Payroll Tax Analyst

About the job

The Payroll Tax Analyst is a critical member of the Payroll team responsible for ensuring payroll tax compliance, payroll tax account maintenance, garnishment administration, payroll tax corrections, and timely resolution of teammate payroll inquiries.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Aid in the preparation, processing, calculation, auditing, and reconciliation of bi-weekly, multi-state payroll for 3,500+ teammates across multiple legal entities to ensure accurate and timely payroll processing.
• Ensure payroll data is accurately reported to federal, state, and local taxing authorities while maintaining compliance with all applicable payroll tax regulations and reporting requirements.
• Monitor, research, and process payroll tax notices, agency correspondence, and compliance inquiries received from federal, state, and local tax agencies.
• Serve as the primary administrator of payroll tax account maintenance including establishing new tax jurisdictions, closing inactive tax accounts, managing tax registrations, and maintaining agency accounts.
• Review daily incoming payroll mail, tax notices, garnishment orders, and agency correspondence to ensure timely processing, escalation, and resolution.
• Cook up with taxing authorities, third-party vendors, and internal departments to research issues, resolve tax discrepancies, and ensure timely payment of payroll tax liabilities.
• Research, analyze, and resolve teammate payroll tax inquiries, including federal, state, and local withholding concerns, payroll tax adjustments, tax correction requests, and year-end form inquiries.
• Process payroll tax corrections, amendments, and adjustments, including W-2C corrections, prior-quarter adjustments, tax recalculations, amended returns, and payroll tax account reconciliations.
• Manage and respond to payroll-related Workday cases and service requests from teammates, managers, Human Resources, Legal, Finance, and external agencies within established service level expectations.
• Review payroll error reports each pay period and research, resolve, and correct payroll discrepancies before the next payroll processing cycle begins.
• Maintain a watchful eye on recurring payroll issues and proactively identify root causes to reduce repeat payroll errors and improve payroll accuracy.
• Administer all wage garnishments, levies, child support orders, and income withholding orders, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations and timely processing upon receipt.
• Review and process new garnishment orders each pay period and maintain accurate records to ensure ongoing compliance.
• Execute quarter-end and year-end payroll tax activities, including reconciliations, balancing, tax filing validation, audit support, and completion of all payroll quarter-end and year-end checklist requirements.
• Prepare, review, reconcile, and file federal, state, and local payroll tax returns and related payroll tax reporting.
• Participate in payroll year-end activities, including reconciliation and issuance of W-2, W-2C, and other required tax documents.
• Maintain payroll tax procedures, process documentation, internal controls, and audit support documentation.
• Identify opportunities for process improvement, automation, and operational efficiencies within payroll tax and payroll operations.
• Partner with Payroll leadership to reduce existing payroll tax backlogs and ensure sustainable, compliant day-to-day operations.
• Compile payroll data and create payroll reports, audit schedules, and tax-related reporting as needed.
• Process Powers of Attorney and maintain third-party administrator access with payroll tax vendors and agencies.
• Provide backup support to Workday Administrator and the Payroll Manager as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of payroll experience with a minimum of 5 years focused on multi-state payroll tax administration and compliance.
• Extensive knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax regulations and reporting requirements.
• Experience processing payroll tax corrections, payroll amendments, W-2C corrections, and payroll tax reconciliations.
• Experience managing payroll tax notices, agency correspondence, garnishments, and account registrations.
• Strong knowledge of Workday Payroll and ADP SmartCompliance.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel including data analysis, reconciliation, and reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to independently research and resolve complex payroll tax issues.

Additional Skills/Qualifications

• Desired Attributes: Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC), Strong sense of ownership and accountability, Critical thinker with strong analytical skills, Commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence, Strong customer service mindset with the ability to communicate complex payroll and tax matters effectively, Ability to work collaboratively within a small, high-performing payroll team, Demonstrated ability to follow issues through resolution and maintain organized work processes, Highly dependable with a strong commitment to compliance, accuracy, and teammate support.