ATL - US Payroll State Tax
Accounting & Finance
Posted on Aug 20, 2026
Role Overview
We are looking for an experienced US Payroll State Tax professional at Assistant Team Lead level who has comprehensive knowledge of payroll tax compliance across all US states and jurisdictions.
The ideal candidate should be able to independently manage the complete lifecycle of state payroll tax activities, including state tax account registration and de-registration, withholding and State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) requirements, tax filings, retroactive cases, reconciliations, notices, and state agency communications.
Experience - 6 - 8 years
Key Responsibilities
1. State Payroll Tax Registration & De-Registration
- Manage end-to-end state payroll tax registration and de-registration processes across all US states and applicable local jurisdictions.
- Determine state-specific registration requirements based on employee work locations, nexus, payroll activity, and state regulations.
- Handle registrations for State Withholding, SUI/SUTA, and other applicable payroll tax accounts.
- Coordinate with internal teams, clients, and state agencies to obtain required information and documentation.
- Track registration status, account numbers, effective dates, filing frequencies, and agency correspondence.
- Ensure timely closure/de-registration of tax accounts when business or payroll activity ceases in a state.
- Maintain accurate records of all state tax registrations and de-registrations.
2. State Withholding & SUI/SUTA Tax Compliance
- Possess strong working knowledge of state income tax withholding and unemployment tax requirements as well as local tax accounts.
- Understand state-specific rules, thresholds, filing frequencies, deposit requirements, wage bases, and tax rates.
- Manage SUI/SUTA account setup, rate changes, wage bases, and state-specific requirements.
- Review payroll tax calculations and identify discrepancies or potential compliance issues.
- Support resolution of state tax discrepancies and historical payroll tax issues.
3. Payroll Reports & Retroactive Tax Cases
- Demonstrate strong proficiency in pulling, analyzing, and interpreting payroll reports required for tax filings and tax adjustments.
- Identify and extract historical payroll data required for retroactive withholding and SUI cases.
- Prepare payroll reports for amended/late filings, tax reconciliations, corrections, and state agency inquiries.
- Analyze employee-level payroll data, taxable wages, withholding, SUI wages, employer taxes, and tax liabilities.
- Support complex retroactive state tax registrations and filings.
- Reconcile payroll system data against tax filings, agency records, and tax notices.
- Investigate and resolve historical discrepancies involving payroll taxes.
4. State Tax Filings & Amendments
- Support and/or review quarterly and annual state payroll tax filings.
- Handle amended returns and corrections for prior periods.
- Ensure accurate reporting of withholding and unemployment wages and taxes.
- Review filing results and reconcile tax liabilities against payroll records.
- Research state-specific filing requirements and changes impacting payroll tax compliance.
5. Tax Notices & Agency Correspondence
- Take ownership of state payroll tax notices, including notices related to:
- Missing or late filings
- Tax balances/delinquencies
- Penalties and interest
- Incorrect tax rates
- Registration issues
- Wage discrepancies
- SUI rate notices
- Withholding discrepancies
- Tax account closures
- Research the root cause of notices and determine appropriate corrective action.
- Prepare responses, supporting documentation, amended returns, and other required information.
- Track notices through resolution and maintain proper documentation and audit trails.
6. State Agency Communication
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills are mandatory.
- Communicate confidently and professionally with State Departments of Revenue, Departments of Labor, Employment Security Departments, and other state agencies.
- Make outbound calls to state agencies to research account status, registration requirements, filing issues, tax balances, notices, and historical cases.
- Clearly explain payroll tax situations and obtain accurate information from state representatives.
- Document agency conversations, reference numbers, commitments, and next steps.
- Follow up with agencies until issues are fully resolved.
8. Team Leadership & SME Responsibilities
- Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for US state payroll taxation.
- Guide and mentor payroll tax analysts/team members on complex state tax matters.
- Review work performed by team members for accuracy and completeness.
- Support escalations and provide solutions for complex payroll tax cases.
- Help establish standard operating procedures, controls, and quality checks.
- Participate in process improvement and automation initiatives.