Reference
State employer registration checklist
The short answer
In most states two different agencies register a new employer: a revenue or taxation agency for income tax withholding and a labor or workforce agency for unemployment insurance. Some states, in the pages we read, route both through one application. We read the agency pages for New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina and New Jersey for both registrations, and for Pennsylvania and Virginia for withholding only. Every cell below cites the page it came from, and states we could not read are listed rather than filled in.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. State rules and agency pages change, so confirm with the state agency and a payroll or tax professional before you rely on any row.
What this page adds
The method of registering in a new state is already covered in how to register to employ in a new state, what changes when you employ across state lines and what makes multi-state payroll hard. Those pages teach the order of operations and name no states. This page is the lookup that sits beside them: for each state we could read, the agency, the registration page, and only the timing or threshold that the agency page itself states.
How to read the table
Each state row has one cell for withholding and one for unemployment insurance. “Not stated on the page we read” means exactly that: the page was fetched and the information was not on it, not that no rule exists. Timing and thresholds are quoted from the agency page and should be re-checked against the current page, because we are reporting what the page said on the retrieval date.
Where two registrations become one
In New York, the Department of Labor’s page describes registration through New York Business Express, and the Business Express page for the NYS 100 is titled as registration for unemployment insurance, withholding and wage reporting, with the Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division determining liability. In Illinois, the IDES page points employers to MyTax Illinois, the same system the Department of Revenue page names for withholding. In New Jersey, the Treasury page names one form, NJ-REG, for business and employer registration, and the Department of Labor page says a business must first register with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Do not assume the same elsewhere: Pennsylvania’s revenue page, for example, names myPATH for withholding and said nothing about unemployment on the page we read.
The timing statements we found do not share a clock
California states a 15-day window tied to wages above a threshold within a calendar quarter. Illinois states 30 days from start-up for unemployment insurance and asks for the date Illinois payroll begins for withholding. New Jersey states that the NJ-REG must be completed at least 15 business days before doing business. New York states a quarter-based liability trigger rather than a registration deadline. These are different events (a wage threshold, a start-up, a start of business, a quarter), which is why a single “register within X days” rule of thumb is unreliable across states.
Where this sits: this page covers the employer’s own registrations. The per-employee steps that follow, such as Form I-9, Form W-4 and new-hire reporting to the state directory, are in the new hire compliance checklist. The federal deposit schedules and return due dates that sit beside these state accounts are in the payroll tax deposit guide.
What we could not confirm
We could not read the agency pages for Florida (Department of Revenue reemployment tax page), Texas (Texas Workforce Commission) or Georgia (Department of Labor and Department of Revenue): those sites did not resolve from our environment. The Ohio Department of Taxation and ODJFS registration pages returned a not-found response or an unreadable PDF, and the Arizona Department of Revenue and Department of Economic Security pages returned an access-denied response. The Virginia Employment Commission and Pennsylvania Labor & Industry unemployment registration pages were also not readable, so those two states appear with withholding only. We did not retrieve any state’s new-hire reporting deadline from an agency page, so none is stated here. Nothing for these states is filled in from memory or from payroll-vendor guides.
| State | Withholding: agency, page and what it states | Unemployment insurance: agency, page and what it states |
|---|---|---|
| California | Employment Development Department (EDD). The registration page we read does not name the individual taxes, so withholding is not stated there; see [EDD, register as an employer](https://edd.ca.gov/en/payroll_taxes/step-1-register-as-an-employer/) (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | EDD, [Step 1: Register as an Employer](https://edd.ca.gov/en/payroll_taxes/step-1-register-as-an-employer/). States you must register within 15 days if you hire employees and pay more than $100 in wages in a calendar quarter; household employers, $750 or more in cash wages (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) |
| Illinois | Illinois Department of Revenue, [Publication 130 general information](https://tax.illinois.gov/research/publications/pubs/who-is-required-to-withhold-illinois-income-tax/general-information.html). Employers required to or voluntarily withholding must register and give the date Illinois payroll will begin; routes named are MyTax Illinois, Form REG-1 by mail, or a regional office (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), [new employer registration](https://ides.illinois.gov/employer-resources/taxes-reporting/are-you-a-new-employer-register.html). Register through MyTax Illinois or Form REG-UI-1; states registration within 30 days of start-up (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) |
| New Jersey | Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Department of the Treasury, [getting registered](https://www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/gettingregistered.shtml). Businesses withholding payroll taxes file Form NJ-REG online after getting a federal EIN; that page gives no deadline. The Division of Taxation page states you must [complete the NJ-REG at least 15 business days before doing business](https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/br1.shtml) (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | NJ Department of Labor, Division of Employer Accounts, [who qualifies](https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/who-qualifies/). Must first register with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services using NJ-REG; an established business that employs one or more individuals and pays $1,000 or more in wages in a calendar year is an employer; quarterly WR-30 wage reporting and NJ-927 contributions (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) |
