Not eligible for Unemployment Tax

[pawinhand]

I'm trying to set up my payroll, but it is requiring an Unemployment Tax id. Because I only have one employee (myself) I am not required to have Unemployment insurance in my state, thus, no number. Is there a way to circumvent this? I (obviously) can't get a human on the line.

[Chad · Accepted solution]

Hello @pawinhand! 

Currently the UI Tax id is a requirement for Square Payroll. Some states will issue a UI number even if you aren't liable. Once you have the UI number our Payroll Support Team would set your tax rate to 0%. 🙂

If you're still having trouble, I recommend reaching out to our Payroll Sales Team.

[crystal-meadow]

Square, please make this field optional so that small business owners who don't require a state UI account can actually use it. I spoke with my state's unemployment office this morning and they agree. According to the rep at the Department of Labor, employers should NOT get an U.I. account until they meet the requirements because it causes additional work later to convert an "inactive" U.I. account to an active one (if the U.I. account is set up when it isn't necessary, it has to be set it up as "inactive"). The DOL rep even advised me to put a "dummy" account number in and that didn't work either. Square, you're causing extra work for me and my state government by requiring a UI number. Easy solution- make it optional.