West Virginia payroll setup for your first hire

West Virginia takes state income tax from paychecks. Those amounts sit with the State Tax Division, not WorkForce West Virginia.

West Virginia takes state income tax from paychecks. This is not Texas, Florida, Washington, Tennessee, Nevada, or South Dakota. Those states do not take state income tax from paychecks. Collect a federal Employee’s Withholding Certificate (Form W-4). Collect Form WV/IT-104, the West Virginia Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate. Keep that state form. Do not send it to the State Tax Division.

Get a federal Employer Identification Number, called EIN, from the IRS first. The business-registration page then says obtain a West Virginia business registration certificate before you engage in business activity. File that application through the One Stop Business Portal, also called Business for West Virginia, or mail Form BUS-APP, the Business Registration Application, to the Tax Commissioner. The code cite on that page is W. Va. Code § 11-12-1 et seq. After the file exists, the State Tax Division assigns a West Virginia Tax Identification Number. Hold that number. A federal EIN is not that number. A WorkForce West Virginia Employer Account Number is not that number either.

The registration FAQ says the One Stop Business Portal can open the State Tax Division, the Secretary of State, and WorkForce West Virginia together. You may also file Form BUS-APP with the State Tax Division only. Later withholding files sit on MyTaxes, the State Tax Division e-services portal. One Stop is a start door. It is not the later filing portal for both withholding and unemployment. Do not treat One Stop as the only account you will ever use.

A withholding-only path exists on Form BUS-APP. The FAQ says an out-of-state company with no West Virginia nexus that employs a West Virginia resident, and a West Virginia private household that employs domestic help, complete BUS-APP as Withholding Only. Those shops do not pay the $30 business-registration fee. An ordinary shop that is engaging in business activity still needs the certificate. Confirm the live fee on the FAQ before you mail a check.

The withholding help page says every employer who pays wages subject to West Virginia personal income tax must withhold that tax and remit it to the Tax Division. Remit the withheld tax on or before the 15th day of the succeeding month. Quarterly returns are due on or before the last day of the month after the quarter. Shops that withhold less than $600 a year, or that employ certain domestic and household employees, file the annual return and pay by January 31. File Form WV/IT-103, the Year End Reconciliation, with the state copies of Form W-2 by January 31. That withholding file is not the WorkForce West Virginia wage report. Do not copy Nebraska’s Form 941N onto West Virginia. Do not copy Idaho’s Form 910 onto West Virginia. Do not copy New Mexico’s Form TRD-41414 onto West Virginia.

Some cities collect a local service fee or local income tax. Patriot’s registration article names Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, and Weirton as separate local collectors. Those collectors are not the State Tax Division. These pages do not print a city rate. Confirm the live city rule with that city.

When you owe unemployment: $1,500 in a quarter, or one person in 20 weeks. Register with WorkForce West Virginia when that test is met.

WorkForce West Virginia collects state unemployment tax. That tax is often called SUTA, state unemployment tax, or SUI, state unemployment insurance. Official pages say unemployment compensation. The Navigate the Unemployment Process page is the regular-shop test. You become a liable employer if you pay $1,500 or more in total gross wages in a quarter, or if you have at least one employee during twenty different weeks in a calendar year. Those weeks need not be consecutive. The employee need not be the same person. Full-time or part-time does not change the test. This is not California’s $100-in-a-quarter test. There is no 15-day California clock on the WorkForce page. Do not copy that clock onto West Virginia. This is not New Mexico’s $450-quarter pair. This is not Nevada’s $225-quarter test. This is not Indiana’s $1 covered-wage test. This is not Oregon’s $1,000-quarter or 18-week test. This is not Utah’s one-person, some-portion-of-a-day clock. This is not Iowa’s any-wages test. West Virginia does take state paycheck withholding. Do not treat West Virginia like a no-withholding state.

The same page names other paths. A shop already liable under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, often called FUTA, with at least one West Virginia employee is liable here. Domestic work uses $1,000 cash wages in a quarter. Agricultural labor uses $20,000 in a quarter, or ten people in 20 weeks. A 501(c)(3) shop uses four people in 20 weeks. This scorecard is the regular-business path.

Register on the One Stop Business Portal. That file forwards to WorkForce West Virginia. You may also complete the Employers Initial Statement on paper and email it to uctaxunit@wv.gov. After the account exists, WorkForce West Virginia assigns an Employer Account Number. Hold that number. Register with the State Information Data Exchange, called SIDES. Do not substitute a federal EIN for the Employer Account Number. Do not substitute the West Virginia Tax Identification Number from the State Tax Division. The One Stop employer-responsibilities page says shops that employ one or more persons are liable for unemployment tax. The Navigate page is the $1,500-quarter or 20-week test. Use that test for a regular shop.

The quarterly unemployment file sits with WorkForce West Virginia. The withholding file sits with the State Tax Division. They are not the same job.

