Payroll Tax Lead

Location: 2 Crescent Place, Oceanport, NJ 07757 | Department: Payroll | Full-Time, Salaried, Day Shift | Req #0000269256

About the role

This position plays a critical role in ensuring the accurate taxation of employee wages and the timely and accurate deposit and reporting of federal, state, and local payroll taxes. The Lead Payroll Tax Specialist is expected to independently research and resolve complex payroll tax matters, manage tax notices and abatements, identify root causes of discrepancies, and ensure appropriate corrective and preventive actions are implemented. In addition to technical responsibilities, this position serves as lead, trainer, and mentor within the Payroll organization. The successful candidate must possess strong analytical and communication skills and demonstrate the ability and willingness to teach others, document processes, and strengthen the payroll tax knowledge of the broader team. This position requires a high degree of accountability, initiative, accuracy, and ownership.

Responsibilities

Payroll Tax Compliance & Administration

• Serve as a subject-matter expert for federal, state, and local payroll taxation and provide technical guidance to Payroll leadership and staff
• Ensure payroll taxes are appropriately calculated, withheld, deposited, reconciled, and reported in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements
• Monitor changes in payroll tax laws and regulations and evaluate their impact on payroll processes, system configurations, and employees
• Support multi-state and multi-jurisdiction payroll taxation, including state income tax, local taxes, unemployment insurance, disability programs, and other jurisdiction-specific requirements
• Review and validate quarterly and annual payroll tax filings, including Forms 941, W-2, W-3, state unemployment returns, state and local withholding returns, and other required filings
• Coordinate and support payroll tax amendments and corrections when necessary
• Assist with year-end payroll tax activities, including W-2 balancing, reconciliation, corrections, and preparation for year-end reporting

Payroll Tax Setup & Configuration

• Establish, review, validate, and maintain payroll tax configurations within the payroll system
• Manage payroll tax setup associated with new legal entities, companies, work locations, jurisdictions, acquisitions, reorganizations, and other organizational changes
• Coordinate federal, state, and local tax registrations and ensure required account numbers, tax rates, filing frequencies, and jurisdictional information are properly established
• Validate employee tax setups and investigate taxation issues related to work location, residence, reciprocity, transfers, multiple work locations, and other complex employment arrangements
• Partner with HRIS/IT and Payroll Operations to test payroll tax configuration changes and system updates prior to implementation
• Maintain documentation supporting payroll tax configurations and changes

Tax Reconciliation & Analysis

• Perform and/or review detailed payroll tax reconciliations to ensure taxable wages, withholding, employer liabilities, deposits, filings, and general ledger activity are accurate and complete
• Analyze large volumes of payroll and tax data to identify discrepancies, trends, unusual activity, and potential compliance risks
• Research discrepancies determining root cause rather than simply correcting individual transactions
• Develop recommendations and corrective actions to prevent recurring payroll tax issues
• Establish and maintain appropriate payroll tax controls, audit procedures, and reconciliation standards
• Prepare analytical reports and communicate findings, risks, and recommendations to Payroll leadership

Tax Notices, Penalties & Abatements

• Manage federal, state, and local payroll tax notices from receipt through final resolution
• Research tax notices, assessments, penalties, interest, discrepancies, and filing issues
• Prepare and submit payroll tax penalty and interest abatement requests, including supporting documentation and correspondence
• Communicate directly with taxing authorities and third-party payroll tax providers when necessary to resolve outstanding matters
• Maintain a centralized tracking process for tax notices, documenting ownership, status, financial exposure, actions taken, and final resolution
• Escalate significant tax risks, penalties, unresolved notices, or compliance concerns to Payroll leadership in a timely manner
• Identify systemic issues contributing to notices or penalties and recommend controls to prevent recurrence

Vendor & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as a key liaison with third-party payroll tax service providers
• Review vendor activity and ensure tax deposits, filings, amendments, notices, and other services are completed accurately and timely
• Partner with Payroll Operations, HRIS, Finance, Legal, and other stakeholders on tax-related matters
• Support internal and external payroll tax audits and provide requested documentation, reconciliations, and explanations
• Assist with special projects, acquisitions, integrations, system implementations, and organizational changes affecting payroll taxation

Training, Leadership & Knowledge Transfer

• Serve as a technical lead and escalation resource for payroll tax questions and complex issues
• Train, coach, and mentor Payroll team members on payroll taxation, reconciliations, tax setup, notices, abatements, regulatory requirements, and troubleshooting