Employer setup: the payroll accounts each state expects

Check a state

Choose the state where the work is done, and whether the payroll there is just you or includes employees. Add more states if your team works in several. Each list links the agency’s own registration page.

Employer registration by state

Where payroll registers

A state taxes wages for work done inside it. A business formed in one state with an employee working from home in another usually registers as an employer in the second state too. The checker lists each state’s accounts; the agency decides the details, such as a remote worker who lives in one state and works in another.

Paying yourself after the S election

After the election your salary runs through payroll, so the business registers as an employer in your state even with no other employees. Some states leave an owner’s salary out of unemployment tax; others tax it. How to pay yourself covers the salary itself, and the payroll cost calculator shows what it costs in each state.

Sources

Every figure was read on an official page and checked a second time. Checked October 24, 2026. How we check facts.

An explanation of public rules, not tax advice.