Those are two jobs. The Unemployment Compensation Employer System is where you file later wage reports and pay unemployment tax. The Navigate page says file a complete Quarterly Wage and Contribution Report each quarter. Those reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. File online with ACH debit. You need the Employer Account Number and the federal EIN to file. A quarterly WorkForce West Virginia wage report is not the new-hire report. A quarterly WorkForce West Virginia wage report is not Form WV/IT-103.

The UI Tax FAQ says a new business is assigned a rate after it applies. Existing shops receive a rate statement in December. The February 2025 employer handbook prints a 2.7% initial rate for a shop that did not buy an existing business, and 8.5% for an out-of-state construction shop. After 36 months the shop may become an experience-rate shop. The same handbook prints a $9,500 taxable wage base beginning in 2025. Wages above that base must still be reported. They are not taxed. Use the rate and wage base on your live WorkForce notice, not a number from a software page. New Mexico’s 2026 wage base is $34,800. South Dakota’s 2026 wage base is $15,000. Do not copy those wage bases onto West Virginia.

New hire is a 14-day New Hire Reporting Center file. A quarterly WorkForce wage report does not take it.

The new-hire report is a list of who you just hired. It is not a box on the quarterly WorkForce West Virginia wage report. In West Virginia that report goes to the West Virginia New Hire Reporting Center. That center sits with child-support work, not with the State Tax Division. File on wv-newhire.com. The reporting-fundamentals page, the new-hire FAQ, and W. Va. Code § 48-18-125 require a report within 14 days after the hire, rehire, or return to work. The start date is the first day the person performs services for pay. Electronic reporters send two monthly transmissions not more than 16 days apart.

Report a rehire after a break in service or a gap in pay. The FAQ says report an employee who goes 60 or more consecutive days without pay and then returns. Report temporary workers. Report an independent contractor when payments or the contract reach $2,500 in a year. File that contractor report within 14 days of that trigger. A quarterly WorkForce West Virginia wage report does not satisfy that clock. This is not Massachusetts’s 14-day MassTaxConnect new-hire path. Massachusetts sends that 14-day file to the Department of Revenue. West Virginia’s 14-day clock sits with the New Hire Reporting Center. This is not Iowa’s 15-day Centralized Employee Registry report. This is not Alabama’s seven-day report. This is not Georgia’s 10-day report. Most peer states use a 20-day clock. West Virginia does not.

Workplace injury insurance is due when you regularly employ another person. The ordinary shop buys a private policy.

This is Kentucky’s, Connecticut’s, Louisiana’s, Oklahoma’s, Nevada’s, Utah’s, Iowa’s, Idaho’s, and Nebraska’s first-employee path for a regular shop. It is not Georgia’s, North Carolina’s, Virginia’s, or Arkansas’s three-employee wait. It is not Mississippi’s, Alabama’s, or Tennessee’s five-employee wait. It is not Florida’s or South Carolina’s four-employee wait. It is not Wisconsin’s three-employee or $500-quarter path. It is not Kansas’s $20,000 payroll line. It is not Texas optional coverage. It is not Washington’s exclusive state fund. It is not Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation monopoly. West Virginia calls this workers’ compensation.

W. Va. Code § 23-2-1 says a person, firm, association, or corporation regularly employing another person to carry on industry, service, or business in this state is an employer under that chapter. Regularly employing means the shop is not a casual employer. A casual employer has three or fewer employees, the work is temporary, intermittent, and sporadic, and the work does not exceed 10 calendar days in any calendar quarter. Do not flatten that exception into optional coverage for a small shop that regularly employs people. Domestic work, agricultural service with five or fewer full-time employees, and churches may elect in. This scorecard is the regular-business path.

The Offices of the Insurance Commissioner, called OIC, run the Employer Coverage Unit. The Employer Coverage Unit page and the One Stop insurance-requirements page send ordinary shops to maintain coverage. OIC does not sell that policy. Buy a licensed private policy, or qualify as self-insured. West Virginia is not a monopolistic state fund. That is not Washington’s exclusive L&I fund. It is not Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation monopoly. A leftover state-agency program is not the ordinary private-shop door. A payroll login is not a policy.

How Gusto and Patriot describe West Virginia

Confirm the West Virginia Tax Identification Number on MyTaxes. Confirm the Employer Account Number and rate on the WorkForce West Virginia notice and on the Unemployment Compensation Employer System. Confirm workplace injury insurance with a licensed carrier. Confirm the 14-day new-hire file with the West Virginia New Hire Reporting Center.

Gusto does not publish a dedicated West Virginia registration article. Gusto’s state-tax-registration page lists West Virginia among the states that mail tax-account information directly to the shop. Middesk (Gusto’s business-verification company) may register state income-tax withholding and state unemployment insurance (SUI) on that general order. Confirm the live State Tax Division letter and the live WorkForce letter. Gusto’s withholding-forms page names Form WV/IT-104 as the employee certificate. That form matches the Tax Division file. Gusto’s federal-and-state forms list names Form WV/IT-101Q, Form WV/IT-101V, Form WV/IT-103, and Form WVUC-A-154 among West Virginia files. Form WV/IT-103 matches the withholding page. Form WV/IT-101Q and Form WV/IT-101V match the Tax Division calendar. Form WVUC-A-154 is what the software page says. Official WorkForce pages say Quarterly Wage and Contribution Report. Middesk’s standard order does not open workplace injury insurance. Read Gusto’s state-tax-registration page and Gusto’s federal-and-state forms list. See Gusto on the directory.