| New York | Department of Taxation and Finance, [withholding tax page](https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/wt/wtidx.htm). The page we read gave no registration steps or timing and linked to “Register or renew”; the [NYS 100 page](https://www.businessexpress.ny.gov/app/answers/cms/a_id/3033) is titled as covering withholding and wage reporting as well (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | NYS Department of Labor, Unemployment Insurance Division, [register for unemployment insurance](https://dol.ny.gov/register-unemployment-insurance-0). Online through New York Business Express for general business employers. States liability begins on the first day of the calendar quarter in which wages reach $300; no registration deadline stated (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Department of Revenue, [registration page](https://www.ncdor.gov/registration). Withholding can be registered through the Online Business Registration system; if it completes immediately a notice with the account ID is mailed within five business days, otherwise an account ID is issued within ten business days (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | Division of Employment Security (DES), [employers page](https://www.des.nc.gov/employers). Create an NCSUITS account; the page stated no timing or threshold and links to a separate “Am I Required to Pay Taxes?” page, which we did not read (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, [employer withholding](https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/employer-withholding). Register through Pennsylvania Online Business Tax Registration at mypath.pa.gov after obtaining a federal EIN; deposit frequency depends on the amount withheld per quarter (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | Not confirmed. The Department of Labor & Industry page was not readable and the revenue page did not mention unemployment compensation |
| Virginia | Virginia Department of Taxation, [withholding tax page](https://www.tax.virginia.gov/withholding-tax). States employers must register for withholding tax before filing returns; the page gave no registration deadline (retrieved 14 Oct 2026) | Not confirmed. The Virginia Employment Commission pages returned an access-denied response |
Before you hire your first employee in a new state
Use this as a working list, not a legal opinion. Each row says what to do and what to record, so the answer ends up documented per state.
| Step | What to do | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm where the work is performed | Establish the state in which the employee will physically work, including a remote employee’s home address | The work address and the date work starts there |
| Check whether the entity itself must register | Review Secretary of State and revenue agency guidance for entity-level obligations before payroll registration (see [how to register to employ in a new state](/state-registration)) | The conclusion and who made it |
| Obtain or confirm your federal EIN | The agency pages we read for New Jersey and Pennsylvania state an EIN is needed before registering | The EIN and the legal entity name used on every filing |
| Register for withholding with the revenue agency | Use the state’s named registration system and note any stated timing, such as a payroll start date | Account number, filing frequency, and the agency page used with the date |
| Register for unemployment insurance with the labor agency | Find the state’s liability trigger on the agency page (quarter wages, start-up date) and register on that clock | Account number, the trigger date, and the rate notice when it arrives |
| Check whether one application covers both | Some states route both through one system; others do not | Whether a second application was needed and its status |
| Confirm workers’ compensation coverage | Ask your carrier whether the policy covers the new state, or whether the state requires a state fund | The endorsement or state fund confirmation |
| Set up new-hire reporting | Find the state’s new-hire reporting site and deadline on the agency page; we did not retrieve a deadline for any state here | The reporting site, the deadline and who files |
| Configure payroll for the state and any local taxes | Load account numbers and filing schedules before the first payroll runs | Test payroll result, reviewed by a payroll or tax professional |
| Calendar the first filing | Add the first return and deposit due dates from the agency pages | The due dates and an owner |
Sources and methodology
Every figure on this page is taken from the source named beside it. Each source is labelled by type, because a government statistic, a trade-association study and a provider’s own filing carry different incentives.
- NYS Department of Labor, Register for Unemployment InsuranceRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Registration route, liability thresholds by employer type
- New York Business Express, Employer Registration (NYS 100)Retrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Combined registration title, quarterly liability trigger, NYS-45 filing
- NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Withholding TaxRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Agency name and absence of registration steps on the page
- California EDD, Step 1: Register as an EmployerRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: 15-day registration window and wage thresholds
- Illinois IDES, Are You a New Employer?Retrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: MyTax Illinois and REG-UI-1 registration, 30-day window
- Illinois Department of Revenue, Publication 130 General InformationRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Who must register for withholding, payroll start date, registration routes
- North Carolina Department of Revenue, RegistrationRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Online business registration for withholding, account ID timing
- North Carolina Division of Employment Security, EmployersRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: NCSUITS account creation
- New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Getting RegisteredRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: NJ-REG registration for employers
- New Jersey Division of Taxation, Starting a Business in NJRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: 15 business days before doing business
- New Jersey Department of Labor, Division of Employer Accounts, Who QualifiesRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Employer threshold, WR-30 and NJ-927
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Employer WithholdingRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: myPATH registration, EIN first, deposit frequencies
- Virginia Tax, Withholding TaxRetrieved 14 Oct 2026 · Independent (state agency) · used for: Requirement to register for withholding, return forms
General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with the state agency and a payroll or tax professional. Agency pages change; every row is dated to the day we read the page, and states we could not read are listed above rather than inferred.
Common questions
Which agency registers an employer for state income tax withholding?
Which agency registers an employer for unemployment insurance?
How soon after the first wages do I have to register?
Can one application register me with both agencies?
Does a PEO or an employer of record remove the need to check this?
Where this sits
This page supports Compliance — the practice that does this work.
