When your company needs a payroll tax account in a state, that state appears under "Registrations needed" in Company Tax Setup with an "Action required" badge. Freedom can't file or pay taxes in the state until its account numbers are entered. You can have us register for you, or register yourself and enter the numbers. Freedom charges $199 for each agency, city, or county it registers, one time.
Have Freedom register for you
Before you start, make sure you have a connected bank account that you have authorized Freedom to debit. The fee is debited from your default bank account. If checkout shows "Connect a bank account we can bill", click "Go to bank accounts" to connect one.
Go to Company Tax Setup and open the state under "Registrations needed". A state with nothing outstanding is under "Not blocking" and offers the same option.
Under "Let us register you in" that state, click "Register for me".
Review the agencies under "Needed for payroll". These are always part of the registration.
Optional: select any local taxes you want under "Local taxes we set up automatically" (we register you for each one and fill in the account details the agency issues), or search for a city, county, or school district under "Add local registrations".
Click "Proceed to checkout".
On the confirmation page, check the "Included" list, which shows a price for each line, and the "Total". Select "I understand this is a one-time, non-refundable fee, charged to my company's bank account now."
If the page asks for your company email instead of showing "Start registration", enter it under "Company email" and click "Continue". We save it to your company profile and use it for registration updates.
Click "Start registration".
Fill in the state registration form and submit it. One form covers every agency in the state. If the form can't load, click "Open the registration form" to open it in a new tab.
After you submit, the page says "Submitted. We'll update your tax setup once your account numbers are issued." The state's badge changes to "Registration started", then to "Submitted" when we have sent it to the state. We add the account numbers to Company Tax Setup when the agencies issue them. If you leave before you submit the form, click "Continue registration" on that state in Company Tax Setup to continue. You won't be charged again.
What it costs
The fee is $199 for each agency, city, or county we register. A state with a withholding agency and an unemployment agency is two registrations.
Some registrations show "Free" and add nothing to the total.
The fee is one-time and non-refundable. We debit it from your default bank account when you click "Start registration".
The charge appears in Billing as "State tax registration".
Add a city or county registration
Some cities and counties charge their own payroll taxes. You can add them while you first register a state, or later, including in a state where Freedom has already started or filed a registration for you.
Go to Company Tax Setup and open the state, under "Registrations needed" or "Not blocking".
In the registration section at the top of the state, click "Add registration". This button appears once Freedom has started or filed a registration for the state. Before then, the section offers "Register for me" instead.
Select any local taxes listed under "Local taxes we set up automatically", or search for a city, county, or school district under "Add local registrations". Add at least one to continue.
Click "Proceed to checkout".
Check the "Included" list and the "Total". Each local registration is $199 unless it shows "Free". Select "I understand this is a one-time, non-refundable fee, charged to my company's bank account now."
If the page asks for your company email, enter it under "Company email" and click "Continue".
Click "Start registration", then fill in and submit the registration form.
Register yourself, or enter IDs you already have
Register with the state's tax agencies yourself first, outside Freedom.
Go to Company Tax Setup and open the state.
Select each account number or rate and enter it exactly as it appears on your registration paperwork.
If you have applied but the agency has not sent the number yet, select "I've applied for this but don't have it yet". The value shows "Applied for, not yet received".
When you register yourself, the agency sends the number to you. Come back and enter it when it arrives.
If you opened the "Register for me" page by mistake, click "Enter your tax IDs instead" at the top.
If you can't start a registration
"We can't register this state right now": contact support and we start the registration for you.
A "Needs support" badge: the registration didn't go through and can't be restarted from the page. Click "Contact support" on the state. Billing shows whether a fee was charged.
"Registration is unavailable right now": try again. You won't be charged twice.