Patriot’s registration article tells new shops to register on the One Stop Business Portal for state income-tax withholding with the State Tax Division and for unemployment with WorkForce West Virginia. That One Stop door matches the registration FAQ and the Navigate page. The article prints a 2.7% new-employer SUTA rate for the first two years. The handbook prints 2.7% as the initial rate and 36 months before experience rating. Use the rate on your live WorkForce notice, not a number from a software page. The article puts the 14-day new-hire report with the West Virginia New Hire Reporting Center. That office matches § 48-18-125. The article names Form WV/IT-104 as the employee certificate. That form matches the Tax Division file. The article also says workplace injury insurance is due if you have at least one employee, through a private provider or a state-operated fund. The first-employee line matches § 23-2-1 for a regular shop. The state-operated-fund line is what the software page says. The ordinary West Virginia path is a licensed private policy or approved self-insurance. It is not a Washington-style exclusive state fund. Patriot names Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, and Weirton as local collectors. Those collectors are not the State Tax Division. Read Patriot’s registration article. See Patriot on the directory.

What still sits on the employer

• Decide that you have paid $1,500 in a quarter, or employed one person in 20 weeks. Domestic, agricultural, Federal Unemployment Tax, and 501(c)(3) paths use other tests. Register with WorkForce West Virginia when that test is met.
• Complete that registration on the One Stop Business Portal or the Employers Initial Statement. Hold the Employer Account Number WorkForce West Virginia assigns. Register SIDES. Do not substitute a federal EIN for that number.
• Hold the West Virginia Tax Identification Number from the State Tax Division. Do not substitute a federal EIN for that number. Do not substitute the WorkForce Employer Account Number.
• Enter the unemployment rate from the WorkForce notice, not a marketing figure. The February 2025 handbook prints 2.7% for a new regular shop and a $9,500 wage base beginning in 2025. Confirm the live notice.
• File the quarterly WorkForce West Virginia wage report on the Unemployment Compensation Employer System after the account exists. Those reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. That report is not withholding. It is not the new-hire file.
• Register withholding on the One Stop Business Portal, Form BUS-APP, or MyTaxes before the first withheld paycheck. Collect Form WV/IT-104. Remit withheld tax by the 15th of the next month. File the quarterly return by the last day of the month after the quarter. File Form WV/IT-103 with the W-2 copies by January 31.
• File the 14-day new-hire report with the West Virginia New Hire Reporting Center. A quarterly WorkForce wage report does not satisfy that clock. Report an independent contractor when payments or the contract reach $2,500 in a year.
• Buy workplace injury insurance when you regularly employ another person. OIC does not sell that policy. Payroll software does not issue that policy. The casual-employer exception is not a pass for a regular shop.
• Do not copy another state’s clock onto West Virginia. West Virginia does not use California’s $100-quarter test. West Virginia does not use New Mexico’s $450-quarter test. West Virginia does not use Nevada’s $225-quarter test. West Virginia does not use Iowa’s any-wages unemployment test. West Virginia does not use Iowa’s 30-day myIowaUI clock. West Virginia does not use Idaho’s six-month IBR clock. West Virginia does not use Kansas’s 15-day Form K-CNS 010 clock. West Virginia does not use Louisiana’s 30-day apply-after-first-wages clock. West Virginia does not use Indiana’s $1 unemployment test. West Virginia does not use Oregon’s $1,000-quarter or 18-week test. West Virginia does not use Utah’s one-person, some-portion-of-a-day unemployment clock. West Virginia does not use Arkansas’s ten-day unemployment test. West Virginia does not skip state paycheck withholding the way Texas, Florida, Washington, Tennessee, Nevada, or South Dakota do. West Virginia does not use Massachusetts’s 14-day MassTaxConnect new-hire path. West Virginia does not use a 20-day new-hire clock. West Virginia does not use Iowa’s 15-day new-hire clock. West Virginia does not use Alabama’s seven-day new-hire clock. West Virginia does not use Georgia’s 10-day new-hire clock. West Virginia does not use Georgia’s, North Carolina’s, or Virginia’s three-employee workplace-injury wait. West Virginia does not use Mississippi’s, Alabama’s, or Tennessee’s five-employee workplace-injury wait. West Virginia does not use Florida’s or South Carolina’s four-employee wait. West Virginia does not use Kansas’s $20,000 payroll workplace-injury line. West Virginia does not use Wisconsin’s three-employee or $500-quarter path. West Virginia does not use Texas optional coverage. West Virginia does not use Washington’s exclusive state fund. West Virginia does not use Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation monopoly. West Virginia does not use a state-operated fund as the ordinary private-shop door.

Also forming a company in West Virginia? Process Score compares registered agents there.