Alaska New Employer Information
Congratulations on your decision to become a new employer in Alaska! You will need a few things in place before you run your first payroll:
Federal and State Tax Accounts
Federal Tax Accounts:
- You will need an Employer Identification Number, (also known as an EIN or FEIN), for your business if you do not already have one. The prefered way to obtain one is to apply for an EIN with the IRS online. There is no cost to apply for an EIN.
- To learn more about applying for EINs, read our help article, “How to Apply for an EIN”.
- Although it is not required, we recommend new employers register for this federal tax paying system. You can easily register online. You will need to have this account to make tax payments online, or view payments made on your behalf by Patriot Software.
- To find out more about the EFTPS, please read our article, “What Is EFTPS?”
State of Alaska Tax Accounts:
- Register as a new employer with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development for a state unemployment tax account number.
- You can open an Alaska Unemployment Tax account by completing an Alaska Employer Registration Form, or apply online.
- Employers in Alaska will receive a new State Unemployment Tax Assessment (SUTA) rate every year.
- For 2021, Alaska new employers have an initial combined rate maximum of 2.57% (1.59% in 2020).
- Your employer share is a variable rate based on industry with the maximum rate of 2.07% in 2021 (1.09% in 2020).
- The employee share is 0.5% of wages.
- For more information, please visit the Alaska Department of Labor’s website.
Setting Up Your New Employee:
- Have your employees fill out the required Form I-9.
- This is a two part form. You must retain each employee’s completed Form I-9 as long as the individual works for you. For more information, please read “What Should Be in an Employee File?”
- You may want to Enroll in E-verify and submit employee information, although it is not required. For more information, read our help article, “What Is E-Verify?”
- Be sure you have met the minimum wage requirements for the federal government and Alaska. The Alaska minimum wage law is more stringent than the federal minimum wage law, so you must comply with the higher Alaska minimum wage.
- The Alaska minimum wage is $10.34 per hour in 2021 ($10.19 per hour in 2020).
- You need to display the minimum wage poster for your employees where they can read it.
Once you have all the necessary information, you will be able to set up your payroll for your business. Read, What Information Is Needed To Set Up Payroll?
You will be required to keep employee payroll records for at least three years. For more information, please read our help article, “What Employers Should Know About Employee Payroll Records”.
This is not an all-inclusive list. Please visit your state and federal government websites for more information.
Let us know if you have any questions. We are here to help!
