
 report, if you've configured their security groups to use it. To update existing elections, employees can select the
Update
 button on the
Federal, State, and Local Elections
 tabs, either from the report or from their worker profile, depending on your configuration. They can also add or update federal, state, and local tax elections using Workday on Android, iPad, and iPhone.
For pre-hires to access these tasks and make pre-hire state withholding elections, configure the same security groups under the authentication policy as well as the
Manage: Company
 domain.
Example: You enter the
All Employees
 and
All Pre-Employees
 security groups on the
Manage: Company
 domain under the
Domain Security Policies for Functional Area
 task. You enter the same security groups on the
Manage Authentication Policies
 report.
They can select
Withholding Elections
 from the
Pay
 worklet, then select
Update
 on the
Federal
,
State
, and
Local
 tabs.
For ESS tax elections, these security groups must have the permissions specified:
Security Group
Domain
Permission
  • Employee as Self
  • Pre-Employee as Self
Self-Service: Payroll (My Withholding Elections) - USA
 in the USA Payroll functional area.
Modify
  • All Employees
  • All Pre-Employees
Manage: Company
 domain in the Organizations and Roles functional area.
View
Workday provides some state tax election forms as attachments and workers can complete others within Workday. See the list of state ESS Withholding Elections Forms on Community.
To view completed state forms:
Custom Workday Forms
Forms Submitted as Attachments
From the related actions menu on the worker profile, select
Payroll
View US Tax Elections
, then select
View Completed Form
.
From the worker profile related actions menu, select
Worker History
View Worker History
. Locate the business process
State Tax Election
 and select the PDF form.
To view completed federal forms, from the worker profile, select the related action
Worker History
View Worker History
. Locate the business process
State Tax Election
 and select the PDF form.
Federal Tax Levies Block Self-Service Federal Tax Elections
Workday automatically selects the
Block Tax Election Changes in ESS
 check box when workers have a federal tax levy. Employees can stop using the
Add Federal Withholding Elections
 self-service task. Tax election changes can change disposable earnings calculations. However, administrators can still use the
Add Worker Tax Elections
 task to make updates.

Missing or Expired Tax Elections

Calculations
When a worker is missing tax elections, Workday uses the default withholding elections and marital status to calculate federal and state tax withholding. See the
Payroll Tax Authority Defaults
 report.
Reports
You can use these reports to identify workers with missing or expiring tax elections, such as when:
  • A worker transfers from 1 company to another.
  • A new calendar year begins.
  • Active military duty is ending for a spouse.
Report
Description
View Workers with Missing US Tax Elections
For use by payroll administrators and payroll partners for the worker's supervisory organization. Lists workers in a company who are missing federal or state tax elections at the end of the selected period. Report columns display a value when tax elections are missing and are blank when elections exist.
Expiring Exempt Tax Elections
Displays a list of employees who are exempt from federal, state, or local tax withholding as of the date you enter in the
Exempt Election As Of Date
 field.
Supports local exempt elections for:
  • Michigan
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania Local Service Tax (LST)
Excludes employees who:
  • Have an active federal tax levy or a Lock in Letter.
  • Transferred out of the company.
In the report, you can select to include or exclude:
  • Terminated workers.
  • Workers with an MSRR election.